2026 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET GLIDE LIMITED

Glide the Streets, Own the Journey

It isn’t about just arriving at your destination; it's about savouring every mile with a smile.

On a beautiful sunny spring morning, the black van rocked up to the front of the house. Glinting in the sun, the gleaming, sparkling Candy Red paint oozed richness as the huge Harley rolled down the ramp. The delivery agent handled the bulk well, considering he wasn’t a big chap! Keys handed to me and off he went. I stood and pondered for a while, deciding how I felt about riding this brute. I considered the type of person who might ride something like this and decided it would be a cool uncle who would show up at family BBQ wearing aviators, smelling every so faintly of leather and freedom, then somehow convinces you to skip dessert whilst whizzing off on a 300-mile ride out instead.

If you have ever wondered what it is like to ride a small, well-appointed living room down the road, then this Harley-Davidson Street Glide Limited is your answer. It really is a mobile monument to comfort. It shouts, Stop faffing about and let's cross continents in comfort. And whilst it is shouting that, it is looking over at your car thinking, I could bench press that!

That engine, wow, a huge V-twin 1917cc Milwaukee-Eight VVT117 engine. That thing doesn’t just purr when you start it up; it growls like it's just been rudely awoken.

Time to take it round the block for a quick spin just to see how it all works. But first, the 12.3-inch TFT screen- wow, this is good. Very clear and with my lack of technical ability even I could work it. I did manage to make myself jump when I hit the music set up and Dire Straits blasted out! Excellent sound quality coming from the Rockford Fosgate system – 200 watts no less! I could happily park it up and have a party! Sat nav system, heated grips and the game changer of all game changers – heated seats, and what a comfortable padded seat too! Other options on the ‘Infotainment system’ are voice control, Apple CarPlay, over-the-air updates and of course Bluetooth connectivity. There is even a little pull-out tray to plug your phone into and tuck away.

Sat astride the bike, comfort comes in oodles. It does make you think, harking back to the comfy seat, did Harley employ a sofa company to design the seat as it really is sumptuous. With the heated seat on, I am sure one could easily forget you might be riding in the cold, especially with heated grips on as well. Next thing we know they will be channelling oodles of hot air coming up from the engine into your lap – now there’s a thought!

Right, why won’t it start? Side stand up, clutch in, nothing. Ah, that’ll be because it’s in first gear, silly me. It does have the gear position display sat in the middle of the speedo, and in fairness to me it did say ‘N’ but clearly not quite. Starting up sounds like it's winding up a small turbine, then boom, is that thunder? No, it’s the 1917 cc V-twin firing up.

First gear, not as bad a clunk as it used to be, but it is still there. The gearbox is supposed to be more refined, so we shall see.

The ‘round the block’ trip took me up to Newlands Corner, a beauty spot in Surrey on the North Downs. Shifting through the gears was really smooth, very deliberate but smooth. Changing down through the 6-speed box wasn’t bad either, although 2nd to 1st does still come with a relatively loud ‘clunk’.

Handling-wise, I was very pleasantly surprised; I am a big chap so possibly my weight helped with cornering. I did think I would have to wrestle it round the corners, but actually it appeared to just float effortlessly, making the whole experience enjoyable.

Arriving at Newlands, no one about. Fantastic views and sun and blue sky. Hmmm, let's take it off road and get some shots on the grass. The red contrasted with the sky and fields and looked fantastic. Note to self though, perhaps don’t take a huge Harley off road; I can’t say it was an easy and pleasurable experience. Once I secured the shots I wanted, and with both feet skirting the ground in case of ruts and tracks, I slowly emerged back into the car park – phew.

