Just ahead of Daytona Bike Week, Harley-Davidson has announced the new Electra Glide Standard touring bike.
The Electra Glide brand is old-school Harley-Davidson heritage, going all the way back to 1965, when Harley-Davidson replaced its famous Panhead with the new electric-start model.
The new machine holds little similarity to the model from ’65; it’s powered by Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee Eight 107 engine, which makes about 110 lb-ft of torque, give or take a bit. That’s Harley-Davidson’s most basic Big Twin engine at this point, but the bike gets a little more fancy-pants with some other touring-friendly accoutrement: dual-bending valves in the 49 mm front forks, cruise control, linked brakes and optional ABS. Say what? This $24,799 motorcycle doesn’t come with ABS? Yes, that is indeed the case …
Here are two other things you don’t get: A passenger seat (it’s intended to be a solo tourer, and will surely be easy to set up for a pillion if you want) and an infotainment system. While big-dollar cruisers have really put an emphasis on audio/navigation systems in recent years, Harley-Davidson says the Electra Glide Standard allows you to “Disconnect from screens and gadgets.” Yep, there probably is a decent market for that idea. As Harley-Davidson puts it, it’s “A bare essentials bike with all the modern capabilities for the Touring purist. Built to make it your own.” In other words, this is also a desirable bike for custom builders, who want to put their own spin on the Harley-Davidson bagger formula. It’s only available in black, too, so it’s begging for some crazy one-off paint work.
See the official Harley-Davidson press release below, and expect the Electra Glide Standard in showrooms in time for riding season.
HARLEY-DAVIDSON ELECTRA GLIDE® STANDARD DELIVERS AN ELEMENTAL TOURING EXPERIENCE POWERED BY THE MILWAUKEE-EIGHT ENGINE
(Vaughan, ON) March 4, 2019 – Powered by the muscular Milwaukee-Eight™ 107 engine, the new Electra Glide® Standard is a salute to the authentic Harley-Davidson Touring experience. Inspired by the unrivalled heritage of the Electra Glide name it provides a raw, fundamental touring experience inspired by Harley-Davidson’s Grand American touring roots.
Designed for the traditional touring customer, the Electra Glide Standard is for the rider seeking to disconnect from all the noise of the day-to-day through riding. A simplistic approach to providing the pure essentials delivers a motorcycle that provides and heightens the experience of the journey. This elemental experience is a key component in the design and engineering of the Electra Glide Standard.
The Electra Glide Standard features essential Harley-Davidson styling such as the iconic batwing fairing, chrome trim, standard saddle bags, and cast aluminum wheels. Chrome accents are added in high-impact design areas and complimented by polished rocker, cam and derby covers and select blacked out components – a blend of traditional styling and modern trends.
“To express the stripped-back essence of the Electra Glide Standard we focused on finishes that were simple, timeless, and fundamental to the Harley-Davidson Touring line. Chrome was retained on key components and complimented by polished and blacked out parts, for example,” said Harley-Davidson’s Vice President of Styling and Design, Brad Richards. “The rocker, cam, and derby covers are finished with chrome to emphasize the V-Twin shape of the Milwaukee-Eight 107 engine. In addition, they add a dose of nostalgia that draws a through-line all the way back to the first Electra Glide.”
To provide a raw touring motorcycle experience without riding compromises, the Electra Glide Standard features all the latest ride and handling technology of Harley-Davidson’s Touring line such as standard electronic cruise control, hand-adjustable emulsion-technology rear shock absorbers, 49mm front forks with dual bending valve suspension, and Reflex Linked Brembo Brakes with optional ABS. The deletion of the infotainment system enhances the light touch and leaves the rider to focus on connecting with the road.
A central part of the touring experience and a highlight of the Electra Glide Standard is its Milwaukee Eight 107 cu. in. powerplant engine featuring sleek, modern styling that respects the heritage of previous Harley-Davidson big twin engines.
In the Electra Glide Standard, the Milwaukee Eight provides the performance and riding benefits that consumers the world over expect and appreciate with quick throttle response, plenty of passing power, and that iconic Harley-Davidson big twin sound.
The Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Standard model is offered in Vivid Black with an M.S.R.P. of $24,799 CAD.
For that sort of money, you can get a BMW R1250RT and have a couple grand left over to play with. Also you can get other colours and ABS as standard. And a heck of a lot more horsepower.
And the BMW K1600B has serious technical capabilities and is less than 2 grand more expensive.
Sorry to reply to myself, but I gotta ask: What’s with the crazy price?The big Beemers are made in Germany and German productivity is similar to the USA, so wages are similar. BMW Motorrad is profitable by itself, so the price of their bikes is not subsidized by their car business. So you’d expect for a similar product the prices would be in the same ballpark.
But here we have the stripped down non-ABS Hardley “standard” costing a couple of grand more than the BMW R1250RT, which by any sane and rational measure is superior to the Hardley in every way from speed, acceleration, smoothness, durability, and reliability to comfort, safety (ABS!) and technical features. Considering the research, engineering, development, capabilities, and quality, I would expect that the Hardley should cost less than half what the Beemer costs to produce for sale.
It’s pretty clear that Hardley-Ableson is soaking their buyers for everything they can get.
Commentary coming soon on this one, I think.
I agree with you. Where you (rightly) call it “soaking their buyers” the HD bean counters would call it “brand premium” or “goodwill”.
It’s a shame really because I like those bikes for some reason and that one looks nice.
They likely didn’t want to introduce something less expensive that would pull sales from the more expensive models based on the same platform so they priced it accordingly. Not a very clever approach in my mind as it just makes the numerous low mileage used ones more attractive.
Typical HD! Charge a premium for a stripped down bike. I’m a no gadget kind of rider but this is just marketing BS.
“A bare essentials bike”…..for $25,000..!!
Maybe it’s just me.