Big Motor, Big Tires, Big Paint
BIG MOTOR, BIG TIRES, BIG PAINT
NEW BIKES 2008
First ride on the new Harley-Davidson CVO Screamin' Eagles
PETER EGAN
IF YOU BUY A BRAND-NEW Harley and want more performance, there are essentially two roads to arm-stretching Nirvana:
1) Page through the Screamin' Eagle or various aftermarket catalogs for performance parts, then hop-up the engine yourself—or try to find a reliable shop to do it. Or 2) you can let Harley’s Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) division do the whole thing and build you a factory-tuned and tested (and warranteed)
110-cubic-incher, complete with custom paint and much extra polishing and chrome. Neither route is cheap.
It’s possible to start with an $18,000 Big Twin and then throw $ 1 OK or $ 15K at the bike to make it bigger and faster-and sometimes a lot more cranky and loud. I know guys who have done it. Meanwhile, Harley will charge you somewhere between $25K and $35K, depending upon the model, for a complete bike that’s loaded for bear (or something more clovenhoofed) and ready to go.
Either way, it’s a lot of money to summon up performance that comes absolutely free with your run-of-the-mill $9000 sportbike. But Harleys are about useable torque rather than 160-mph top end, so the need for speed in the Harley world exists on its own terms, and such comparisons are no more valid than noting that your new Lexus will trounce a ’32 Ford Roadster with a hot flathead and lakes pipes. They are not the same thing, nor desired for the same reasons.
So Harley has, essentially, been competing with its own aftermarket since 1999, building CVO bikes for those customers who want something extra. They started with the Screamin’ Eagle FXR and have been adding new models ever since.
For 2008, four families of CVO bikes are offered: the FXSTSSE Screamin' Eagle Softail Springer for $24,995; the FXDSE Screamin' Eagle Dyna at $24,995; the FLHTCUSE Screamin' Eagle Ultra Classic Electra Glide for $34,995 (there's no excuse-or flhtcuse, in this case-for that many letters in a bike name); and the FLHRSE Screamin' Eagle Road King for $29,290. A serial ized 105th Anniversary trim package adds $495 to each of these bikes.
What all models have in common is the big 110-cube (1803cc) Twin Cam engine, introduced on the 2007 CVOs. It’s bored out .25-inch from the standard 96-incher, for an even 4-inch bore, with forged pistons, torquey cams and oilcoolers on the touring models. Harley doesn’t like to publish horsepower ratings but is proud of torque, and in this case claims an impressive 115 foot-pounds at 3000 rpm, up 13 percent from the previous 103-inch Screamin’ Eagle engine.
Compression remains at 9.3:1 (up from 8.8:1 in the earlier engines), and a big-valve, high-flow head is used. All these engines have a CVO-only “Granite and Chrome” engine finish and are mated to six-speed Cruise Drive transmissions, with very tall gearing in sixth.
Also new for 2008 is an Anti-Lock Braking System on the FLH Ultra and Road King. It’s included on the CVO FLHs but will also be available as an option on the standard ’08 touring bikes. Harley gave us a convincing before-and-after demonstration of the new system on wet and gravel-strewn roads behind the Pilgrim Road factory, using an FLH with outriggers. Watching a full-boat bagger with its front end trying to tuck and the rear swapping ends is a fearsome sight and could induce one to check that little ABS option box when ordering. (ABS has twice saved me from going down on BMWs, so I am a believer.)
Tech briefings and demonstrations out of the way, we hit
the road for a cool, sometimes rainy day of riding through the scenic Kettle Moraine area northwest of Milwaukee. As a two-time Road King owner, I naturally gravitated toward the Twilight Blue and Candy Cobalt with Ghost Flame Graphics Road King.
