FEATURE - 2022 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET GLIDE ST AND ROAD - JUST BIKES

FEATURE - 2022 Harley-Davidson Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST

Words: Mike Ryan

Photos: Harley-Davidson ANZ

Grand American Touring is where it’s at for Harley-Davidson in 2022. The mainstay of Harley’s lineup gets a makeover for the new year, with the range expanded by the inclusion of two new models – what The Motor Company are calling the first factory performance baggers - the Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST.

FEATURE - 2022 Harley-Davidson Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST

As part of Harley-Davidson’s “Further, Faster” theme for their 2022 model range, the focus is on upping the performance ante. This is evidenced by the fact that the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine, previously the domain of the high-spec, hand-finished and high priced CVO range, is now available on two Grand American Touring models and even two Softail models for 2022.

Touring models that get the largest production engine Harley currently offer are new versions of the Street Glide and Road Glide baggers, dubbed the Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST.

While Harley themselves don’t clarify what “ST” actually refers to, it’s a safe bet that “Sport Touring” is the meaning. Sport Touring is certainly the intention, as thanks to the engine upgrade, both new models offer more power out of the crate than any previous non-CVO Harley Touring model.

Both also come with taller rear suspension and a solo seat as standard, while deleted pillion pegs further reinforce the “built for one” ethos behind these models.

In terms of the other features and styling, both the Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST are broadly similar to the models they’re based on. Only two colour options are offered on each, both of which go for the blackout treatment as standard and include dark bronze wheels and detailing.

Milwaukee-Eight 117

As an upgrade of the Milwaukee-Eight 114, the 117 version achieves the extra three cubic inches through an increase in the bore from 102mm to 103.5mm (4.016 inch to 4.075 inch in old measure), while stroke remains the same at 114.3mm (4.5 inch). Standard componentry on the 117 as fitted to the Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST includes a high-performance camshaft, high-flow Heavy Breather air intake and high-performance exhaust system.

The result is a performance hike from the 114's 72kW and 160Nm to 79kW and 172Nm. Peak power comes on earlier in the rev range on the ST – 4750rpm vs 5020rpm in the Street Glide Special. Maximum torque comes on later – 3750rpm instead of 3250rpm, again using the Milwaukee-Eight 114 in the Street Glide Special as comparison.

These numbers are the same for the Road Glide ST versus the Road Glide Special, as the ST uses the 117 engine, while the Special uses the 114.

If those numbers aren’t big enough, Screamin’ Eagle Performance Parts upgrade kits in various stages are optionally available.

In both the new ST models, the Milwaukee-Eight 117 is matched to Harley’s six-speed Cruise Drive transmission.

Listed fuel economy is 5.7lt/100km, which is slightly up on the Street Glide and Road Glide fitted with the 114 engine at 5.5lt/100km.

2022 Street Glide ST

Inspired by Harley’s entry in the King of Baggers race series in the US, the Street Glide ST is described as a “new breed of speed”.

Aside from the engine intake, visual cues to the Street Glide ST’s difference over a Street Glide Special include the cut-down front mudguard, standard panniers (instead of the extended panniers), a conventional tail light, hidden antenna and model-specific bronze detailing, while a much subtler change is the increased rear suspension travel.

Place a Street Glide Special and Street Glide ST alongside each other and the differences in ride height are imperceptible, but there’s an additional 22mm of travel in the ST – 76mm vs 54mm – achieved via tweaks to the rear shocks. While more rear travel will be welcome here in Australia on our typically poor roads, this change wasn’t made with us in mind. Instead, the aim was to give the Street Glide ST sportier handling.

The rear suspension tweaks and standard panniers will allow for more aggressive cornering, but that aggression is tempered somewhat by the fact that lean angles on the ST are no different from those on the Special, at 32 degrees right and 31 degrees left.

Preload on the Street Glide ST’s rear suspension can be manually adjusted, as per the Street Glide Special, while front suspension componentry and travel are unchanged. The 49mm forks with dual bending valve technology and 117mm of travel are the same as that offered on the Street Glide Special.

Wheels and brakes are common across both models, too. Prodigy alloys in a 19/18 front/rear combination are standard but get their own special finish on the ST, while the dual 300mm floating front brake discs, a single fixed 300mm rear disc and 4-piston Brembo calipers at each end are unchanged from the Special.

Harley’s Cornering Rider Safety Enhancements are fitted to the Street Glide ST as standard and include electronically linked braking and Cornering ABS, Cornering Traction Control that’s adjustable, Drag Torque Slip Control, Vehicle Hold Control and Tyre Pressure Monitoring.

Harley’s Smart Security System with proximity-based, hands-free fob is standard on the ST, too, as is the Boom! Box GTS audio system with colour TFT touchscreen controls and GPS functionality. Above the TFT screen, there’s a quartet of analogue gauges for the speedo, tacho, fuel level and volts. The speedo gauge includes a small LCD screen for the odometer and tripmeters, with the idiot lights spread across the speedo and tacho.

In terms of styling, the Street Glide ST features the same ‘Batwing’ fork-mounted fairing as the Street Glide Special, along with the same Daymaker LED headlight. The tail light is of the conventional (non-LED) type and sits partway up the mudguard, not incorporated into the bottom edge of the rear mudguard as it is on the Street Glide Special.

