2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special vs. 2021 Indian Chieftain Limited vs. 2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition Comparison Review

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Three luxury touring machines built for American highways. As tested, the 2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special costs $29,994, the Indian Chieftain Limited $27,999, and the BMW R 18 B First Edition $28,870. (Jeff Allen/)

As autumn descended on most of America and leaves turned from green to brown, we found ourselves basking in the relative timelessness of California’s coastline, with only the cooler mornings and the sparsity of traffic hinting at the approaching winter. On three baggers we cruised north along the Pacific Coast Highway past Malibu’s beachfront mansions, the sun burning off the morning fog; waves crashed off of rocks close enough to mist the road, and two pelicans matched our speed over the ocean. Our motorcycles were designed and built for the long, patient enjoyment of this sort of scene, for long-haul, big-mile touring.

But their appeal lies equally in style, tradition, and the rider’s emotional connection to the bike. We took full advantage of all this. On California’s iconic coastline road, our saddlebags packed and our music on the stereos, we were taking our sweet time to Big Sur.

Along with me for this ride through scenery and soul are Cycle World’s Executive Editor Justin Dawes and former professional roadracer and longtime motorcycle test rider Chris “Siebs” Siebenhaar. Collectively, we’re on the 2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special, 2021 Indian Chieftain Limited, and 2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition. All these bikes walk the line between classic bagger style and feel and modern performance and technology. Each translates the bagger ideal, and represents its manufacturer’s history, in its own way. Each engine is designed to provide loads of immediate torque from idle and maintain highway speeds at low revs while serving as the visual and spiritual heart of the motorcycle.

Long straights, tight twists, and beautiful scenery make California’s Pacific Coast Highway an ideal testing ground for this comparison. (Jeff Allen/)

Engine Character

Powering the Street Glide beneath me was Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee-Eight 114. By design, this engine rumbles and shakes at idle, as it’s rubber mounted in the frame, but it smooths out completely when underway. This engine has progressed and improved through decades of refinement and the addition of a counterbalancer, but retains the signature sound that’s resonated through American motorcycling for nearly a century. The Street Glide has no ride modes, just a throttle and your hand upon it, and that’s all this engine needs. Engaging the M-8 gives the most direct, analog feel in this group, but perhaps surprisingly, it’s also the smoothest and easiest to control. The level of throttle and clutch feel, the way the engine vibrations go through you; everything that makes you feel like an extension of the motorcycle makes riding the H-D a joy. The machine creates a connection between rider and bike that’s become a trademark of the bagger riding experience. Both BMW and Indian replicate this in their own ways with varying levels of success.

H-D styling balances black and chrome finishes in the Milwaukee-Eight’s updated but classic form. (Jeff Allen/)

Dawes followed on the Chieftain Limited, which carries Indian’s Thunder Stroke 116, an engine featuring cooling fins on the cylinder heads and short parallel pushrod tubes, a design meant to look like the flathead engines that powered early Chief models. The 49-degree V-twin is solidly mounted in the frame, so it doesn’t move around like the H-D’s. Not that it’s bland by any means, firing to life with an unmistakably American rumble of combustion before quickly smoothing out. But much of the 116′s less tactile identity lies in its exhaust note, which is characteristic of its narrow-angle vee; the engine’s idling lope gives way to a loud crack when the throttle is twisted and becomes a satisfying growl as revs rise. Of the three ride modes, Standard was the best, matching rider expectation of throttle movement to engine response. The Tour mode slows response to throttle input, while Sport mode’s abrupt initial response makes it difficult to be smooth. The 116 is strong and torque-rich, with the highest output of the group, making the Chieftain extremely fun to ride. Still, clutch and throttle feel leave something to be desired.

Siebs rode sweep on the R 18 B, the obvious outlier in the group, hanging its massive horizontally opposed twin cylinders out in the wind just like the first BMW motorcycle engine did in 1923. As the newcomer, BMW’s Big Boxer is in some ways trying to reproduce the character of an American Big Twin while retaining its own. Pressing the starter button causes the bike to torque strongly to one side, then softly to the other; that’s a massive flywheel spinning to life and two coffee-can-sized pistons boxing each other. These deep engine pulses at idle scratch a necessary engine-involvement itch for the genre; you can feel big parts doing their thing. But the mating call of the North American bagger, revving from idle to hear and feel the bike, is met with the same torque effect experienced while starting. Of the BMW’s three ride modes, Roll was nice for mellow cruising, and Rain went unused in our fine weather; so it was Rock, the most aggressive, which was our preference for much of the trip. The boxer is smooth and powerful in the lower part of the rev range, pulling hard up to higher engine speeds, but most riders will want to upshift well before it reaches its 4,560-rpm horsepower peak.

