5 BIKES THAT REALLY MATTER THIS MONTH
[TOURERS ]
This Harley Road Glide clocked 185.5mph at Daytona and can now lap faster than a factory supersport bike
If this 281kg Harley Road Glide had entered last month’s Moto3 Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas – and oh how we wish it had – it would have qualified on the third row, just 0.7s off pole. Not bad for an air-cooled tourer with pushrod valve actuation and panniers.
The technical progression made by the lead bikes in the King of the Baggers series is amazing, even since Bike featured the factory Indian last year. Time to ask Harley’s movers and shakers how they’ve done it…
How is it so fast?
» ‘It’s now a motorcycle with a Harley heart surrounded by a superbike,’ says chief mechanic Dave Hopkinson (a Brit who worked with Leon Haslam in British and World Superbikes). ‘The series is now very similar to superbikes, where you start with a standard chassis, engine casings and various engine components then develop the bike. It’s come a long way from the first season.’
SWINGARM
Bespoke. Partly to increase stiffness, partly to speed up wheel changes – these used to take five minutes but can now be done in 25 seconds.
SUSPENSION
Forks are superbike-spec Öhlins FGR250s. There are two rear Öhlins shocks because the rules dictate the same type of suspension as the road bike – ie, no monoshock.
BRAKES
Superbike Brembo calipers and discs. The rear brake runs a 300mm disc because –due to the bike’s length and weight – Kyle gets 30 to 40 percent of his stopping power from it.
BOLTS
Harleys use lots of imperial fasteners but Brembo, Öhlins, etc use metric. It was a spannering nightmare, so the team changed all the bolt heads to 8mm, 10mm or 12mm, no matter what the thread.
ENGINE
Stock engine cases from a 131 cubic inch (2147cc) Road Glide, with a 4.01in (101.9mm) bore and 4.5in (114.3mm) stroke. Ported and gas-flowed head and loads of secret squirrel components. Peak power is rumoured to be 185bhp.
How are the riders extracting such spe