Unlike the Street Glide Special, which is available in a variety of colours and engine finishes this year, the Street Glide ST limits the palette to just two options – Vivid Black and Gunship Grey – both of which feature a Matte Dark Bronze finish on the wheels, rocker box and some other minor areas. The engine gets the blackout treatment for both colour options, with chrome bling kept to a minimum. The exhaust, front end, controls and switchgear are all finished in black, too.

Tank decals on both colour options are in the same style as that seen on the 1977 Low Rider (itself referencing Harleys from the 1910s and ‘20s), but finished in dark bronze with the Vivid Black paint and black with the Gunship Grey.

Pricing for the 2022 Street Glide ST is $44,995; a premium of $3,000 over the Street Glide Special, but significantly cheaper than the $58,250 CVO Street Glide.

2022 Harley-Davidson Street Glide ST – basic specs

ENGINE: Milwaukee-Eight 117 air/oil-cooled 1923cc v-twin

POWER/TORQUE: 79kW @ 4750rpm / 172Nm @ 3750rpm

TRANSMISSION: Cruise Drive six-speed

FRAME: Steel backbone w/steel swingarm

FRONT SUSPENSION: 49mm telescopic fork, 117mm travel

REAR SUSPENSION: Premium twin shock w/adjustable preload, 76mm travel

FRONT/REAR WHEEL: Prodigy cast aluminium, 19-inch front / 18-inch rear

FRONT/REAR TYRE: 130/60B19 61H / 180/55B18 80H

FRONT/REAR BRAKE: Dual 300mm w/4-piston caliper / Single 300mm w/4-piston caliper, Cornering ABS

LxWxH: 2400mm x 960mm x 1350mm

WHEELBASE: 1625mm

SEAT HEIGHT: 710mm

FUEL CAPACITY: 22.7lt

WEIGHT: 369kg wet

2022 Road Glide ST

Like the Street Glide ST, the Road Glide ST is an all-new addition to Harley’s Grand American Touring family for 2022. And like the Street Glide ST, the Road Glide ST is based heavily on a companion model: in this case the Road Glide Special.

While the Street Glide is perhaps the “traditional” bagger, the Road Glide is very much a product of the new millennium with its distinctive ‘shark nose’ frame-mounted fairing and dual headlights.

This fairing really defines the Road Glide and it carries over to the Road Glide ST unchanged, as do many other parts. There are some differences between the Road Glide Special and Road Glide ST, though.

Of course, the Road Glide ST gets the Milwaukee-Eight 117 engine, which is its main point of difference, but there are other styling and spec tweaks.

Moving from front to rear, the front mudguard on the Road Glide ST is cut down, the wheels get a special paint finish, a solo seat is standard, panniers are standard length (not extended), the antenna is hidden and the tail light is mounted to the rear mudguard instead of being incorporated into it.

Other elements, like the smoked and bobbed windscreen, handlebars, mirrors, engine crash bars, footboards, pedals and indicators are as per the Road Glide Special.

According to Harley-Davidson, the solo seat, cut-down mudguards and conventional panniers give the Road Glide ST a “purposeful attitude” that continues with the paint and detailing.

Said to be influenced by Harley’s Screamin’ Eagle Factory race winners in King of the Baggers, the colour choices are limited to Vivid Black and Gunship Grey, accented with Matte Dark Bronze.

The engine is almost entirely blacked out, bar a few chrome details, and the blackout touch extends to the front suspension, handlebars and controls, too.

Tank decals are in the same style as that seen on the 1977 Low Rider (itself referencing racing Harleys from a century ago), but finished in dark bronze with the Vivid Black and black with the Gunship Grey.

On the suspension, the front end carries over from the Road Glide Special unchanged, but at the rear, the dual shocks are taller, so the Road Glide ST delivers 22mm more travel than the Road Glide Special – 76mm vs 54mm. A byproduct of this is that the seat height is 20mm higher at 715mm.

The wheel package is made up of 19-inch front and 18-inch rear ‘Prodigy’ alloys, which are the same size and style as the Road Glide Special, but on the Road Glide ST these are finished in Matte Dark Bronze.

Braking consists of dual 300mm discs up front and a single 300mm disc at the rear, with 4-piston calipers at each end. This package is improved thanks to Harley's electronically linked braking system and ABS, both of which are cornering enhanced.

Other rider-assistance tech includes Cornering Traction Control, Drag Torque Slip Control, Vehicle Hold Control and tyre pressure monitoring.

The Boom! Box GTS audio system is standard and includes a full-colour 165mm touchscreen, two 5.25-inch speakers, USB input and Bluetooth connection.

Above and beside that TFT screen are analogue gauges for the speedo, tacho, fuel and volts, with the speedo incorporating a small LCD display for the odometer, time, tripmeters and clock.

The dual Daymaker headlights up front appear to be the only LED lighting on the Road Glide ST, as the indicators and model-specific tail light are conventional incandescent bulbs.

The use of standard panniers on the Road Glide ST means luggage capacity drops from 76.5 litres to 65 litres (2.7 cubic feet down to 2.3 cubic feet) compared to the Road Glide Special, but the glovebox storage in the shark nose fairing is unchanged.

It also should be noted that while the Harley spec sheet lists outputs of 79kW and 172Nm for the Road Glide ST, some sites have the maximums at 77kW and 168Nm.

The 2022 Road Glide ST is priced at $44,995, which is a $3,000 premium over the Road Glide Special.