Compared to the 2021 R 18, the B is deraked by more than five degrees, from 32.7 to 27.3, with longer-travel rear suspension, giving it a taller appearance and allowing for greater available lean angle. (Jeff Allen/)

Why? Because there’s a moment of brilliant purity around 75 mph as the boxer turns 2,600 rpm. It’s smooth, it’s strong, the sound is orchestral. But take it above 2,800 rpm and it’s a different animal altogether. A buzzy vibration came on that made my hands and butt itch like I had frostbite. Rev it up over 3,500 and it smooths out again, or keep it in the lower range which seems to be its preferred zone, but that middle area is rough and I often focused too much on avoiding it. Riders of these bikes tend to be searching for a genuine experience, a moment of zen and flow, and this effect hits at a part of the rev range near peak torque and approaching peak horsepower, where riders often find this moment. BMW says the uncounterbalanced vibration and flywheel torque effect were designed as nostalgic elements of engine character, but all testers agreed that we would like this motorcycle much more if it was without these “features.” Counterbalancers on both the rubber-mounted Milwaukee-Eight and the solid-mounted Thunder Stroke 116 are tuned to give a degree and quality of vibration meant to engage the rider; perhaps this would broaden the appeal of the BMW’s flat twin.

Music and Navigation

We put the ocean on our left and continued our ride along PCH until we passed Point Mugu, where California Highway 1 joins US-101, and traffic-free stretches of smooth, straight highway gave us a chance to look into each bike’s onboard music and navigation systems. The Street Glide and the Chieftain each come equipped with Apple CarPlay, and the H-D comes with Android Auto, giving you a high level of phone control through your motorcycle and headset as you ride. Pairing your phone with Bluetooth takes only a couple of steps, no app required, and sending a playlist from your phone through the bikes’ speakers puts song info on the screen. Both the Indian and Harley-Davidson systems are touchscreen and easy to navigate, though we wish there was an easy way to pause and play audio on the Glide. Navigation on each of these two bikes is simple to use and easy to figure out as well, requiring no cellphone connection to function.

The Indian Chieftain’s infotainment system is easy to use and displays relevant information clearly, but shares a touchscreen and button layout with the Polaris Slingshot and side-by-side models which detracts from Indian’s separate brand identity. (Jeff Allen/)

The R 18 B’s system is, in stark contrast, a pain. Riders must run the BMW Motorrad app on their phones in order to play their own music or use navigation at all. In our testing, we had to have the app open before powering on the bike; even then the BMW’s infotainment wouldn’t connect every time. Music had to be selected on the rider’s device, or using the multicontroller to select songs in iTunes only. No interaction is possible on the 10.25-inch non-touch screen, and in any case, the music stopped after each song. It’s convoluted and unrefined, a shame as the BMW’s upgraded Marshall speakers were clearly the best-sounding of the group. All menu navigation takes place with the left-hand multicontroller and a two-way switch nearby. It’s nice for riders not to have to move their hands from the handlebars for this, or to do things like turn on the heated grips or seat, but simple tasks like resetting the tripmeter take several steps, which feels unnecessarily complicated compared to the other bikes.

“Of course the BMW just spanked the American cruisers in the tech department,” Dawes said. “Satellite radio, adaptive cruise, heated seats and grips, it’s loaded. Yes, it’s a First Edition with all the goodies, but it’s nice to have all of it.”

Nearing Cayucos toward the end of the first day, Pacific Coast Highway is ours alone without a car in sight. (Jeff Allen/)

Fit and Finish

The sun sank toward the horizon as we approached the first day’s destination of Cayucos, a 2,600-person beach town 20 miles northwest of San Luis Obispo. We parked the bikes by the main drag’s souvenir and snack shops, near the beach and across from the pier. It’s peaceful and quiet like you’d expect a beach town to be in the winter. After a full day of staring past rider cockpits, it was time to step back and take in each bike as a whole.

