Harley-Davidson 1870 Road King Special FLHRXS 2024 — Specifications

Who said you have to choose between tradition and technology? Harley-Davidson attempts a balancing act with its 2024 Road King Special FLHRXS, a machine that dresses its 1868 cc in deep black while hiding beneath its dark skin an electronic arsenal worthy of a German sportbike. The result is a tourer that's old-school in spirit and thoroughly modern in its guts.

The visual recipe is simple and effective. Milwaukee has dipped its Road King in an ink bath. Crash bars, engine covers, exhaust, mirrors, Mini-Ape handlebar — everything gets the treatment. Only a few cooling fins and pushrod tubes still dare to flash chrome, like a subtle reminder that beneath this black armor beats a very real 45-degree V-twin. The 19-inch front and 18-inch rear Prodigy wheels replace the former 16-inchers, stretching the silhouette and sharpening the stance. The seat, set just 695 mm off the ground, plants the rider deep into the machine. You put both feet flat, grab the raised handlebar, and the tone is set. The Road King Special doesn't play aristocrat. It prefers leather over velvet.

On the engine side, the Milwaukee-Eight 114 puts out 93 horsepower at 5,250 rpm and, more importantly, 157.9 Nm of torque from just 3,250 rpm. These aren't numbers that make a track rider dream, but on the road, that low, steady thrust changes everything. The V-twin pulls hard from the first crack of the throttle, with a smoothness that neither the BMW R 18 nor the Indian Chieftain quite replicate in the same way. The belt drive and six-speed gearbox do their job without fuss. You ride, you eat up the miles, you forget the mechanics and focus on the scenery. Top speed caps out at 160 km/h, which clearly defines the beast: it wasn't built to sprint, it was built to last.

The real game-changer lies in the onboard electronics. The Reflex RDRS package brings multi-mode adjustable traction control, lean-angle-sensitive linked ABS, drag-torque slip control on downshifts, a hill-start assist, and a tire pressure monitoring system. For a machine born from a "less is more" culture, it's a quiet revolution. These aids stay discreet under normal use. They only step in when the situation demands it, and that's exactly what you expect from a 366 kg wet-weight tourer. Because at that weight, with a 22.7-liter tank and hard saddlebags, the slightest lapse in anticipation comes at a cost. The 49 mm telescopic hydraulic fork and twin rear emulsion shocks offer limited travel — 117 mm up front and 55 mm at the rear. Enough on clean tarmac, a bit short on rough roads.

The Road King Special targets a specific audience. Experienced long-distance riders, comfortable with the size and weight, who want road presence without the full fairing of a Street Glide. At €28,790, it sits in the upper tier of the touring segment, facing an Indian Springfield Dark Horse or a BMW R 18 B that bring different but comparable arguments. Its steel double-cradle frame, 300 mm disc brakes, and proven chassis hold no surprises. That's exactly what's asked of it. The Road King Special isn't trying to reinvent motorcycle touring. It simply offers a way to experience it with a certain gravity, mechanical poise, and a hint of rebellion restrained beneath the matte black.