The New Harley-Davidson Street Glide Rips Like A Supercar And Rides Like A Grand Tourer
The most powerful version of the batwinged bagger served as a hell of an H-D introduction.
The first motorcycle that registered a core memory in my head was the hog that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 rode in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, the sequel to my favorite movie of all time. Even with a hulking, repeating shotgun-wielding cyborg in its saddle, that Harley-Davidson Softail Fatboy still looked like an absolute unit, especially as the pair soared through the air and bounced between L.A. spillway walls during the film’s famed chase sequence.
Even if I’d never seen T2, I of course would have known about H-D. That orange-outlined bar and shield is emblazoned on more motorcycles in the United States than any other logo. Brand recognition is pervasive to the point that people automatically associate the word “Harley” with “motorcycle” and vice-versa. But the T2 scene is so ingrained in my memory that upon revving my bike or hearing the “thunk” as I shift from neutral to first, my mind’s eye is liable to involuntarily generate a scene starring me, not Schwarzenegger, on that Fatboy.
Aside from the fact that I’m nowhere near as handsome or jacked or tall or badass as Arnie, the most glaring incongruency in that fantasy is my motorcycle: an Indian Scout Bobber Sixty. In my five years of riding, I’d never had the pleasure of helming a model from the brand that formed my first motorcycle memory until H-D sent me one to test on a trek to its Milwaukee headquarters. The bike shipped to my hometown dealership (shoutout to the fine folks at Zylstra Harley-Davidson) was the 2024 Street Glide, a full-fledged tourer that’s among the best-equipped and most powerful models in Harley’s fleet. What’s more, the Street Glide just underwent the most significant year-to-year redesign since its introduction in 2006.
For one, this is the most powerful version yet. The model retains its massive “Milwaukee-Eight 117″—named for the eight total valves in its 45-degree V-twin and the 117-cubic-inch (1.9-liter) displacement. But by enlarging the airbox by 50 percent, lengthening the throttle body’s diameter from 55 to 58 mm, and bumping the compression ratio up from 10.2:1 to 10:3.1, among other tweaks, maximum output increases to 105 horsepower (up 3 percent) and 130 pound-feet of torque (up 4 percent). It’s also 18 pounds lighter than the 2023 model—7 pounds alone are shed by the fork’s new triple clamp.
Suspension travel also takes a substantial hike from 2.1 to 3 inches, and all analog gauges have been eliminated in favor of a sole 12.3-inch touchscreen that handles displays and infotainment. This techy update in particular has been heralded by multiple outlets as pushing the Street Glide into the future, bringing with it four ride modes, Apple CarPlay (and limited Android compatibility), and native headset connectivity—the Street Glide also gets more powerful on-board speakers for the headset-less. Driving that futuristic feel further is a “media drawer” hiding a USB-C connection point. Harley even revised the Street Glide’s most iconic visual feature; the famed, fork-fixed “batwing” fairing—first introduced on the Electra Glide in 1969—now boasts an “Omega-shaped” headlight and linear, laser-like “eagle wing” turn signals.
That batwing is what caught me initially as I eyed the Street Glide for the first time in the dealership parking lot. It wasn’t love at first sight, as I’m naturally partial to my fairing-less bobber. However, I immediately appreciated the tear-drop tank—another signature bit of Harley design—which is somehow more supple than my Indian’s, despite being almost twice its capacity at 6.0 gallons. The upgraded Sharkskin Blue-over-black trim was perhaps the most elegant motorcycle color scheme I’ve seen in-person. And the saddlebags, which you couldn’t pay me to put on my Indian, looked right at home on the Street Glide. They close with a satisfying latch, and they’re entirely waterproof, as tested under a stream from a pressure washer.
This was my first experience with a bagger, so my first concern was its size. I’m 5-foot-9 (and a half!), but my in-seam is 30 inches because my legs are disproportionally short. That worry was alleviated as soon as I sat in the seat, which is a mere 26.1 inches off the ground. I reckon someone with a 29-inch in-seam could still get both feet down without issue. Coming from my 550-pound Scout Bobber Sixty, I immediately noticed the 775-pound Street Glide’s heft, but it didn’t keep me from comfortably executing my first few sub-10-mph turns.
A dealership worker described the ride modes. Rain Mode features the most subdued throttle response and engine mapping, as well as the most aggressive cornering-ABS and traction-control settings. Sport mode puts full power on-tap, maximizes throttle response and minimizes rider aid intervention, while Road Mode middles between Rain and Sport. A fourth custom mode allows you to fine-tune all rider aids, throttle response, engine braking and torque delivery.
