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Review
Harley-Davidson Road King Classic review: new engine oozes appeal
The latest Road King Classic highlights the approach that has served Harley-Davidson so well in recent decades. It has a brand new engine and an updated chassis. Yet with its unchanged screen, running lights, copious chrome, white-wall tyres and saddle-bags, the Classic still looks as though it rolled off Harley’s production line in the Fifties.
Its key upgrade is the Milwaukee-Eight engine, the name combining Harley’s Wisconsin home town with the air-cooled, V-twin unit’s increased number of valves. The four-valves-per-cylinder design, Harley proudly informs us (just as the Japanese manufacturers did when adopting a similar layout in the early Eighties), allows more efficient combustion and a resultant increase in torque, in this case of about ten per cent.
The new V-twin engine, only the ninth in Harley’s 114-year history, is being introduced throughout the firm’s Touring family, which also includes the half-faired Street Glide and Road Glide “baggers” plus the giant Ultra Classic. Its full name of Milwaukee-Eight 107 refers to the increased capacity of 1,745cc, or 107 cubic inches.
Along with the extra cubes and performance, Harley has added an oil-cooling system for the cylinder heads (the Ultra Classic, as before, gets partial liquid-cooling), plus a balancer shaft to reduce vibration. This is apparent immediately the Road King Classic comes to life: the bigger V-twin idles smoothly, the previous 1,690cc model’s low-rev juddering gone.
It pulls away a little more enthusiastically, too, its rider also benefitting from the reworked clutch’s slightly lighter action. The eight-valve V-twin’s extra power is not dramatic but it’s welcome, giving the Classic subtly enhanced acceleration that is especially useful when overtaking.
In other respects the Road King Classic experience has changed very little. You still sit bolt upright, looking over a near-vertical screen, gripping wide, pulled-back handlebars with boots on generous footboards. Thankfully, the new-found smoothness and sophistication hasn’t dulled the character that is at the heart of any Harley’s appeal. There’s still a distinct V-twin feel, and reduced mechanical noise has allowed a slightly sharper exhaust note while also complying with Euro 4 regulations.
Like Harley’s other updated Touring models, the Classic also features new suspension from Japanese specialist Showa. Front forks have more sophisticated damping; the twin rear shocks abandon the previous model’s air-adjustment for conventional springs with remotely adjustable preload. (Harley says many owners either over-inflated the old units with garage pumps or allowed pressures to drop.)
This latest set-up works well. Ride quality is excellent, and the Classic has a distinctly more stable feel when cornering, especially on bumpy surfaces. Despite being long, and heavy at over 370kg, it steers easily and handles well enough to be fun on a twisty road, although like most big American V-twins it is limited by ground clearance. Braking, once a Harley weakness, is respectably powerful too.
The Classic is also versatile, not least because its screen, which allowed a pleasantly turbulence-free ride although I’m tall, can quickly be unclipped to leave a naked cruiser for short trips. Alternatively, on longer rides the Harley has a realistic fuel range of 200 miles or more; and its stepped dual-seat, although not very generous to a pillion, seems respectably comfortable.
The Classic’s soft panniers are also useful, despite being neither particularly capacious nor remotely secure. It’s easy to understand why many buyers opt for the standard Road King, which has hard panniers, cast wheels and conventional black tyres, and costs slightly less than the Classic’s £19,195.
But there’s something quintessentially Harley-Davidson about the Classic’s wire wheels and white-walls, which complement other eye-catching, if not strictly necessary, Fifties-style features including chrome-plated running lights and tank-top instrument console. This thoughtfully updated Road King Classic is subtly quicker and more refined; a genuinely practical, capable modern motorbike. And best of all, to look at it you’d never have a clue.
THE FACTS
Harley-Davidson Road King Classic
Tested: 1,745cc four-stroke V-twin, six-speed transmission
Price/on sale: £19,199 (£19,945 with two-tone paint)/October
Power/torque: 90bhp approx/110b ft @ 3,250rpm
Top speed: 110mph (estimated)
Range: 200 miles @ 45mpg (estimated)
Verdict: Classically styled, effectively updated American V-twin that offers refined performance and genuine versatility plus plenty of traditional glitz and chrome
Telegraph rating: Four out of five stars
RIVALS
Indian Springfield, £19,599
Harley’s old rival is back with a vengeance and the Springfield is a worthy opponent for the Road King, with a similarly punchy 1,811cc engine, versatile layout and lashings of chrome
Moto Guzzi Eldorado, £15,636
The 1,380cc Eldorado offers vintage V-twin style with an Italian accent, plus pleasing all-round performance, but lacks the screen and panniers of the now discontinued California Touring
Triumph Thunderbird LT, £14,800
Britain’s closest competitor matches the Classic with its screen, soft panniers and chrome, and works well although its 1,699cc parallel twin engine lacks the Harley V-twin’s character
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