Alan Dowds found out what we need to know…
Back in the 1980s, the weird sport of truck racing briefly became quite popular. In the UK the sight of race-tuned HGVs, without trailers, bashing bodywork down the main straight at Snetterton or Brands had a certain appeal, we admit. And now we have a similarly hypnotic experience, watching the American King of Baggers racing which has also become quite popular. Here, it’s race-tuned 350kg American touring bikes which are doing battle, like hippos rutting on a David Attenborough wildlife documentary…
It’s a battle between Indian and Harley-Davidson, of course, and both firms have been ramping up the pressure, with ever more outlandish race versions of their lardy tourers. They’re even selling super-limited-edition versions of the racers: Indian had one on offer a couple of years ago, the Indian Challenger RR, priced around £75k.
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And now Harley has joined in, with this, the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operation) Road Glide RR (snappily codenamed the FLTRXRRSE). The firm says it’s as close to the race bike as you can get, in road-legal format, so it has turn signals and headlights. But it also has a tuned 153bhp version of the Milwaukee-Eight engine, bored out to 131 cubic inches (2147cc), with 2mm bigger Inconel valves, 68mm throttle body, billet clutch, and a titanium Akrapovic exhaust. The chassis spec wouldn’t look out of place on a proper WSBK machine either: Öhlins FGR253 forks and Öhlins race rear twin shocks, with a machined billet aluminium swingarm, Brembo nickel-plated GP4RX front calipers and T-drive 320mm calipers.
There’s been a lot of work put in to reduce mass: carbon bodywork, aluminium billet engine covers, and the exhaust and swingarm are all much lighter than stock. It still weighs in at 356kg wet, mind, which is probably down to the steel frame, and the heaps of road kit left on there; it even has the sound system speakers in the fairing, and the massive TFT LCD dashboard.
There are also some weird design choices. It comes with ‘normal’ Harley bagger wheel and tyre sizes: 130/60 19 front and 180/55 18 rear, with bias-belted Dunlop D408/407 cruising rubber on the cast aluminium wheels. God knows what those poor tyres will make of 153bhp and a pair of Brembo GP4 RX calipers.
Sadly, or luckily, depending on your point of view, the CVO Road Glide RR is a US-only offering. It’s also limited to 131 units being made, so is very limited edition. Finally, it costs a hefty $110,000, or £85,000, so don’t expect to see many of ’em down the Super Sausage or at Ryka’s.