I was advised by that dealership worker to stay in Road mode for my first few rides. Instead, I immediately pulled onto a county road, stuck it in “Sport,” and ripped it. By god, this bagger moved. In service of more power and speed, my Indian Scout Bobber Sixty has an aftermarket exhaust, air intake and tune, but I will concede that the bone-stock Street Glide felt marginally faster. That’s a grand feat considering its weight and touring focus.
I took a few days to get better acquainted with the Street Glide in-town before making the 360-mile trek from central Iowa to Milwaukee. I paired my Cardo headset to Harley’s Skyline operating system and booted up Apple CarPlay, which laid out my iPhone’s interface on the Harley’s touchscreen. This capability is great in-theory, but for whatever reason, Siri quit responding to my voice commands. I thought maybe it was a problem with my in-helmet microphone, but when I unpaired the Cardo from the Harley’s OS and re-paired it to my phone only, Siri worked just fine. After multiple troubleshooting sessions, I decided to pair the Cardo to my phone but use Harley Skyline’s native navigation.
I’d recently upgraded from the Cardo PackTalk Edge to the newly released PackTalk Pro, Cardo’s most advanced headset yet. I’d been using the PackTalk Edge on every single ride for the past year, and I previously raved over how it turns a helmet into a motorcycle-safe infotainment and intercom system. The PackTalk Pro builds on a fantastic platform with welcome extra features, including automatic power down/power up (which saved my battery more than once), a brand new Crash Detection System, and larger 45-mm JBL in-helmet speakers. If you like to ride your long road trips, a Bluetooth headset can stave off boredom, and I can personally vouch for two of Cardo’s.
When time came to embark, I loaded up a small duffel bag, a laptop bag, a pair of shoes, a spare visor and a rain suit in the two saddle bags. About 20 minutes into the ride, I glanced at the navigation display at precisely the wrong time and hit a 4×4 piece of wood at 60 mph. This was the largest piece of debris I’d ever blasted on a bike, and I barely felt it on this two-wheeled tank. I pulled over, saw nothing wrong with the tires or wheels, and continued.
With five hours of riding ahead of me and the middling “Road” mode engaged, I began to really appreciate the Street Glide’s long-haul pedigree. Between the buffeting-preventing adjustable air vanes, the bump-consuming suspension, the buttery smooth shifting, and the sheer mass, the Street Glide feels secure and planted on the highway. In fact, the sensation of high speed (not acceleration) is almost nuked. I unintentionally crept well over the speed limit multiple times because 80 mph and 100 mph feel exactly the same—a testament to the way the Street Glide directs air around its rider. It’s also surprisingly agile, as I discovered while ADHD-pinballing between the edges of a single-lane construction zone in crawling traffic.
There are probably several great touring bikes that, like the Street Glide, make long-haul riding a breeze. What takes this bagger to the next level are the thoughtful little features you see on the showroom floor and think, “Who gives a shit?” That retracting media shelf can be opened and closed at highway speeds, and it can hold a wallet, an iPhone, a backup battery for the iPhone, and the keys—the Street Glide features keyless ignition. The headlight is fantastically bright. Cruise control can be canceled by simply holding a button instead of tapping a brake. And if you’re on a hill, you can hold either brake to engage “Vehicle Hold Control,” which automatically applies the brake and keep the bike from rolling backwards, allowing the rider to focus entirely on working the clutch and throttle. None of these features are necessary, but after many miles, you realize how glad you are to have them.
Mind you, I was riding a mostly standard model. The 2024 Harley-Davidson Street Glide and Road Glide, which is almost identical to the Street Glide except for its frame-mounted “shark-nose” fairing, both start at $26,000. For maximal features and luxury, you can order either as a CVO model, the acronym being short for “Custom Vehicle Operations.” Sure, it’ll run you a cool $44,500, but you get lots of weight-saving carbon fiber that was designed in a wind tunnel, a larger Milwaukee-Eight 121 Engine that develops 115 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque, an upgraded suspension and exhaust, dual-disc Brembo front brakes, Rockford Fosgate audio, and more exclusive and complex color schemes, among other premium add-ons.
Wearing full gear in 90-degree heat, I was greeted on the outskirts of Milwaukee by start-stop rush-hour traffic. Normally that’d be a drag, but I felt so cool riding my pretty Street Glide, I was happy to peacock for a captive audience of lowly automobilists. Clearly enamored with H-D already, I then spent a half a day at the Harley-Davidson Museum—part of the 20-acre Harley-Davidson campus—where American history and gearhead fascinations collide in a very cool way. Motorcyclist or not, it’s a must-see Milwaukee sight.
Between riding the most powerful version of a lineup-leading model and the pilgrimage to H-D HQ, it was one hell of an introduction to the storied American motorcycle brand. But did my time on the Street Glide help me inch a little closer to fulfilling the Terminator-channeling fantasy that had been planted in my head over two decades ago? Affirmative.
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