Looking at the two-tone Street Glide Special with its mixed black and chrome finishes, it’s clear why Harley-Davidson’s high level of fit and finish has been the bagger standard for decades. From paint to chrome to “cable hygiene,” from design to engineering to manufacturing, H-D’s long history and large production numbers have given it the ability to maintain high standards within the company and demand them from its suppliers. The Street Glide also benefits from being the original form factor on which the other two models here were based. It’s defined the bagger ideal since well before BMW or Indian tried their hand at it. It’s the original, and for many buyers, its authenticity is a large part of the appeal.

The 2021 H-D Street Glide Special is seen here in Gauntlet Gray Metallic/Vivid Black, which is available with black or chrome engine finishes. (Jeff Allen/)

As high as H-D has set the standard, newcomer BMW has managed to raise the fit and finish bar even higher. Each and every piece of the R 18 B comes together in a way that enhances the overall visual presentation. Cables, wiring, and hoses have all been neatly tucked away. The white pinstriping included on the First Edition is clean and crisp. The chrome looks like a pond you could skip a rock on. It’s a well-designed and well-executed motorcycle, but very few pieces other than the engine evoke “BMW.” While the B is based on the 2021 R 18, which looked to the 1936 R5 as its primary inspiration, the new bike’s larger gas tank, adjusted stance, new fairing, and saddlebags completely transform the silhouette. Still, there is an uneasy tension around European stylistic origins which have been stretched into an American aesthetic; it’s hard to perceive the package as authentic, no matter how well it’s executed.

Having been on the market since 2014, the Chieftain has earned its place in the bagger segment and genuinely feels like its own motorcycle and not a Harley-Davidson copy. The Limited trim level adds chrome finishes, highway bars, more heavily flaked paint, and a larger engine, but still sees some of the same fit and finish issues we’ve seen on past Indian motorcycles. Orange-peel paint on the saddlebags, visible seams on the pressure-molded plastic inner fairing, and perhaps the worst offender, the tank badge. As it prominently displays the brand’s name, the tank badge should be a point of pride; unfortunately, the contour of the badge doesn’t match that of the tank, and adhesive is visible through the uneven gaps. Even with these issues, the engine’s excellent performance and (relative) flickability of the chassis make the Chieftain feel like the workhorse of the group. It might not be quite as polished on the outside, but boy can it get the job done.

The R 18 B’s fit and finish is the best of the group and a testament to BMW’s manufacturing. (Jeff Allen/)

After contemplating these three takes on the American bagger and our ride in their natural setting (parked near a restaurant), we walked across the street to a Cafe Della Via, a small Italian joint. We continued a lively dialogue concerning the bikes as we ate the best eggplant Parmesan of our lives, arguing and making our points between mouthfuls. We might have been indulging ourselves over dinner, but the motorcycles were doing their jobs: bringing us to great places, in this case a lovely restaurant in a town where most diners are just passing through.

The following morning we woke up early and sipped coffee as we loaded up the bikes. When you’re used to 70 degrees, 45 degrees feels awfully cold, especially at speed. The R 18 B’s heated grips and accessory heated seat were a point of envy for the other riders; plenty of heating options are available for the other models, but the B is the only one with heated grips standard.

Handling, Suspension, and Brakes

Leaving Cayucos is not like leaving Los Angeles, as the coast is nearby and there’s no traffic stopping you from getting there. In just a couple of minutes we were riding along a remote stretch of road without a care in the world. We passed the famous estate of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, saw hundreds of elephant seals lining the beach in San Simeon, and gazed at the old lighthouse out on the point at Piedras Blancas. As we climbed in elevation, the twists in the road got tighter, the landscape shifting from rocks and sand to wooded cliffs. These were the roads we’d been waiting for.

Piedras Blancas lighthouse stands in the background as our three baggers cruise north along PCH toward Big Sur. (Jeff Allen/)

We flowed into the first turn like linebackers that had been practicing ballet in the offseason. The Street Glide took effort at the bars to initiate a turn and a little bit of inside bar pressure to keep it on the intended line, but at 781 pounds without fuel, it felt the most stable and consistent of the group. The Chieftain is nimble, requiring little effort as it easily initiates turns and quickly changes direction, masking its 789-pound dry weight while we carved left and right along the cliffside. Getting into higher speeds, the Indian did show some shortcomings. “When you try to match the potential of the engine to the agility of the chassis, the bike starts to wallow and wiggle around,” Siebs said. “I think a little more control of the damping would make this bike perform very well.” At 861 pounds dry, the R 18 B is the heaviest here by a wide margin, but that was only really apparent at parking lot speeds. It didn’t feel as planted as the Harley but took a little less effort to initiate a turn, and it wasn’t quite as nimble as the Indian, but it was more stable at higher speeds.