Well, not only is this not your father’s Road King, it’s not even my old Evo or 88 Twin Cam. It immediately answers that pressing question, “Hey, where’s all my power?” The fuel-injected 110-inch engine fires up immediately to a smooth, even idle, emits a nice, throaty-but-not-too-loud exhaust note, launches with a gratifying hit and pulls hard and with convincing immediacy from any speed, revving smoothly all the way to redline. It’s not just adequate or “pretty fast for a Harley,” but genuinely muscular and fast enough to please the inner accelerometer and raise the heart rate. Big-time fun. Ditto for the other three bikes. These are nice engines.
Remarkably civilized, too. Fuel delivery is spot-on, with no annoying transitions or balky behavior around town. Out on the highway, they cruise with a serene, almost glassy rumble, and the gearing is so tall you generally find yourself in fourth or fifth on two-lane roads. Not much need for sixth until you hit about 80 mph. We are essentially loafing along here, but with great latent energy on tap.
Other features of the CVO Road King are new Brembo
brakes, a 6-gallon gas tank (up from 5.0), electronic throttle-yes, fly-by-wire from The Motor Company!-and a plethora of chrome and billet trim bits. Best improvement of all, perhaps, is a handlebar cover that doesn’t require headlight disassembly to adjust the bars. I never thought I’d live long enough...
The Ultra, as you might expect, is similar but with big luggage, a 40-watt Harman-Kardon audio system with XM satellite radio, nav system, heated seats and other luxo extras. It’s on this big baby where you most appreciate the extra hit from the engine. It’s a dresser that picks up its skirts and flat moves out. Effortlessly, like the gliding Mother Superior in The Blues Brothers.
The Dyna is, well, a Dyna, but with all the basic Screamin’ Eagle engine magic as well as special paint and numerous billet trim bits. Additionally, front suspension has been lowered and the rake tucked in for sportier turn-in. It also has slotted, six-spoke cast-aluminum wheels and a wider, 170mm rear tire. As with the others, it comes in three choices of paint schemes, from the relatively subdued to the flamed extreme.
My only complaint with the Dyna is the feet-forward riding position on an otherwise quick and rather sporty bike. It
feels awkward and pointlessly limiting on this motorcycle, as you can never get your weight underneath you to corner properly; you’re just along for the ride, and it’s a fast one.
With that bias in mind, I was sure I’d dislike the similarly laid-out Softail Springer, but it turned out to be my other favorite, along with the Road King. The Springer is the most outrageous bike here, especially the Inferno Orange/Fireburst Flames version I rode, which has a highflow forward-facing air intake and conical air-cleaner (rain sock included). It looks like a combined drag bike and Hbomb explosion; Harley calls it “a Bobber for the Ages.’’ I loved it.
Riding position aside, the bike has a solid, narrow feel and remarkably nice ride-and feedback-through the Springer front end. It’s a little stiffer than the others but has a pleasing tautness overall. After half an hour on the thing,
I found myself saying, “This, by God, is a motorcycle/” The Springer front end, all that motor and the brilliant burntorange paint in the late afternoon sunlight can addle your senses. Mine, anyway.
BIG MOTOR, BIG TIRES, BIG PAINT
And speaking of paint, we stopped for a tour at the
Calibre paint facility in nearby Grafton, Wisconsin, where all the CVO cycle parts are painted. This is an independent company, a small, immaculate factory filled with artisans who pinstripe, buff metal and paint by hand.
It’s a factory that hums with quiet concentration and individual craftsmanship, almost like a throwback to the pre-industrial era. Except for the bright, modern surroundings, the employees could just as easily be making jeweled crusader’s shields or Saxon longbows as painting Harley tanks and fenders. You carefully examine a finished tank and then want to buy a CVO bike, just to have one as an artifact.
And there are a lot of nice artifacts on these CVO Harleys, from the forged pistons outward. They do add up, cost-wise, but you might be hard-pressed to duplicate this level of completeness on your own for the same money. You sacrifice a little personalization and individual flare, but the bikes are ready to go. I’ve ridden a lot of custom/tuner bikes over the years, and very few of them run as well, turn as accurately or look as good as the humble, stock motorcycles from which they were derived.
These do, and then some. □
