First impressions of the 2014 Harley Touring bikes are great.
Rode through heavy rain at high speed in the Colorado Rockies and the bikes were rock-steady despite lots of run-off, big truck turbulence and some nutter in a Dodge Challenger who kept playing chicken with us.
New aero package works well, especially the new splitter vent; buffeting is now almost nil.
Engines run cooler and quieter, probably due to the aero pushing the noise away from the rider.
Linked brakes are surprisingly strong, but have plenty of feel.
Harley has done an excellent job of concealing the plumbing on the Twin-Cooled partially water-cooled engine.
Difficult to feel the extra power, though, because of the 30% less dense air at these high altitudes. But it didn’t seem to be greatly affected when it came time to roll on from 100km/h all the way to the “old ton”!
New audio system is good but doesn’t seem to like the iPhone 5. There is a very convenient cubbyhole to place your phone or MP3 player and the colour touch screen on the top model works really well, even with gloves on.
Full report coming. Meanwhile, here are some launch images to whet your appetite.
