New to Australian roads for 2024 is Harley-Davidson’s Road Glide Limited; it’s a bike that has an immediate on-road presence, and sports an appetite for comfort and hunger for crunching kilometres.
The Road Glide Limited joins the Ultra Limited as Harley-Davidson’s top touring models, with both bikes heavily specified in terms of tech and goodies. Weighing in at 423kg it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that the bike is big.
It’s a bit of a handful manoeuvring at low speed, but get out on open roads and you’ll find a different beast – one that’s truly in its element. If you’ve noticed it looks a little different to Harley-Davidson’s recently launched next-gen touring bikes, there’s a reason for that.
You see, it’s based on the previous 2023 variant, which is why it doesn’t sport the new shark-nosed fairing. That aside, after navigating our way home in a peak hour commute, it was quickly decided the best way to enjoy the Glide was to head bush.
Joining yours truly would be the minister of happiness (or the wife as she’s better known), in a test of the Harley-Davidson’s touring capabilities, two-up. There’s plenty of luggage carrying capability thanks to two side panniers and a large top box.
The combination is perfect for your overnight essentials and the top box is big enough to hold two helmets. You’ll even find a 12v charging port inside should you need it, and there’s a rack on the lid, just in case you need to tie anything down.
Utilising the tried and trusted 114 Milwaukee Eight powerplant, the Road Glide Limited produces 65kW and 160Nm, with smooth and linear power delivery, alongside that familiar thump we’ve come to love. A 6-speed gearbox provides the necessary shifting.
Even when riding with a passenger, the bike obliges as you feed the throttle, providing effortless response. It’s when stationary that a niggle raises its head, with neutral a bit of a pain to find, sometimes.
That aside, the cheese and kisses gave the twin-shock rear suspension (complete with preload) the tick of approval, as she found nestling into the arm chair styled pillion quarters a bit of a treat. Up front is a 49mm non adjustable fork.
Harley-Davidson claims 32-degrees of lean angle in either direction for the Road Glide Limited, and to be honest, it’s more than capable when scooting along through sweeping bends. You will notice the weight and girth when changing directions quickly though.
From the rider’s seat, comfort remains key, especially if you’re punching out big kilometre days. It’s good then that you find yourself nice and upright, with a big cushy seat under your booty.
The handlebars are within easy reach, with the Road Glide Limited utilising a reach back mini ape hanger style setup. Footboards allow plenty of movement to adjust your feet positioning while riding, although some highway pegs wouldn’t go astray.
The Boom Box GTS infotainment platform allows phone integration and navigation, but isn’t the shiny new Skyline IOS system. There is cruise control though, and all the switches are nice to the touch, as well as being big, and easy to engage.
There’s a 22.7-litre fuel tank that should be good for around 375-400km per tank of go-go juice, while pulling up the big Road Glide Limited are a set of twin 320mm discs at the front, and a single 320mm disc at the rear.
The Glide features Harley-Davidson’s RDRS rider assist tech, should you find yourself in a difficult situation. All-in-all it’s a great bike for touring, especially with a friend, but it’s a little restricted by its pure size, through suburban settings.
That’s a conundrum, in and of itself, but given it’s also priced at the higher echelon (from $47,750 ride away), and it’s been superseded by the new Street Glide and Road Glide models launched earlier this year, it’s a big ask.
It may still charm those who like the previous offering, and it’s still a very good bike, with all the fruit, especially while we wait to see if there’s a new Road Glide Limited or Ultra Glide Limited on the horizon.
If you do decide on one, it’s available in Vivid Black, Sharkskin Blue or Billiard Grey (as tested), and is backed by a 2-year unlimited kilometre warranty. To find out more, you can visit the Harley-Davidson website or contact your local dealer.
Our test bike was provided by Harley-Davidson Australia.
Lord have mercy!. Another Hardley which corners like a train, weighs as much and looks like something from the Jetsons. To top it all off, some Wayne Kerr will fit a fully-open set of pipes, forget to adjust the fuelling to suit and we will be able to enjoy the horrible slapping sounds of a poorly-set-up piston vs a cheap set of stainless muff-lers. Goes shit, looks shit, sounds absolutely SHEEEEEEEITTTTT. The gene-pool is ever decreasing in quality, dear Padawan. Don those chaps and go forth with thy entry past gates of shit motorcycles.
Had a couple cheap whiskies have ya champ 🙄😆😆