Harley-Davidson’s New CVO Models Hint At The Company’s Higher-Tech Future Motorcycles

For decades, Harley-Davidson’s “CVO” machines have always been the company’s bucks-up limited-edition halo machines. Factory customized limited-edition specials based on current platforms, CVO models are given the lux treatment with special paint jobs, punched-out motors and a parts book full of accessories by the “Custom Vehicle Operations” skunkworks at the Milwaukee-based motorcycle maker. They typically reflected what many riders (and Harley stylists) would opt for given unfettered access to the considerable catalog of Harley’s available upgrades. But this year, the CVOs seem to be a bit different.

For 2023, the result is a pair of new CVO bikes that are both a showcase of what Harley-Davidson can create style-wise, and a frankly surprising preview at some new tech that will appear soon on many other motorcycles in the H-D lineup. There are two new CVO bikes, the CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide, both light tourers with windscreens and two hard bags out back. The difference is essentially the front windscreen, which is a “batwing” fork-mounted system on the Street Glide while the Road Glide uses a larger, frame-mounted design. Pricing starts at $42,999 for both models. You can option them up in some ways, but suffice to say, they come pretty much fully loaded from the factory. One more CVO model, the luxury touring-spec Road Glide Limited, carries over from 2022.

“With the all-new CVO Street Glide and CVO Road Glide models, our mission is to advance every aspect of the Grand American Touring motorcycling experience,” said Jochen Zeitz, Chairman, President and CEO of Harley-Davidson in a press release. “These models set a new standard for Harley-Davidson performance, technology and style, accelerating the evolution of the world’s most desirable motorcycle brand.”

While both new bikes are essentially based on the current Street and Road Glide platforms, they have key differences, including the most obvious upgrade, the massive new 121-cubic inch (1,982 cc) Milwaukee-Eight V-Twin with four valve heads and for the first time, variable valve timing (VVT).

VVT tech helps spread the power around over a wider RPM range, while new intake and exhaust systems aid flow through the pair of nearly one-liter cylinders. Harley hasn’t gone to a full liquid-cooling “look” on their big bikes like Indian has with its Challenger line since heavily finned air-cooled cylinders are a key styling point for Harley’s big twins, but the heads do get some help from a new partial liquid cooling system that helps keep temperatures around the exhaust exits and piston tops within reason. The small radiator is tucked away down low on the frame. Harley’s new but smaller 975 cc Sportster Nightster Revolution motor makes no effort to hide that it is liquid cooled, so things may be slowly trending in that direction.

For the first time in memory, Harley has actually published horsepower figures for this engine, which make 115 ponies and a stout 139 pound feet of torque at 3,000 rpm. The power is needed as both bikes weigh in at over 800 pounds and that’s before loading up the hard cases and possibly adding a passenger. However, H-D does claim each bike has lost over 30 pounds compared to previous CVO models.

Besides the new engine, the CVO bikes include copious tech upgrades, including LED lighting all around that does away with the legacy bulb-and-lens type turn signals in favor of long LED strips that streamline, simplify and further stylize the look of the bikes. The fairings are also wind-tunnel refined while essentially retaining the legacy look of older Glide models, but include rider-adjustable “air control valves” to fine-tune the airflow. The company says revised suspension features 50% more rear shock travel through a Showa monoshock. Front forks are also by Showa.

Inside the fairings, old-style speedometers and tachometers are gone in favor of a new wide, customizable 12.3-inch TFT touchscreen that shows those bits (nicely rendered digital representations of the old analog clocks) plus myriad bike stats, detailed GPS, music controls and a lot of other info via Harley’s new SkyLine OS, which includes an app as well as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Riders using in-helmet comms from Cardo, Sena and others should be able to connect to SkyLine wirelessly for more options. For those wanting to forego in-helmet music, the bikes also come with a pumped-up 500-Watt “Stage II” four-speaker audio system from Harley’s long-time audio partner Rockford Fosgate.

Also new: Harley has long resisted using “ride modes” but the CVOs will include Road, Sport and Rain settings that tailor power delivery and engine braking. Additional safety measures include Cornering-Antilock Braking System (C-ABS) and Cornering-Traction Control System (C-TCS) settings.

So while the look of the CVO machines has not radically changed, other considerable updates and technologies are clearly now in play. As with many car companies, the cool new features on the the limited production top-end models tend to trickle down to the mass-production bikes over time, and with renewed competition from Indian, it’s a good bet those timetables are seeing some acceleration.

The new CVO models should arrive at dealerships in July.