H-D turns up the tech for its latest luxury tourers in the new model year.

At last month’s 2020 model year Harley launch, the main event was the Second Coming of the Low Rider S, but there were plenty of other bar-and-shielded rigs scattered around the staging area too. So after our day-long rip on the newest Softail, the Motor Co also gave us some seat time on the new touring models they had on hand and we split our next few rides mostly between the new-for-2020 Road Glide Limited and the 2020 CVO Limited. To sum up, the Touring line is looking very healthy these days.

2020 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited Changes

You could be forgiven for mistaking the 2020 Road Glide Limited with last year’s 2019 Road Glide Ultra, but alas, the Ultra is no more. The RG Limited shuffles into the Touring group for the 2020 model year, where you’ll still find three Road Glide variants; the Road Glide, the Road Glide Special, and now the Road Glide Limited. It’s basically a zero sum game since probably 90 percent of the new Limited is a carbon copy of the Ultra, but we’ll give credit where credit is due—no one’s calling it “all-new.” The “premium luxury tourer” Limited retains much of the same luxurious goodness we saw on its predecessor, like a Boom! Box GTS infotainment system, a nicely contoured 13.5 inch touring shield and the hearty Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine.

The differences are a bit less flashy. The RG Limited rolls on a pair of 18-inch Slicer II wheels versus the Ultra’s 17 and 16 inchers front and back (respectively, the tires are still Dunlop bias ply blackwalls), and hallelujah, there’s a fresh palette of new paint and finishes to choose from, including the brooding Black Finish option, and now those tall-ish pullback handlebars have heated grips. There are also fresh badges and Harley says the fuel tank is “new” too, but that ever-menacing shark nose frame-mounted fairing with dual Daymaker LEDs remains the same as it ever was.

2020 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited Electronics

But the RG Limited receives a direct benefit of some of the new tech first seen on the Live Wire too; the RDRS package option includes lean-sensitive cornering ABS, traction control, and even a hill-hold feature. The Reflex Linked Brembos with ABS are still standard issue for the stock Road Glide Limited, but now all the Harley Touring models (except the Electra Glide Standard) can be had with the optional suite of electronic rider aids that’s collectively referred to as RDRS. It’ll add $995 to the price tag.

Harley-Davidson RDRS Breakdown

To break it down further, RDRS stands for Reflex Defensive Rider Systems, and comprises a sophisticated suite of electronics designed to match the bike’s performance to available traction during acceleration, deceleration, and braking—even while cornering. The whole enchilada includes Cornering Enhanced ABS (C-ABS), which balances front and rear braking, even when leaned over; Cornering Enhanced Traction Control System (CTCS) to handle rear wheel spin under acceleration; Drag Torque Slip Control System (DSCS) to tamp down on rear wheel slip during engine braking and deceleration, and Vehicle Hold Control (VHC) which lets you apply brake pressure to keep the bike from rolling while stopped. A Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is chucked in there as well, but you can get it as a stand-alone accessory on select 2020 Touring models if you want.

The Road Glide Limited Harley offered us came loaded with the RDRS package (but it’s included on all new CVOs), and by the end of our ride we’d experienced a good chunk of its capabilities. The traction control was especially welcomed as we wove around the dirty corners and twisty roads of Southern California’s high desert. 900-plus pounds of Milwaukee motorcycle can be a handful in any condition, much less a high-speed run along windy, off-camber back roads, and we were happy to have the extra electronics reining in wheel slip as we alternated between hard stops and even harder acceleration. Even when I was mashing on the brakes in tight corners, the clever Bosch six-axis IMU (inertial measurement unit) kept sending all the right pitch, roll, and acceleration data to the bike’s ECU, helping to keep me shiny side up. RDRS, the traction-control part of the system has three selectable modes: Standard, Rain, and Off (you know, for burnouts). Like the ABS, the traction control uses sensors for modulation when you’re cornering.

But even without the RDRS, we would have thoroughly enjoyed the Limited; the M-8 114 engine feels well-suited to the touring chassis, making short work of propelling the big dresser around even the most demanding maneuvers, with 122 pound-feet of torque available whenever it was needed, throughout a broad range. The pullback mini-ape-style bar gave me great leverage during our high-speed hijinks, with a riding position that suited me just right. The wide touring seat provided good support and decent enough comfort for hours at a time, and the suspension settings, while on the soft side, were mostly a good fit for this 160 pound rider, though there were times when I’d have liked a few more clicks of preload.

