Harley Davidson Street Glide Special – Arctic Blast

It’s probably a sad indicator of the world we live in, and how marketing can worm its way into your mental vernacular, that when you hear the words ‘Arctic Blast’ you could be forgiven if the first thing that pops into mind is chewing gum or mouth wash. Yet at the same time, and if this is your kind of thing, the new Harley Street Glide Special carrying the frosty cool moniker is certainly striking fresh notes.

Featuring a hand-painted scheme, by Gunslinger Custom Paint, just 500 examples of the Arctic Blast will be made available. It joins a growing list of specials Harley are knocking out these days, and long may it go on, the more options over the stock range the better, say we. Aside from the paint, that’s about it in terms of special features, though the Street Glide is about as Harley as one can get anyway.

Powered by the Milwaukee-Eight 114 V twin, Harley doesn’t even feature horsepower figures in the specifications, but it’s really not all that important because pushing a fully loaded 375kg is a thumping 160Nm of torque from its 1,868cc capacity. Grunt is all with a bike such as this, designed for leisurely, thumping along touring and just enjoying life riding a motorbike.

With a less than 32-degree lean angle available on either side, you wouldn’t want to do much more than happily blop along anyway!

It’s not like windblast would be much of an issue either, with the painted batwing fairing upfront (replete with slipstream vent, ooooo…), carrying more than a little bit of Suzuki’s race colours vibe in its design, oddly enough. There are of course saddlebags in attendance, a colour touchscreen and ‘infotainment’ system replete with speakers, it rolls on Prodigy wheels and has a decent Led headlight, among other niceties.

Want one? That will be an appreciable £31,295 to sir or madam, which is certainly a large amount of money, but then it’s a large amount of bike you get in return, too. Hit up Harley’s website for more info on the special edition (including the Street Glide itself), and how to get your hands on one, though hurry because, unlike a glacier, sales of these are likely to move pretty fast. Sorry…