Front suspension on each machine was closely comparable, with the H-D’s dual-bending valve fork being the best of the bunch. Rear suspension felt similar from bike to bike through low-speed damping, despite the Harley-Davidson having only 2.15 inches of travel, compared to 4.5 and 4.7 inches on the Indian and BMW respectively, but the H-D felt a bit more harsh on square-edged bumps. To tune rear suspension preload, the Harley-Davidson has a quick-adjust knob between the saddlebag and fender, the Indian uses a Schrader valve behind the side cover, and the R 18 B uses load and ride height sensors with a servomotor to sense load and automatically adjust. Not having to adjust the suspension for a passenger or loaded bags is nice, but we would prefer a higher level of control than the automatic system allows. BMW claims the greatest lean angle at 35 degrees, but as we kept a quick pace on this winding road, the Indian’s floorboards were the last to scrape.

By design, brakes in this genre take a bit more effort than smaller and sportier machines; it’s almost as if the burly, full-hand levers on each bike demand it. The Street Glide Special comes standard with Reflex linked braking and Brembo brakes, but our test model had had the Cornering Rider Safety Enhancements installed as well, which includes electronically linked brakes, cornering ABS, cornering traction control, Drag Torque Slip Control, Vehicle Hill Hold, and tire pressure monitoring. Unfortunately, our test unit had spotting or warping on the front disc that caused pulsing at the lever when applied. We have not encountered this in many miles of past Street Glide testing and current-gen H-D brakes have been smooth and reliable, but this did completely kill any hope of front brake feel on our ride. Because of this issue, we’re referencing a previously tested 2020 H-D Street Glide Special with identical equipment for braking performance numbers, which performed our 60–0 mph brake test in 131.6 feet.

Riders appreciating the view from Pacific Coast Highway. (Jeff Allen/)

The Chieftain Limited had decent front brake feel and was the only model without linked braking as a standard feature. It’s also the only bike here without traction control. The ABS also showed some shortcomings; the rear tire chirped loudly under hard brake application. From 60 mph, the Limited was able to stop in 149.8 feet. “The Indian’s brakes are fine, but they are a little bit wooden when you get deep into the lever,” Dawes said. “Like you can keep squeezing it, but you’re going to slow down at the same rate no matter what you do.”

The BMW let you know when the caliper started to grip the disc and gave a high level of control through further modulation using the front lever alone. While trying to balance front and rear brakes through some more aggressive riding, we found the Full Integral ABS system provided too much intervention. How so? Applying the rear brake while already using the front brake lever would cause the front brake lever to pull in, forcing the rider to adjust in a critical moment. “It’s not a huge deal unless you’re riding tight twisty corners with hundred-foot ledges all around,” Siebs said. “In which case, the slight lack of control never left my mind.” On paper, the technology looks amazing, adjusting force between front and rear brakes according to wheel load, but in application it feels like it’s fighting you a little. In instrumented testing, the BMW took 163.2 feet to stop from 60 mph.

The 2021 Indian Chieftain Limited is a wonderful bike to ride, but shortcomings in the fit and finish category take away from the overall feeling of quality. (Jeff Allen/)

Along with a handful of familiar technology, the B brings something we’ve never before seen in the bagger segment—Adaptive Cruise Control. Operating the system feels no different from operating a traditional cruise control, but it takes out the need for adjustment with traffic. You can even shift gears while ACC is engaged. Riding in a staggered formation, the radar didn’t sense the bike in front of us on the other side of the lane, so it seems more designed for following four-wheeled traffic. This feature is included in the Premium Package along with Reverse Assist and Hill Start, which adds $2,800 to the B’s MSRP.

The smell of old-growth redwood trees in the salty, foggy air signaled our approach to Big Sur. This area was once a haven for artists and outsiders, home to famous authors like Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, and Hunter S. Thompson. We stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe; out in the parking lot hippies sold sage and local stones out of a van parked next to a Tesla. Much like motorcycling in America, Big Sur has moved upmarket. But the counterculture vibe is still there if you look for it.

