Harley-Davidson Road Glide Custom Review

Many myths busted about this special Harley-Davidson.

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My first impression when reading this was this is the guy they have doing reviews? He is an "admittedly" European style sportbike" rider. And he was simply amazed at all the "myths" that were busted when riding the Harley.

I'm not going to Harley bash here, except for Harley's continued lack of HP info on their engines (ashamed or what?) and the big emphasis on torque. He makes a good point about torque, however for those of us who are used to torque being expressed in terms well above a hundred ft/lbs I had to chuckle that he was that impressed with the torque on this particular Harley. He also seemed way too amazed at the smoothness of fuel injection on the engine...he really needs to ride more and vary his choice of motorcycles, I feel sorry for him if he rides a big japanese cruiser much less the Rocket in any of it's variations.

Methinks they need to get a reviewer with a lot more experience in a lot more types of bikes...I don't think I would trust him with a full blown touring rig like the Gold Wing or any of the Ultra's much less a BMW.

And to top it off he get's the Harley with the dual headlights just as Triumph puts the single headlight on the R3T.

Dennis

72 dtg Dubai
73 dtg Home

The one area where Harley, and any other bike, kills the Rocket is the tranny. I've driven tractors with smoother shifting trannies than the Rocket. That said, I didn't see anything over the top about his review. It was the typical "Hey, let me review your bike and give you some good press so you'll advertise with me" review. The only rag I've seen that'll actually give a bike a "turd" rating is MCN.

I can remember the days when the H-D tranny clunked just as bad as the Roc's.

It may not be a big thing to others but H-D's do have one feature that I can't understand why other manufacturers won't copy: the locking sidestand. They're wonderful.

Instead of putting a single headlight on the R3T to copy the Road Glide, copy the sidestand.

Humm....My R3 is "snick snick" at the shifter after it's warmed up. No clunk at all erxcept a bit going into first. Change up and down are very smooth.

Well, consider yourself fortunate because I've ridden a few including my old R3T, which was one of the smoother ones, and all of them were like tractors compared to anything else I've ridden. Harleys aren't far behind, however, so don't take my previous post as a ringing endorsement for them.

I don't like Harley's sidestand. It looks like it's not all the way down even when it is because there's a slight angle toward the rear of the bike.

If I were going to copy a single feature from Harley, it would be the keyless ignition. Now, THAT is a wonderful feature! Kawasaki pretty much copied that design for their Concours.

Daryl i agree about the keyless ignition..good feature..also i think you would have
to give them a thumbs up for paintwork.

Ray

would have to agree on their paint! and also they use DOT 5 silicone brake fluid! not sure why everyone doesnt use it! but i think my bike shifts smoother than my low rider did

Hydraulic valve lifters are also a plus. Why they didn't put hydraulic lifters in the Rocket, I will never know. It's not like they were trying to save weight?.. lol Even Honda's Nighthawk 750 had hydraulic lifters..

Self canceling turn signals too.. although I think the R3T comes with those. I don't know why all bikes don't.

I like Harleys.. always have.. and they are pretty dang maitenance free now days except for changing oil. Even the primary chain is 'self-adjusting'..

I just like Triumph more!..

TxRIIIRider said:

Hydraulic valve lifters are also a plus. Why they didn't put hydraulic lifters in the Rocket, I will never know. It's not like they were trying to save weight?.. lol Even Honda's Nighthawk 750 had hydraulic lifters..

Self canceling turn signals too.. although I think the R3T comes with those. I don't know why all bikes don't.

I like Harleys.. always have.. and they are pretty dang maitenance free now days except for changing oil. Even the primary chain is 'self-adjusting'..

I just like Triumph more!..

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The Rocket's a nice bike but they could have added a few more bells and whistles. Even my 1979 Suzuki had self canceling turn signals.