Harley Davidson Reveals The First Of Its ‘Icons’ Series

Those fine purveyors of American cruiser type bikes, Harley Davidson, have announced to the world a new, limited edition line of machines based upon their heritage. And they will be special, given just one or two models will be released per year. To kick start this initiative, the Electra Glide is back, now with an added ‘Revival’ tagged on the end.

Just a look at this machine instantly gives away its bent into the past, in fact adding the term revival to the end seems somewhat superflouous given what a stunning job they’ve done. It really does look the part, the word ‘timeless’ is often used far too much to describe, well, many things, but it really is pertinent in this case – its silhouette is an absolute classic.

Even things like the huge white nose cone, and white panniers, are as such because way back in 1969 they were accessories that only came in that one colour. On a sportsbike that would look weird and out of place, but here the white compliments the blue paint wonderfully.

Engine-wise it’s the Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-Twin boasting an 1,868cc capacity which delivers around 150Nm of torque, that powers the EGR. That mammoth torque bulge hits its peak at a low-down throaty 3,250rpm, which barely seems like a tick-over rate on most modern machinery. It’s a motor that would sound sick as, should one pop open pipes on her. Despite the old look, it does come crammed with HD’s version of both traction and torque control, while the cornering ABS brakes are linked and it has a hill-hold function. Not a bad thing to have as the bike weighs in at 375kg fully wet. That’s a lot of bike!

And one could argue, depending on your point of view, is a great deal of bike for the money. Which is good, as the EGR asks a lot of your wallet to have one, with an MSRP of £27,995. That is a great deal of cash, but then there will only be 1,500 of the EGR variant produced world-wide, and there are a lot of HD fans about the place so the chances are they’ll be snapped up toute suite.

Of course HD aren’t the only ones to delve into their past to snare some contemporary sales, but which other old Harleys could we see returning? They already accommodate on multiple fronts with many modern iterations of bikes that, with the greatest of respect, don’t look hugely different from those that came before, already going back decades. It’s also worth considering that anything they release will most likely be based upon an already existing modern platform.

So, perhaps don’t expect anything from too far back in their lineage past the Electra Glide, although it would be really cool if they did! It’s rather unlikely we’d see a modern version of their failed 1900s superbike, and funny as it may be to contemplate, it may still be too soon for HD to entertain any thoughts of a revival of the much maligned V-Rod. Crazy, really, it was actually a great bike even if it didn’t tally with that famous HD vibe.

The Electra Glide Revival is available now. If there’s any left!