FEATURE
VANCE & HINES CTR PERFORMANCE KIT
P114
ON THE ROAD
We had the chance to test a box
stock 2016 Harley-Davidson
Road Glide around the V&H
streets on the outskirts of Los
Angeles and later fitted the same
bike up with a set of the compa-
ny's Eliminator mufflers matched
to the CTR Headers, FPC fueling
module, and the VO2 Naked Air
Intake with a Grenade accessory
cover.
Out of the box, the stock Har-
ley Road Glide has a respect-
able amount of power but you
can't get away from the fact it
feels very neutered. The throttle
response feels like I'm getting
about half of what I ask for at the
twist grip to what arrives at the
rear wheel. Cracking the throttle
from fully closed to wide open
gives sluggish performance,
but I will admit the power does
come in quite smoothly, if not as
quickly as I'd have liked. And it's
also very quiet.
Switching over to the CTR
system, the bike feels totally
transformed. The first thing you
notice is the obviously increased
volume. The Road Glide has
nearly twice the bark it hard be-
fore, with a nice, deep burbling
exhaust note compared to the
asphyxiated sound it comes
with as standard. I wouldn't want
the system any louder, though,
especially as the reverb on
deceleration starts to rattle my
chest cavity. "Some customers
have this noise level as their
minimum," laughs Potts.
The second—and most impor-
tant—factor I notice when riding
the CTR-equipped Road Glide
is the throttle response. There's
now that instant 1:1 right hand/
rear wheel throttle connection
on hand and the H-D now leaps
out of corners at low rpm. The
bike feels transformed com-
pared to standard, with the per-
formance the standard system
can only dream of.
All up, it's a pretty impressive
difference for just on $1500. On
the sportbike side, you'd have to
spend far more than that to see
the kind of gains the CTR system
makes for the Harley Road
Glide.
CN
The CTR system
makes the standard
fitment exhaust and
air filter system from
H-D feel anemic.