BMW claims the R 18 B has a lean angle of 35 degrees, compared to 32 on the Street Glide Special and Chieftain Limited, but in real-world testing, the B was often the first to touch a floorboard to the ground. (Jeff Allen/)

After crossing Bixby Bridge, the iconic span running along a seaside cliff that’s been seen in movies, on postcards, and screensavers, we pulled over on the northern end to enjoy the sort of luxury saddlebags afford: still-hot coffee in a thermos. I had been riding the R 18 B at this point, so I opened the phone compartment to grab a couple photos of our bikes with the bridge and coastline in the background. To my surprise, the stabilization and auto-focus features on my camera had broken. Apple says this can be caused by heavy vibration from motorcycle engines, so perhaps it’s no real surprise that the B shook these components loose, but it is our expectation that a dedicated phone compartment on a motorcycle will isolate said phone from harm. This is a design failure on BMW’s part.

Ergonomics

A couple of full days in the saddle gives a rider a lot of insight about the relative ergonomic merits of a motorcycle. Dawes, at 5-foot-10, felt like the Indian required a little too much of a stretch to reach the bars. He also had very strong feelings about the shape of the hard-backed seat, which dug into his lower back.

“The floorboards are massive and give you the most room to move your feet and legs on a long ride,” Dawes said, “but the seat locks you into one position with an uncomfortable step at the rear of the rider’s seating area.”

At 6-foot-4, I thought the Chieftain’s bars were the most comfortable of the group, and as I have narrower hips and torso, the curvature of the seat never bothered me. The only electronically adjustable windshield of the bunch gave the Chieftain the best wind management as well.

Three baggers crossing Bixby Bridge, the historic landmark that connects northern Big Sur to the rest of Pacific Coast Highway. (Jeff Allen/)

The B’s handlebars were comfortable for all testers. But the floorboards, which are about as far forward as they can be relative to the large cylinder heads, aren’t far forward enough; riders can’t stretch out as much as they’d like. This same constraint also doesn’t leave many aftermarket options.

Seats on the H-D and BMW are well shaped and plush, comfortable for long miles without any cramping or discomfort. Again, the Harley-Davidson provided the most well-rounded ergonomics with no complaints from testers.

Touring Amenities and Aftermarket

After a few photo passes over the bridge we packed up the bikes to ride home, looking over each of them one last time before we put Big Sur in the rearview mirrors. While we covered more than a thousand miles in this three-day test ride, there are aspects of long-term ownership that are more important to a purchaser’s decision than they are to a rider on a single trip. None of us was wearing a heated suit or running wired accessories, but each bike here is made to accommodate such technology. The Street Glide Special provides 600 watts of charging power, the R 18 B 660 watts, and the Chieftain 710 watts. On the dash, the Harley has a 12-volt lighter-style socket and the Indian an SAE connector; each also has a USB connection in the phone compartment. The Bavarian is fitted with five-pin DIN connectors and a USB-C port. Indian claims an 18-gallon luggage capacity, BMW 14, and H-D almost 19. For touring and long-distance riders, a manufacturer’s nationwide dealer network can also be of great importance, a strong point for Harley-Davidson.

On a flat, straight road going about 70 mph, each bike is exquisite, but as the limits are pushed, their strengths and weaknesses become apparent. (Jeff Allen/)

And possibly most important of all is the aftermarket. Many pieces designed for the Street Glide Special will not only fit on other new H-D touring machines, but on older Harley models as well; with the massive number of H-D motorcycles sold in the US, this means customization options are near limitless. The offerings for Indian’s Chieftain have come a very long way in the eight years it’s been available, with multiple choices for suspension bits, intake, exhaust, even cams, tuners, and big-bore kits. But it’s nearly impossible to catch up to H-D in this regard.

BMW has a tendency to list a base price for publication purposes and then pile on all of the necessary accessories as add-ons, which is exactly what it did with the R 18 B here. The pinstriping, many of the chrome covers, the Marshall speakers, Adaptive Cruise Control, Reverse Assist, heated seat, and many more features may be optional, but the bike would not feel as luxurious or complete without them. So although the base bike is listed at $21,945, any B you’re likely to see will already be set with trim and technology packages that push it over the $28,000 mark. Ours tested at $28,870. Outside of these BMW-manufactured accessories, options for R 18 B-specific pieces are slim, but some components like risers, handlebars, and some handlebar accessories share sizing with most American motorcycles. Oddly enough, the Chieftain Limited has the highest base MSRP of these models, but is the most affordable bike in this test as ridden.

