Harley-Davidson 1920 Road Glide FLTRX 2025 — Specifications

Remember that silhouette that rolled onto American roads in the late '90s, that square snout, those two round headlights set into a frame-mounted fairing. The Shark Nose was born, and with it a certain idea of the long-distance bagger, capable of knocking off states without flinching. Nearly three decades later, the 2025 FLTRX carries on that lineage while embracing the radical transformation begun in 2023 with the CVO. The shark has traded its gaze for that of a stealth fighter, and along the way Milwaukee claims 60% less turbulence. For anyone who's already swallowed 800 kilometers of highway on a mistral-swept day, the argument carries real weight.

Beneath the 22.7-liter tank roars the Milwaukee-Eight 117, a 45° V-twin displacing 1923 cc now backed by liquid cooling on the cylinder heads. The spec sheet claims 107 horsepower at 5020 rpm and, above all, 174.6 Nm from just 3500 rpm, with a 10.3:1 compression ratio and the long-stroke dimensions typical of the house (103.5 x 114.3 mm). Pushing into the redline makes no sense here. Everything happens between 2500 and 4000 rpm, where the torque shoves you from one pull to the next like a shoulder check. Against the previous Road Glide Special and its 114 ci, the 117 gains 14 horsepower and 17 Nm. The gap is felt immediately at the throttle, especially two-up with luggage.

Still, you don't make 380 kg fully fueled levitate by magic. The 49 mm fork with 117 mm of travel and the two side-mounted shocks limited to 76 mm do what they can, but on truly beat-up pavement, the Road Glide reminds you it was born for the smooth highways of the Midwest, not the battered back roads of the Massif Central. The brakes, two 300 mm discs up front with four-piston calipers and a single one at the rear, demand anticipation. Fortunately, the electronics package has taken a spectacular leap forward, four ride modes, cornering-sensitive ABS and traction control, linked braking, slip assist and hill-start assist. A Honda Gold Wing remains more precise, quieter, more surgical, but it has neither this voice nor this character.

The great shift also plays out on the dashboard. The 12.3-inch touchscreen of the Skyline system swallows up all the analog gauges of yesteryear. Navigation, telephony, intercom, 200-watt sound system with two 50-watt speakers, USB and smartphone connectivity, it's all there. Fans nostalgic for needle-driven tachometers will grumble, the rest will finally appreciate ergonomics worthy of 2025. With 69 liters of storage in its hard saddlebags, a seat perched just 720 mm off the ground and a claimed top speed of 170 km/h, the machine clearly targets the American-leaning tourer, the one who dreams of Route 66 more than the Col du Galibier.

At 32,600 euros, the bill places the FLTRX in a price bracket where the Indian Challenger, better faired and a touch more modern in the chassis department, prowls seriously. The real rival, however, remains in-house, the Street Glide, a twin at a nearly identical price, with a fairing fixed to the handlebar rather than to the frame. Choosing between the two owes less to reason than to aesthetic sensibility, one for the faithful of the square fairing, the other for fans of the classic bat-wing. The 2025 Road Glide is neither a bike for track riders nor for urban commuters in a hurry. It's a belt-driven ocean liner, built for those who measure their journeys in time zones.