2020 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited Price

The new Road Glide Limited is full-boat grand touring and as equipped, is probably as close as you can come to a CVO, thanks in part to the new palette of slick color choices available for it; it’ll run you $28,299 to start, a tick pricier than last year’s Ultra. The RDRS feature is well worth the $1,000 asking price, but then, you can add it to any other H-D touring bike too.

2020 H-D CVO Ultra Limited

In the higher-strato CVO group meanwhile, the 2020 CVO Limited keeps its slot from last year, but as a 2020 model adds a few new tricks to keep things fresh and to justify the $44,039 price tag.

Harley calls it the “ultimate in Grand American Touring” touting its best-in-class power, show-stopping paint and premium comfort for you and your passenger. The CVO Limited retains the batwing fairing, but ladles on the premium goodies to which all CVOs are subject. That means the RDRS package is standard, as is the slick sun catching paint, and the added punch of the 117 engine. It also rolls with the new Adaptive Headlight up front—Harley’s most advanced lighting to date. Of course there are those little CVO fit and finish details that make it truly stand out from an off the rack machine: the red rocker box lowers; a satin chrome exhaust; and a premium infotainment and Boom! Stage 1 speaker system.

The bigger displacement of the 117 engine in the CVO gave it a subtle boost with roll-on acceleration, and the 125 pound-feet of torque added a nice punch out of low-speed corners. The riding position was a bit more aggressive than on the Road Glide Limited, with a shorter narrower bar position, but then I have short arms too. However, we were big fans of the CVO’s super-plush seat, which—with its rider back support arrangement—was a brilliant upgrade over the Road Glide Limited’s saddle. We didn’t get to really experience the full capability of the Daymaker Adaptive LED Headlight, which has additional LED lights that sense lean angle and then throw illumination into corners you wouldn’t normally see with standard LEDs, but Harley’s PR manager Paul James was kind enough to take the bike off the sidestand and lean it over on his hip to activate a couple of the extra lights so we could get the gist of it. Thanks again Paul, and sorry for the hernia!

As with all CVOs for 2020, the CVO Limited comes with RDRS, as well as the H-D Connect service, which links your bike to your phone, giving you up-to-date info on bike data, and even its location remotely. With its premium touches, innovative tech, and lustrous paint and detailing the CVO Limited fulfills the luxury part of the equation, but it’s also a seriously impressive touring motorcycle. It’s just a very, very pricey one, too.

2020 Harley-Davidson Road Glide Limited Price And Specifications

Price	$28,299–$30,499 (RDRS add $995)
Engine	1,868cc Milwaukee-Eight 114 V-twin; 8-valves
Transmission/final drive	6-speed Cruise Drive/belt
Claimed horsepower	N/A
Claimed torque	122 lb.-ft. @ 3,000 rpm
Frame	Tubular steel
Front suspension	49mm fork w/ Dual Bending Valve; 4.6-in. travel
Rear suspension	Premium standard height dual shocks w/ hand-adjustable preload; 3-in. travel
Front brake	4-piston calipers, 300mm dual discs w/ ABS
Rear brake	4-piston caliper, 300mm disc /ABS
Rake/trail	26°/6.7 in.
Wheelbase	64 in.
Seat height	27.2 in. (laden)
Fuel capacity	6.0 gal.
Claimed wet weight	932 lb.
Available	Now
Contact	harley-davidson.com

2020 Harley-Davidson CVO Limited Price And Specifications

Price	$44,039
Engine	Twin-Cooled 1,923cc Milwaukee-Eight 117 V-twin; 8-valves
Transmission/final drive	6-speed Cruise Drive/belt
Claimed horsepower	N/A
Claimed torque	125 lb.-ft. @ 3,500 rpm
Frame	Tubular steel
Front suspension	49mm fork w/ Dual Bending Valve; 4.6-in. travel
Rear suspension	Premium standard height dual shocks w/hand-adjustable preload; 3-in. travel
Front brake	4-piston calipers, 300mm dual floating discs w/ ABS
Rear brake	4-piston caliper, 300mm fixed disc /ABS
Rake/trail	26°/6.7 in.
Wheelbase	64 in.
Seat height	27.7 in. (laden)
Fuel capacity	6.0 gal.
Claimed wet weight	944 lb.
Available	Now
Contact	harley-davidson.com