The Best Motorcycle and the Best Bagger

The ride back included fewer stops and less frequent communication. Thoughts of home mingled with trip notes as we made our final assessments. We look for touring comfort in a bagger, but also day-to-day agility. We want it to be stylish with the highest-quality components, worth showing off and easily personalized. We’ve come to expect certain rider comforts, such as navigation and audio, as well as rider aids like ABS and traction control. There’s an inherent feel of Americana and tradition to these bikes, as if the very act of riding this machine makes you a part of the same lineage as bagger riders decades before you. We found all these things in each bike to varying degrees, but it remained clear that Harley-Davidson invented this genre.

In production as the Street Glide since 2006, this model has been refined year after year, resulting in a product that feels cohesive, high quality, and well engineered. (Jeff Allen/)

Since Harley-Davidson made hard bags and a batwing fairing available from the factory in 1969, every brand trying to compete in the American touring segment has had to do so against The Motor Company. From the Street Glide’s inception in 2006 to 2020, H-D sold more than 3.8 million motorcycles worldwide. For many of those years, Harleys made up more than half of the new motorcycles over 600cc registered in the US. Developed as it was from a consistent and visible line, the Street Glide has improved year after year without ever losing its authenticity or character. The Special’s overall form remains relatively unchanged from the early batwing-faired models of decades past, but high-level performance, technology, and trim show its modernity and relevance.

BMW’s R 18 B is beautifully designed. It looks the most luxurious, its fit and finish is exemplary, and Adaptive Cruise Control is a very welcome addition. But much of the user interface and infotainment could use improvement. These latter points are annoying, but the element that defines the experience with the BMW is vibration. There’s simply too much of it. It seemed like every time we’d find a moment of flow, enjoying the scenery, riding without conscious effort or attention to any one action, we’d enter that jarring part of the rev range and be snapped rudely back to reality. Like the prior R 18, the B leans into everything that defines this genre, even to its detriment at times. It seems unnecessarily heavy, even for a bagger, and the vibratory “character” designed into the engine can be nagging and inorganic rather than charming or nostalgic; and that was a deal breaker for testers. As a newcomer, the B gives Harley and Indian some things to seriously consider. Yet it has issues that need to be smoothed out before it can be considered a real competitor.

Indian’s Chieftain Limited is wonderful to ride. It handles beautifully at low and medium speeds, and the Thunder Stroke 116 makes more power lower down than the other bikes. It produces the most torque and sounds great doing it. Its seat, suspension damping, and ABS could use a bit of refinement, but the real shortcoming on the Limited is fit and finish. Baggers are, among other things, jewels that are meant to be shown off, and Indian has a bit of a gap to close if it wants to be competitive with BMW and Harley in this regard.

The Street Glide Special is the most refined and balanced of the group. From flat, straight highways to winding mountain roads and back to the traffic in the city, it felt the most planted with the most consistent handling. Throttle and clutch feel are so good that you almost feel they’re an extension of your body. It has the technology and rider aids we want without excessive intervention or overcomplication. Individual components feel high quality, permanent, and are put together with precision. Excellent performance in every tested area makes the Street Glide Special the best motorcycle of this comparison. But it’s the high level of style, perfectly tuned engine character, and simple joy of use that make it the best bagger.

