RIDE REVIEW I 2023 HARLEY-DAVIDSON CVO STREET GLIDE & ROAD GLIDE
P106
and, working with the larger four-
liter airbox, 3mm larger, single
throttle body (58mm), longer pis-
ton stroke and revised combus-
tion chamber, sees compression
go from
10.2:1 to 11.4:1.
The first thing that strikes you
is how creamy smooth that new
motor is. From just over idle the
torque to 4000 rpm is like butter
(there's another 1300 rpm to go
but it's best to keep the motor
revving around this number).
It will burst up through that rev
number surprisingly quickly for
such a big motor, but the spread
of performance is very impres
-
sive with a 0.5-inch larger 4.5-
inch muffler system
roaring the
Harley roar.
There're five variable ride
modes at your convenience
including a Sport and two
Custom modes, and I found
the best throttle response was
in the Road mode as Sport
seemed a little too urgent for
the style. The initial throttle
response in Road is almost per
-
fect, although you do get less
midrange
power than in Sport.
You also get a higher level of
Combined ABS and Combined
Traction Control intervention.
All that torque is delivered
through a six-speed gearbox,
one that's still devoid of a
quickshifter, like
the one tour
-
ing rivals BMW
long
ago fitted
to their K 1600
GTL. However,
the shift itself
is exception-
ally smooth for
such a mas-
sive V-twin and
doesn't
need the clutch most of
the time, just a slight roll of the
throttle and it'll snick into the
higher gear nicely.
Chassis
H-D hasn't gone after wholesale
changes to the chassis in the
same way they have with the
motor.
The main steel tube/back-
bone frame remains the same,
but
there are new 47mm forks
with 4.3 inches of travel and
four-piston Brembo monobloc
brakes gripping larger 320mm
discs (up 20mm).
At the rear is a Showa shock
with preload and rebound
damping, now sporting 50 per-
cent more travel at—wait for it—
three
inches. Not much, I know.
Harley-Davidson really
missed an opportunity with
(Top) Brembo
brakes are quality
units but the non-
adjustable forks
leave a little to be
desired. (Bottom)
This is by far the
best dashboard in
the game today.