Another ride out to cover some more miles takes me down to the South Coast, Arundel and Littlehampton, and gives me a chance to properly open her up and do some cruising. The big V-twin Milwaukee VVT 117 produces 106bhp and 131lb-ft of torque, giving super roll-on acceleration in most gears, and effortless cruising. The variable valve timing does broaden the torque curve and improve low-speed tractability and high-speed overtaking power. The engine is more refined now, though, and comes with a combination of cooling aids, air, oil and liquid, so it does help maintain its performance and reliability when pushing on. My disappointment comes when we hit traffic. In crawling traffic, I found it difficult to filter down the outside at slow speed; there just isn’t the room on our roads for fear of clouting a wing mirror with the rather wide handlebars and batwing fairing that has been remodelled with some swanky flush-fitting LEDs, which looked the business. It does make you feel like you are riding an armchair whilst looking at an old-fashioned sideboard, housing a digital TV screen; it's huge. As said before though, the buttons and switches are all well laid out, and as you pretty much look at the infotainment system head-on rather than down, you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to make changes.

On the way down to the coast I located the ride modes: road, rain, sport and custom. I did have to chuckle to myself at the ‘Sport’ mode, as I thought that might be a little optimistic. These modes adjust the throttle response and traction control behaviour. The ABS is ‘cornering aware’, plus there is traction control, engine drag torque control and hill assist giving the big Harley some great safety features. I have to say that one simple piece of kit that I really found useful was the ‘hill assist’. Holding the front brake in, and the lever vibrates. A little warning light appears on the dash to say hill assist engaged. It just stops the bike rolling back. You can release the brake, and she stays still. Engage 1st gear, pull away, and it auto-releases- fantastic.

One thing I haven’t mentioned as yet is the suspension set up. Up front, the suspension incorporates Showa Dual Bending Valve (DBV) 49 mm forks, which use a specially designed dual-valve structure to generate both compression and rebound damping forces. This gives riders the high-performance feel and stability of a premium cartridge-style fork, with a lighter, simpler design. They do a great job of ironing out the lumps and bumps in our roads, especially at the moment with the amount of potholes about.

At the rear, the suspension comprises emulsion shocks with hydraulic hand-adjustable preload, offering 3 inches of rear suspension travel. Emulsion shocks are a type of nitrogen gas-charged shock absorber, where the damping oil and nitrogen gas are allowed to mix directly together ("emulsify") inside the main shock body. I did play around with these and found it to be quite effective. The point at which I altered it was when I took my wife out to the supermarket. My wife doesn’t do motorbikes but loves the back of the Harley, especially with the heated seat on.

Parked up in the car park using a whole space, we completed our shopping and came out, parking the trolley next to the bike. An elderly couple sat in the car next to us and said with a chuckle, ‘You’re not going to get that lot in there, are you? ’ The response was – ‘watch me’. Much to my surprise, it did all go in. It’s phenomenal what you can load up in the Grand Tour-pack; it's enormous: in total 2.4 cubic feet of space! You can fit two crash hats in there plus a change of clothes, wash bag and towels; it's great. There is even a 12V charger in the top box. It was at this point I adjusted the rear shock to balance out the weight of the shopping, which was mostly beer, but also my other half. The bike handled perfectly, didn’t even sniff at the extra weight it was hauling. We switched the music on, and off we went.

A few of my own thoughts:

Fors

Comfort in spades

Load capacity

Great Technology

Lovely colourways

Against

The feeling of too big for our roads

Not easy to handle at slow speeds

Could do with a creep reverse gear

To summarise

It’s a brute of a bike. The 2026 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Limited is the most advanced, Bat Wing faired, touring motorcycle to date, in fantastic colours. It has loads of character from the big 1917cc V-Twin 117 Milwaukee engine. It has been cleverly paired with modern-day electronics with plenty of gadgetry to play with. It is seriously comfortable and long distances are a breeze, with the added benefit of significant luggage capacity. 

If you are looking for a ride with an up market Amercian touring experience, then this is a model of bike that will stand out for you. It is a perfect blend of traditional Harley-Davidson and cutting-edge technology. It isn’t about just arriving at your destination; it's about savouring every mile with a smile.