The Harley-Davidson Motor Company rolls its “original stripped-down hot-rod bagger,” the base-model FLHX Street Glide, over into MY23 with its powerful Milwaukee-Eight 107 mill, fork-mount fairing, and stock hard bags. Top-shelf Showa forks deliver a plush ride for long-distance comfort, even on less-than-stellar roads. Infotainment goodies come equipped, but none of the other available ride-control electronics come stock and are only available as optional equipment at an extra charge, at least for now.
The Street Glide's roots run deep, all the way back to 2008. The FL platform itself is around a century old at this point and counting, and this model is the natural evolution of a longstanding build philosophy.
2023 Harley-Davidson Street Glide
- Model
- Street Glide
- Engine:
- 1,716 cc V-Twin
- Power Output
- 86 HP
- Torque
- 109 LB-FT
- Transmission
- 6-Speed Cruise
- Driveline
- Belt
- Classic Good Looks
- Strong Engine
- Solid Pedigree With Continuity Of Design
- Stock Electronics Could Be Better
- External Antennae Ruins The Look
2023 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Performance And Capability
H-D powers its base-model Street Glide with the Milwaukee-Eight 107 which also sits at the bottom of the pecking order within the Mil-8 family. This engine family marks a return to the classic, single-cam nosecone from the Twin Cam design, so the nosecone and pushrod-tube geometry look more like the old Evolution and Shovelhead mills. There's one major difference in the valvetrain, the Mil-8 actually has four-valve heads instead of two, for much better induction and exhaust flow.
Bore and stroke mic out at 100 mm and 111.1 mm respectively, for a 1,746 cc total displacement and mild, 10-to-1 compression ratio that'll take mid-grade octane just fine. The 2023 H-D Street Glide produces 86 horsepower and 109 pound-feet of torque.
Mainly an air-cooled plant, it rocks a small oil cooler low on the downtubes that adds some thermal protection for the engine's lifeblood, though the mill still lacks the thermal stability offered by liquid-cooling equipment. Power flows through a chain-type primary drive with a slipper clutch to couple engine power to the six-speed “Cruise Drive” transmission. A quiet and low-maintenance carbon-reinforced belt drive carries power to the rear wheel with a Street Glide top speed of 130 MPH, which is plenty fast for any U.S. roads.
Design
The overall Street Glide design is equal parts modern and classic. It starts right away with the full-length front fender that has that classic shape, but without all the usual chrome accouterments, the script and skirt, and all that. This leans into classic-custom country right away.
Chrome beercan fork skirts beef up an already substantial front end, as do the tripletree covers, but the fork-mounted batwing fairing pared down from the old standard barndoor has less windage with similar levels of protection. There's a short smoked screen atop the fairing with vents just below to relieve the vacuum behind the fairing and smooth out the slipstream to mitigate the wearisome head-buffet effect.
Around in the inner fairing, a set of four round gauges join with a 4.3-inch color TFT screen to handle all the instrumentation and electronic controls. If that isn't big enough, you can upgrade to a 6.5-inch screen. A chrome console and fuel door bifurcate the six-gallon fuel tank that gives the Street Glide a tourbike's legs on the highways and interstates.
The laden seat height is 26.1 inches off the ground, which is pretty low and should provide good leverage and confidence at stops and when padding around the parking lot. Fold-up footpegs join with a beefy pillion pad for passenger comfort, but there's no grab rail on the stock bike. Hard bags complete the build, and the latch is such that you can open or close it while wearing gloves for your convenience.
Specs & Dimensions
Length | 96.5 in |
Width | 37.8 in |
Height | 53.1 in |
Seat Height, Laden/Unladen | 26.1 in/27.4 in |
Wheelbase | 64 in |
Ground Clearance | 5.3 in |
Fuel Capacity | 6 gals w/ 1-gal reserve |
Curb Weight | 829 lb |
Dry Weight | 796 lb |
Luggage Capacity | 2.3 cu ft |
Chassis
Mild-steel tubing on the Street Glide makes up the double-downtube/dual-cradle frame with a two-piece stamped and welded backbone as the main load-bearing member. The yoke-style swingarm is likewise made of mild steel with forged junctions for extra strength at critical areas.
A 26-degree rake, 29.25-degree fork angle, and 6.7-inch trail point to a stable ride with good road manners at speed and solid tracking in a crosswind. Showa Dual Bending Valve forks float the front end on 43 mm tubes with 4.6 inches of travel. They have no adjustments, but the whole bending-valve thing delivers a plush ride with event-driven damping that is far superior to plain vanilla stems.
The rear suspension sports a hand-adjustable preload adjustment and short, 2.1 inches of travel out back. That's a short travel figure, it's true, but that's the tradeoff for the low seat height, so it is what it is.
Enforcer II cast-aluminum rims round out the rolling chassis with a 19-inch rim ahead of an 18-inch one with a 130/60 and 180/55 Dunlop hoop, respectively. Dual 300 mm discs and four-bore calipers slow the front wheel, while out back, another 300 mm disc four-pot anchor takes care of business. ABS isn't stock but is available on the options list if you can't live without it.
