You get to a certain age, and you become selective about what makes you fizz. Stuff that once made you soil yourself with adrenal joy doesn’t visit much no more. Things that made your red-eyed soul sing and howl are few and far between.
But hand on my heart, hurling 65-grand’s worth of 121-cube, full-sass, Harley CVO Street Glide ST down the main straight at a rain-lashed Sydney Motorsport Park (SMP) at a shade over 124 mph (200 km/h) is a true fizzing thing.
This tells you several very important things.
I truly am an accursed and blighted creature bereft of common-sense and rationality. But you all know that. I’m just affirming it.
Secondly, there now exist Harley-Davidsons, which out of the box, are capable of such performance.
And thirdly, the confidence Harley has in its 2026 bikes to facilitate such a thing, and on a wet racetrack no less, is quite frankly amazing.
Harley-Davidson
Five short years ago, none of the above were even remotely possible. Apart from me being a crazed idiot. That has always been a thing.
In 2021, the engines, gearboxes, suspension, ground clearance, and tyres would have seen pretty much any racetrack exercise, let alone a wet one, quickly end in tears and ambulances.
And yet, here I was in March of 2026, Shoei race helmet on my head, gronking around SMP like I was running from the cops. And on bikes no-one sane would ever consider banging around a racetrack on.
You could almost get away with it on a Low Rider. Or a Pan America. But on a fully loaded Street Glide or a Road Glide? That’s the kind of shit you fantasise about at the down-end of a big night of chemicals and beer.
But realised in the flesh, as it were, well … it was one of the best days I have ever had.
Harley-Davidson
Nothing, but nothing, makes you feel like king of the world and master of the universe than coming out of Turn 12, cracking the throttle wide open, and smashing down that too-short straight into Turn One on a bike the size and weight of a small car. You glance at the speedo and you see numbers starting with two. You know the track is wet. You know Turn One is blind. But you tip in anyway. What are the options? You MUST tip in. ON. A. STREET. GLIDE.
That is the very stuff of life, pilgrims!
And that was the 2026 Harley-Davidson Australian Press Launch. There was a bit of road-riding in the afternoon. And there was meant to be a dirt component to the day where I could once again demonstrate how crap I was at dirt-riding. But Harley had wisely parked its fleet of dirt-hooped Pan Americas. The rain had rendered the dirt tracks we were meant to use … um, unusable.
Harley-Davidson
And that was fine. Because it meant more track time. And the track was drying out. What began as a very tentative parade of big-engined, Öhlins-hung, and Brembo-braked baggers gentling their way around the track through streams of water, became something else.
It became a slam-dunk demonstration of just how far Harley has come in terms of performance and ability in a few very short years. Because racing does improve the breed. Just as the resumption of the age-old war with Indian also improves the breed.
There’s a bunch of new things across most of the 2026 range, mainly cosmetic, but also hardware and weight-saving stuff as well. Just so you know for your next track-day, OK?
Harley-Davidson
2026 Street Glide Limited
This is the gentle-souled grand tourer for whom all of this high-anger racing business is frightening. Relax, pensioners. Harley still caters for you.
For 2026, you get a new Milwaukee-Eight VVT 117-cube (1,917cc) engine. Yes, that is variable valve-timing. You’ll love it. It makes a difference. There’s also an upgraded Rockford-Fosgate four-channel, 200-watt amp and four-channel speakers to serenade mum when you’re coming into town. Also new are the LED blinkers and stop-light, and some cool LED foglights integrated into the lower fairing sections.
Both seats are now heated, and you get a King tour-pak with speakers, passenger backrest, and rack. The 10-spoke wheels are also new, as are the highway pegs, and heel-shifter. And it’s 31 lb(14 kg) lighter, so don’t think twice about that extra pie.
And just so you’re aware, and this is applies across the range of grand tourers and CVOs, the Skyline OS infotainment system (with natural voice-recognition) and navigation (3D no-less) is class-leading. I know it sounds like I’m telling you about a car. But it’s expected on this genre of bike. And it’s brilliant. Ride away at US$32,999 and upwards (AU$51,250 down under).
Harley-Davidson
2026 CVO Road Glide ST
These 121-cube (1,983 cc) carbon-fibre-lashed bastards were already crazy good in 2025. So the difference between them and the normal Road and Street Glides is vast. They remain crazy good in 2026 and in a luscious selection of hues. Sex God Black, Bad Man Blue, and this mad orange-fading-to-black called “Citrus Heat”. And the windshields are now tinted red, which oddly works really well. Its model designation is a shark-jumping FLTRXSTSE. Ride away from US$44,999 (AU$64,750).
Harley-Davidson
2026 CVO Street Glide ST
Just so we’re clear, the Street Glide is the one with the handlebar-mounted fairing. The Road Glide gets the frame-mounted jobbie with the massive headlight (and is my preferred monster because it kinda handles a bit sweeter). The 2026 CVO Street Glide ST also gets new paint. That crazy gorgeous Bad Man Blue, and something Harley has called Inferno Gray with Wet Slide Graphics. It looks amazing. 2026 sees it with a new higher-set “performance” handlebar, and that red-screen. Ride away from US$44,999 (AU$64,750).
2026 CVO Street Glide Limited
Lots of new stuff here for 2026. The 121-cube donk with VVT. Then there’s heated handlebars and seats, floorboards, highway pegs, brake and gear-lever pads, heel-shifter, and the King Tour-Pak, like the Street Glide Limited above. Same sound system, too. There are two paint options – blue and two-tone orange-and-black. Ride away from US$51,999 (AU$69,995 in Australia).
2026 CVO Street Glide
All of what you get above, but without the King Tour-Pak. This is pure bagger without the trunk on the back. Mum will have to pack lighter. And the sound system isn’t as banging as the higher-end jobbies. This is full-luxe, without the more performance-oriented stance the CVO STs offer. Ride away from US$49,999 (AU$72,750).
So what else is new for 2026? Interestingly, Harley has revamped its trike range. And in ways that really count. I have yet to ride one, but I’m hopeful I can sneak one of these new buggers out in the near future. They are hilarious fun. Think crazy girlfriend that likes to wrestle.
Harley-Davidson
There are two trikes. They both have completely redesigned rear suspension, a 117-cube VVT engine, and a new reversing system. Yes, you do need that.
Firstly, the Street Glide 3 Limited. This is the full-tour luxo beast. And Harleys has entirely redesigned the rear -suspension and increased its travel 117 per cent to five inches (13 cm). Which will absolutely make it less amusingly terrifying to hurl through bumpy corners.
The other trike is the Road Glide Three – and it has new bloody everything – seat, wheels, guards, fairing, preload adjustment, LED lighting, and rear suspension. I like it heaps despite the fact it’s not a bike and cannot be ridden like one no matter how mad you are.
Commonsense sadly prevailed and they were not made available for racetrack jousting. Sad face.
Personally, I am very much looking forward to spending some quality alone-time with all of them. But I am especially enamoured of the CVO STs. They are a kind of special that doesn’t come along that often. Especially in this genre of bike.
Harley even took the liberty of upgrading a Low Rider I wanna try for a bit longer. Go on, put the 131-cube (2,147 cc) monster engine into that one. Oh, you didn’t know? Yes, there is a 131-cube engine option for the true believers.
But all that aside, the fact Harley felt a racetrack was the best place to showcase some of its 2026 range speaks volumes. Bravo.
