Hail To The King

Harley-Davidson royalty that still surprises …

- David Cohen

“Yeah, it does handle surprisingly well,” Spook said after he’d done the umpteenth U-turn during the photoshoot.

We were making our way up the Springbrook road on the Gold Coast Hinterland and he was repeatedly jumping off his Breakout and onto the Road King for the ride-by shots.

He was absolutely correct too, for a machine that tips the scales at 360kg dry, it handles like a much smaller and lighter bike.

The latest in the line of storied FLHR motorcycles has evolved to a point where it has become a very accomplished all-round machine. This is no longer ‘just’ a large-capacity touring bike.

Going back to issue #149 of HEAVY DUTY and our first test of the current configuration featuring the 107-cube M8 engine – and all the ensuing Milwaukee-Eights we’ve ridden since – the new motor has become better, tighter and a little more pleasant with every model year.

As far as stock engines are concerned, this is easily the sweetest and smoothest of the several dozen I’ve tested so far. And yes, I have written that several times on these esteemed pages, but that’s because every one of them since that ’17 has raised the bar (and shield) slightly.

For 2020 it has the same 100x111mm bore and stroke, it still displaces 107ci [1746cc] with a 10:1 compression ratio, it still produces 150nm at 3250rpm, but … somehow, it’s just a little bit nicer.

I don’t know if we’ve reached peak 107 yet, but this motor must be getting pretty close. I found myself constantly having to check the speedo because it’s so easy to exceed the limit on this bike. So effortless and refined has it become. Seriously. A number of times I was just cruising along during the two-week test, looked down at the tank mounted instrument cluster and went, “Ooops’, slow down Davey-boy.”