Specifications

	2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special	2021 Indian Chieftain Limited	2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition
MSRP:	$29,994 (as tested)	$27,999 (as tested)	$28,870 (as tested)
Engine:	Air/oil-cooled 45-degree V-twin, pushrod-operated; 4 valves/cyl.	Air-cooled, 49-degree, pushrod actuated; 2 valves/cyl.	OHV, air/oil-cooled 2-cylinder boxer; 4 valves/cyl.
Displacement:	1,868cc	1,890cc	1,802cc
Bore x Stroke:	102.0 x 114.0mm	103.2 x 113.0mm	107.1 x 100.0mm
Compression Ratio:	10.5:1	11.0:1	9.6:1
Transmission/Final Drive:	6-speed/belt	6-speed/belt	6-speed/exposed shaft
Cycle World Measured Horsepower:	83.03 hp @ 4,890 rpm	84.78 hp @ 4,240 rpm	81.51 hp @ 4,560 rpm
Cycle World Measured Torque:	113.32 lb.-ft. @ 2,500 rpm	116.23 lb.-ft. @ 2,730 rpm	113.32 lb.-ft. @ 2,860 rpm
Fuel System:	Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI)	Closed loop fuel injection w/ 54mm throttle body	Electronic intake manifold fuel injection
Clutch:	Wet, 10-plate, assist and slip; mechanically actuated	Wet, multiplate, assist	Dry, single-plate; hydraulic activation
Engine Management/Ignition:	Throttle-by-wire, electronic	Throttle-by-wire, electronic	BMS-O
Frame:	Tubular steel frame w/ 2-piece stamped and welded backbone; cast and forged junctions	Cast aluminum	Steel double-loop tube frame
Front Suspension:	49mm Showa dual-bending valve; 4.6 in. travel	46mm telescopic fork; 4.7 in. travel	49mm telescopic fork; 4.7 in. travel
Rear Suspension:	Premium low hand-adjustable shocks; 2.15 in. travel	Single shock w/ air adjust; 4.5 in. travel	Steel swingarm w/ central shock strut, automatic preload adjustment w/ load and ride-height sensors; 4.7 in. travel
Front Brake:	4-piston calipers, dual 300mm floating discs w/ ABS	4-piston calipers, dual 300mm floating discs w/ ABS	4-piston calipers, dual 300mm discs w/ Full Integral ABS
Rear Brake:	4-piston caliper, 300mm floating disc w/ ABS	4-piston caliper, 300mm floating disc w/ ABS	4-piston caliper, 300mm rotors w/ Full Integral ABS
Wheels, Front/Rear:	Cast aluminum; 19 in./18 in.	Cast aluminum; 19 x 3.5 in./16 x 5.0 in.	Cast alloy; 19 x 3.5 in./16 x 5.0 in.
Tires, Front/Rear:	Dunlop Harley-Davidson Series D408F/D407T; 130/60B-19 / 180/55B-18	Metzeler Cruisetec; 130/60B-19 / 180/60R-16	Bridgestone Battlecruise H50; 120/70B-19 / 180/65B-16
Rake/Trail:	26.0°/6.8 in.	25.0°/5.9 in.	27.3°/7.2 in.
Wheelbase:	64.0 in.	65.7 in.	66.7 in.
Ground Clearance:	4.9 in.	5.1 in.	N/A
Seat Height:	26.1 in.	25.6 in.	28.4 in.
Fuel Capacity:	6.0 gal.	5.5 gal.	6.3 gal.
Cycle World Measured Dry Weight:	781 lb.	789 lb.	861 lb.
Availability:	Now	Now	Now
Contact:	harley-davidson.com	indianmotorcycle.com	bmwmotorcycles.com

CW Measured Performance

	2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special	2021 Indian Chieftain Limited	2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition
Quarter-Mile	13.51 sec. @ 99.03 mph	13.50 sec. @ 96.91 mph	13.62 sec. @ 97.99 mph
0–30	1.84 sec.	1.83 sec.	1.87 sec.
0–60	4.62 sec.	4.58 sec.	4.65 sec.
0–100	13.97 sec.	14.69 sec.	14.62 sec.
Top-Gear Roll-On, 40–60 mph	4.32 sec.	4.32 sec.	4.81 sec.
Top-Gear Roll-On, 60–80 mph	4.95 sec.	4.95 sec.	5.68 sec.
Braking, 30–0	36.2 ft.*	39.4 ft.	39.86 ft.
Braking, 60–0	131.6 ft.*	149.8 ft.	163.2 ft.

*As our test model had a warped rotor, performance braking numbers are from a 2020 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special with identical weight and equipment.

Gearbox

Morgan on Street Glide Special

Helmet: Shoei RF-1400

Jacket: Saint Unbreakable

Pant: Tobacco Archetype Jeans

Gloves: Spidi X-Knit

Boots: Bates Fast Lane

Justin on Chieftain Limited

Helmet: Arai Ram-X

Jacket: AGV Sport Cruz Flannel

Pant: AGV Sport Super Alloy Jeans

Gloves: Alpinestars Oscar Robinson Leather Glove

Boots: Rev’It Marshall Boots

Siebs on R 18 B

Helmet: Bell Eliminator Carbon

Jacket: RSD Hemlock Leather

Gloves: RSD Rourke

Boots: RSD X Whites

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