#touring

Harley-Davidson officially announced it will reveal new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide models for 2023, confirming many of the details we've previously uncovered. These include a new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 121 engine, new suspension, a new infotainment system, and dramatically redesigned fairings that have already drawn strong reactions from the Harley faithful. While we will have to wait until June 7 for more information, here's what we know for certain.

Official images appear in Australian certification filings

Harley-Davidson released the bulk of its 2023 lineup about two months ago, but we’re still waiting to here about more models, such as the Custom Vehicle Operations models that will be joining the CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary. We may not have much longer to wait, as videos of a new CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide have popped up on line, revealing some big changes to the CVO models, and perhaps a sign of what to expect for the 2024 lineup.

We’re just a few days into the new year, and Harley-Davidson has already started shipping 2023 models to dealerships. These are mainly carry-over models, returning for 2023 with new colors, which should prepare dealers ahead of Harley-Davidson’s launch event on Jan. 18.

Earlier this week, we uncovered Australian certification documents revealing a new Nightster S model and Harley-Davidson‘s 2023 Softail lineup including 120th anniversary Fat Boy 114 and Heritage Classic 114 models. As we predicted, a similar document certifying Harley-Davidson’s 2023 touring models has now been released in Australia, confirming the models returning, as well as the Anniversary Edition Touring models, plus one possible addition to Harley’s Icon collection.

You know who you are: You love the Indian Challenger, but it just quite isn’t enough for you. You want something super exclusive. Well, Indian’s got good news for you. Today, Indian unveiled the 2023 Challenger Elite. The name alone should tell you it’s something special, but as usual, it’s all in the details.

Pity the poor fool who’s got nothing to do for a week or two but roll around on his motorcycle – no job, no cares, no particular place to be. And if you’re fortunate enough to have all those things working in your favor, chances are you’re carrying around quite a bit of loot in the saddlebags and trunk of your Goldwing, Ultra Glide or big BMW K-bike – possibly even an accomplice. What you want on all of those bikes are tires that stick to the pavement, wet or dry, upright or dragging peg, carry a heavy load safely, and preferably wear like iron. Is that too much to ask?

If there’s one thing KTM knows how to do, it’s how to get dirty. The company obviously has its long history of off-road competition, and victories, to its name, and that success has transferred nicely into the adventure bike market. You can even argue KTM’s adventure bikes (along with the BMW GS family) are responsible for this boom in the ADV market.

Touring connotes long days in the saddle, and that means long days with your head inside your helmet. Fit, then, is going to be of utmost importance when it comes to selecting a touring helmet. A helmet that gives you a hot spot might not be a huge deal when you’re only wearing it for 45 minutes. Over the course of days, though, like an annoying travel companion, an ill-fitting helmet will grow to be a thing you loathe.

If you wanted a Harley-Davidson Road Glide that wasn’t a Harley, Indian’s been offering that for a while now in the form of its Roadmaster line of full-dress V-Twin touring bikes. If you want an American V-Twin full dresser that looks the part, but goes like stink, now Indian also offers the Pursuit. The traditional American V-Twin buyer has always been highly skittish prey, easily frightened off by overhead cams and lack of cooling fins. But with its Challenger of two years ago, Indian decided it was time to take the high-performance plunge, developing a revver instead of a chuffer, an oversquare engine instead of an undersquare one. Along with that new engine comes the increased horsepower those changes have brought to the internal combustion engine since, well, for a very long time.

An hour into the ride, we were already in trouble. We’d lost the main road and were stuck in deep sand and didn’t know the way out.

Harley-Davidson has the fortunate position to stand atop the perch that is its popularity and loyal following to see where its customers take their motorcycles. Yes, the folks at Harley hear all the time about the different places their motorcycles have taken them. But Harley designers and engineers also have the advantage of reading the pulse of their customer base by seeing what these people decide to do to customize and modify their bikes. Need I remind anyone of the unfortunate custom chopper craze of not too long ago…?

Last week, Harley-Davidson announced its first batch of 2022 models, listing several models that are returning mostly unchanged, except for new paint and graphic options. A few models were conspicuously absent from the announcement; most of them, like the Iron 1200, were discontinued. The lone exception was the Low Rider S, which we reported would be announced on Jan. 26 with some updates.

Today, Harley-Davidson announced its first batch of 2022 motorcycles, with models already arriving at dealerships across the U.S. These models return mostly unchanged from 2021, save for updated colors and, for some, new wheel designs. If you’re looking for any new models, CVO models, or motorcycles getting more significant changes, you’ll have to wait until Jan. 26, for Harley-Davidson’s “Further, Faster” world premiere event.

Indian announced new colors and other updates to the cruiser, bagger and touring models returning for 2022.