Chassis & Suspension
Frame | Mild steel; tubular frame; two-piece stamped and welded backbone; cast and forged junctions; twin downtubes; bolt-on rear frame with forged fender supports; MIG welded. |
Swingarm | Mild steel; two-piece drawn and welded section; forged junctions; MIG welded. |
Front Suspension/ Travel | 49 mm Dual Bending Valve/ 4.6 in |
Rear Suspension/ Travel | Premium Low Hand-Adjustable Rear Suspension/ 2.1 in |
Rake | 26° |
Trail | 6.7 in |
Lean Angle, Left/Right | 29°/31° |
Front Wheel | Enforcer II Cast Aluminum 3.5 in x 19 in |
Rear Wheel | Enforcer II Cast Aluminum 5 in x 18 in |
Front Tire | D408F 130/60B19 61H |
Rear Tire | D407T BW 180/55B18 80H |
Front Brake | Dual 300 mm floating rotors, 4-piston fixed caliper |
Rear Brake | 300 mm fixed rotor, 4-piston fixed caliper |
ABS | Optional |
2023 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Price And Availability
MSRP on the 2023 H-D Street Glide starts at $21,999. Of course, that's for the Vivid Black colorway. If you fancy the Redline Red or Atlas Silver Metallic, you can expect to fork over another $750. You can add ABS for $950 and the RDRS system for $1,100. To ride in style, add the premium radio system for another $1,000.
Pricing & Features
Features | Security System, Cruise Control |
Warranty | 24 months (unlimited mileage) |
Colors | |
└ 2018 | Vivid Black, Black Tempest, Industrial Gray Denim, Wicked Red, Electric Blue, Silver Fortune, Hard Candy Shattered Flake, Hard Candy Chameleon Flake, (115th Anniversary: Legend Blue/Vivid Black) |
└ 2019 | Vivid Black, Wicked Red, Midnight Blue, Kinetic Green, Blue Max |
└ 2020 | Vivid Black, Black Denim, Midnight Blue, Barracuda Silver, Stiletto Red, Tahitian Teal |
└ 2021 | Vivid Black, River Rock Gray, Billiard Red |
└ 2022 | Vivid Black, Midnight Crimson, White Sand Pearl |
└ 2023 | Vivid Black, Redline Red, Atlas Silver Metallic |
Price | |
└ 2018 | $20,999, Color, $21,499, Two-Tone Custom Color: $23,999 (115th Anniversary: $22,799) |
└ 2019 | $21,289, Color: $21,699 |
└ 2020 | $21,999, Color: $22,499, Custom Color: $23,199 |
└ 2021 | $21,999, Color: $22,499 |
└ 2022 | $21,430, Color: $22,005 |
└ 2023 | $21,999, Color: $22,749 |
Competitors
With such genuine domestic chops, I had little choice but to go to Indian Motorcycle for its own bagger-tastic Chieftain. As far as looks, the two are like different sides of the same coin.
Indian Chieftain
Indian runs the full-length front fender, but chops the sides down to look more modern and fresh. On bikes such as these, the engine is important not just for its power, but for its looks. It's hard to beat a proper V-twin when building an American bike, and that holds true here as well. The Thunderstroke 111 takes things a bit further with a {faux} flathead look that really takes the imagination back in time. It's an illusion of course, but it looks the part.
Indian offers its own infotainment package to break even there but surges ahead with its stock Ride Command feature that brings riding modes and ABS to the table. The engine puts out 119 pound-feet of torque for a slim edge over its Harley counterpart. The Chieftain comes in any color you want, as long as you want black, to cede the color advantage to the King of Paint.
He Said
“Baggers are wonderful tools. You can tour, you can commute, you can get groceries, or just play on the weekends. H-D does a bang-up job with its base-model Street Glide, but this bike also has a trio of enhanced models to make this a fairly important platform for The MoCo. Go ahead and pencil me in as a fan.”
She Said
My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says,
“This is a big bike, but it's agile and surprisingly nimble. I'm not a fan of the batwing fairing, but as always, if I'm sitting on it, I'm not looking at it. It's a Harley, and they've never used price as a selling point, but it's a really nice touring bike. If you want to upscale a bit, there's the Street Glide ST and the Street Glide Special and new for 2023, the CVO Street Glide with the Milwaukee-Eight 121 engine in it.”
FAQ
Q: How much does a Harley-Davidson 2023 Street Glide cost?
For 2023, MSRP on the Harley-Davidson Street Glide starts at $21,999 for Vivid Black. For the color options, Redline Red or Atlas Silver Metallic, MSRP starts at $22,749.
Q: How fast can a Harley Street Glide go?
Without modifications or after-market options, the top speed of the Street Glide is 130 MPH.
Q: Which is better Street Glide or Road Glide?
"Better" is such a relative term. What is better for one person isn't better for another person, so you need test rides to make that determination for yourself. The bikes are very similar, but the Road Glide has sharknose fairing, whereas the Street Glide has a batwing fairing.
Q: Which is bigger Road King or Street Glide?
The Street Glide and the Road King are similarly sized bikes. Both are 96.5 inches long with a 64-inch wheelbase and both are within a couple pounds of each other in curb weight. Likewise, the laden set height is within a quarter-inch of each other. One bike is not clearly "bigger" than the other. A noticeable difference between them is in the fairing mount. The Street Glide has a fork-mounted batwing fairing whereas the Road King has a frame-mounted fairing in the form of a tall, touring windcreen. This affects how the bike feels when underway, but makes no difference as to the size of the bike.