The special fun maker in the Grand American Touring class
The Harley-Davidson Road Glide ST 117 is one of a series of three particularly sporty models that Harley-Davidson has brought to the road in 2022!
Road Glide ST 117 comes as standard as a single-seater from the factory; the background is its actual use for the Bagger Race, which is currently gaining more and more popularity in the USA and will certainly find its way to us. Now very few of us will want to race with it, so I converted it into a tourer a bit so I could ride the Road Glide to the Lofoten Islands in Norway. The hammock seat and the removable sissy bar with luggage rack are exactly what I need.
Buy another Road Glide ST 117 in 2022?
The 117 engine really appeals to me and the sporty ST version is the best way to get a tourer with a 117 cubic inch engine in terms of price-performance. Next year it is assumed that Harley-Davidson will bring an engine upgrade, but we don't really know which versions this will be for.
A price increase is expected again for the 2023 model year, which could be up to 7%, although the dollar exchange rate will play its own role.
So I would really consider whether it should still be a 2022 model. The tourer is really fun, the 1923 cc pushes the approx. 382kg powerfully out of every corner, it's this pull that really makes the difference.
An even larger Milwaukee-Eight engine would certainly be more fun, but that would cost more. The Vivid Black paintwork in combination with the “Matte Dark Bronze” color stripes on the lower rocker boxes and the Prodigy cast light alloy wheels are the identifying features of the ST series. Everything is beautifully done in black, it scores points with its appearance.
Of course, Harley-Davidson also has a number of parts in the catalog for the ST series, various panels or black levers for the case pull the black thread through even more.
If you want to stand out even more, it is also available in Gunship Gray for an additional charge of €430 (as of 10/2022). The gray is just as eye-catching as the whole series. I'm currently riding the Street Glide ST 117 with Öhlins shock absorbers and am also testing them extensively.
I drove the Road Glide ST a total of around 10,000 kilometers, including long stretches of motorway and just as many country roads and passages through the Norwegian mountains. Most of the time I was fully loaded, but you don't notice much of the luggage in terms of performance, it can handle it all.
It has all the technical features that make motorcycling safer, the rain mode being the most striking feature for me. Rain mode is also the only thing you have to actively switch on yourself; all other systems work hidden in the background and intervene automatically when requested by the sensors.
Especially when driving on a ferry, which happens very often in Norway, the rain mode is active for me. With the torque of 168Nm you have to be on your toes when you get on the ship on the steel plates that are actually always wet. The torque is its real strength and it responds immediately from below anyway. It has all the requirements you would expect from a good tourer, there are many options for upgrading it and that's a good thing.
I had a lot of fun with it on my tours, you can certainly hear my enthusiasm in the video, although the difference to a Street Glide ST is more of a matter of opinion, they're both really fun, which can make things complicated in the end.
The Harleysite driving report on YouTube 😎
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