Photo: Harley-Davidson
2023 is the year when America's largest motorcycle maker, Harley-Davidson, is celebrating its 120th anniversary. As such, for the past 11 months or so, we've been treated with incredible Harley goodies, be they in the form of new models or mammoth gatherings in Milwaukee.
Although with respect to Harley's history 2023 is a crucial year (how many companies can brag about being this old?), the bike maker did not go out of its way though to flood us with new motorcycle models all year long and, as usual, dumped them all onto the market in the first half of the year.
Among the most important novelties on the Harley front in 2023 were the two new CVO models. Revealed in June, the Custom Vehicle Operations models, from the Street Glide and Road Glide families, were hailed as a "transformative revision of the Harley-Davidson Grand American Touring platform."
That was owed in equal measure to the new design lines used and the new technologies fitted on the two bikes. The crown jewel of the rides remains however the new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine that debuted on these beasts.
The powerplant brought to the table 9.5 percent more horsepower and eight percent more torque than the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine usually fitted on Street and Road Glides, meaning a total of 115 hp at 4,500 rpm and 189 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm.
These are great numbers to entice people into going fast, and it appears that may be a problem in the case of some CVO Street Glides, as they may become hard to control.
At least that's what the American bike maker says, without going into details as to exactly what hard to control means in this case, and how serious the problem is. It does say however symptoms mostly appear when the bikes are ridden fast over rough roads, or when there are powerful wind gusts.
It is also unclear what the root cause of the problem is, but Harley says it will fix it through the installation of an updated engine control module, as well as a ballast and strap to stabilize the motorcycle.
According to the bike maker there are 1,464 examples of the 2023 CVO Street Glides affected by this. Their owners should receive notifications about the recall later this week (December 22) and, as usual, the fix for the problem will come free of charge.
Neither Harley-Davidson nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said anything against using the bikes until the fix is implemented, but if you are a Street Glide owner you probably should take it slow until that happens.
More information on the recall (number 0185) can be learned if you call the Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464, or the NHTSA hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
Among the most important novelties on the Harley front in 2023 were the two new CVO models. Revealed in June, the Custom Vehicle Operations models, from the Street Glide and Road Glide families, were hailed as a "transformative revision of the Harley-Davidson Grand American Touring platform."
That was owed in equal measure to the new design lines used and the new technologies fitted on the two bikes. The crown jewel of the rides remains however the new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine that debuted on these beasts.
The powerplant brought to the table 9.5 percent more horsepower and eight percent more torque than the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine usually fitted on Street and Road Glides, meaning a total of 115 hp at 4,500 rpm and 189 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm.
These are great numbers to entice people into going fast, and it appears that may be a problem in the case of some CVO Street Glides, as they may become hard to control.
At least that's what the American bike maker says, without going into details as to exactly what hard to control means in this case, and how serious the problem is. It does say however symptoms mostly appear when the bikes are ridden fast over rough roads, or when there are powerful wind gusts.
It is also unclear what the root cause of the problem is, but Harley says it will fix it through the installation of an updated engine control module, as well as a ballast and strap to stabilize the motorcycle.
According to the bike maker there are 1,464 examples of the 2023 CVO Street Glides affected by this. Their owners should receive notifications about the recall later this week (December 22) and, as usual, the fix for the problem will come free of charge.
Neither Harley-Davidson nor the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said anything against using the bikes until the fix is implemented, but if you are a Street Glide owner you probably should take it slow until that happens.
More information on the recall (number 0185) can be learned if you call the Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464, or the NHTSA hotline at 1-888-327-4236.
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