+ Click to Enlarge FIT AND FINISH: Today's Harley-Davidsons are superbly assembled and finished – which is why they're so expensive.

November 11, 2003
By Dave Abrahams

In 1996 the 1200cc Harley-Davidson Duo-Glide got an electric start to become the Electra Glide; then as now it was the company's flagship. By 1974 it had disc brakes at both ends - although historians conveniently ignore the fact that they were no more effective than the drum brakes they replaced - and the basic formula had been established.

IOL was recently loaned a near-pristine 1975 FLH Electra Glide, with only 30 000km on its huge tank-mounted clock, for comparison against the current FLCT "88" Electra Glide, so Motoring Editor Les Stephenson and I headed out on the two big V-twins for a real nostalgia trip.

We rode the bikes over the current test route, with its mix of bumpy back roads and fast sweeps, were caught in a speed trap (no kidding!), swopped saddles and compared notes. It was fun – and we had a few surprises.

Although the layout and styling of the two bikes, separated by the three most turbulent decades in the history of the industry, is so similar that the later example is almost a pastiche, the detail engineering is totally different.

The quality levels are from different planets and it's easy to understand the radical turn-around in Harley-Davidson's fortunes after the management buyout in 1981.

The 1975 Glide has a 1206cc Shovelhead motor fed by a Tillotson butterfly carburettor. It kicks out 42kW at 5400rpm, underpowered even by the standards of the day at 35kW/litre. A huge, multiplate clutch on the left takes the drive to a four-speed gearbox to a chain final drive.

Today's Electra Glide uses the "88" Blockhead engine – all 1449cc of it – breathing in through a 38mm Kei Hin CV carb, to produce 50.7kW. That's an identical 35kW/litre – why are we not surprised? It drives through a similarly oversized wet clutch to a five-speed box and a Gates belt.

The older bike's motor is solidly mounted and, while it runs very smoothly at idle, it vibrates harshly at highway speeds, feeling stressed at over 120km/h. The 1975 model was good for about 150km/h, but out of respect for this example's advanced years we didn't push it much over the legal limit.

The FLCT "88" engine is fully rubber mounted and very little feedback of any kind reaches the rider – except for the occasional sharp knock as the air filter hits the rider's right knee at the lights, because at idle the motor leaps around in the frame like a landed fish.

Fewer tacked-on bits

Even with the standard batwing fairing, which has all the aerodynamic finesse of a brick outhouse, current Electra Glides will thunder up to over 180km/h; 110Nm of torque deals easily with the bike's huge frontal area.

The newer motor is oil-tight, runs far more quietly than the Shovelhead, and the polished aluminium outer casings are finished to a standard that in the bad old AMF days was nothing more than a pipedream. There are fewer tacked-on bits and no external oil lines (one of the reasons it doesn't leak), although the latest gearboxes are just as vocal as ever.

Thanks to the extra cog, the first gear of the new bike is lower and top gear higher; the '75 edition has a surprisingly tall first gear and needs quite a lot of revs to pull away – a far cry from the limitless bottom-end grunt I was expecting.

Then, on the freeway, the current bike is more relaxed at 120km/h, showing no signs of stress up to well over the legal limit.

Today's (Japanese) suspension is way more supple than the 1975 tackle, which has very short travel due to ground clearance shortcomings. The ride is smoother and less jerky, if a little remote.

Fat front tyre

The older bike is afflicted with square-profiled 5.10 x 16" tyres that look like they would be better suited to a 1940 Chevy than a motorcycle; they make the bike distinctly twitchy at the legal limit and profoundly compromise steering accuracy. However, the 1200 turns in a lot quicker than today's version, largely thanks to a steeper head angle.

The current Electra Glide also has a fat front tyre that inevitably makes the steering a little remote – but the profile of each boots is properly rounded and the bike turns in smoothly and predictably, while the bike has far less tendency to shake its head than the '75 model.

In riding terms, however, the biggest difference is in the brakes. Today's Harleys have poor brakes by current standards, particularly considering their enormous mass; they are, nevertheless, streets ahead of the primitive stoppers on the 1200 that has an ineffectual single-piston calliper at each end, rock-hard pads and sadly undersized master cylinders.

Even in 1975 you had to leave yourself extra room to stop when riding a Hog in traffic – I would hesitate to brave the rush-hour gridlock of millennium Cape Town on the FLH.
But take it out in the country, relax at 110km/h and the bike is a relaxed and easy rider.

The big police-style screen affords more than adequate protection from the elements even if it does make the bike sensitive to crosswinds.

Fit and finish world class

When Vaughn Beals and his cowboy crew bought their company out of corporate slavery in 1981 they instituted a Japanese concept called "kei zen" (quality circles) whereby small teams of assembly-line technicians took responsibility for the quality of their own work, with the authority to introduce necessary changes.

The results have been staggering; from an industry joke, Harley-Davidson has become a benchmark.

Whatever you think of the design and engineering, the fit and finish on current Harleys is world class. Its chrome plating (and there's a lot of chrome on Harleys) is the acknowledged industry leader, while the paint is flawlessly deep and lustrous; factory faults are almost non-existent.

The '75 Shovelhead has its speedo in the traditional tank-top console, with the indicator and neutral repeaters below that, even further from your eyeline; in any case you can't even see them in direct sunlight. Which is why Les was hauled over in Malmesbury for doing 71 in a 60 zone.

"Sorry officer," he explained, "but with a modern full-face helmet you just can't see the speedo all the time – this is a very old bike and I'm really sorry." Thank you, Malmesbury, for your understanding cops … and the friendly wave down the road.

The new bike has a speedo and a rev-counter (unheard of in 1975) with a full panel of warning icons just below the screen of the batwing fairing.

That's the real difference

Both bikes have separate indicator switches on each side but those on the newer bike are self-cancelling, whereas the indicators on the Shovelhead only work while you hold down the button.

You try changing down for a corner in the city while keeping your thumb firmly jammed on a tiny little button in the switchgear – it's an art!

And that's the real difference; the bikes are the same weight (approximately 345kg), although the taller "88" motor makes the current model feel heavier at very low speeds, but new Harleys are in important ways more user-friendly.

During the AMF period a Harley-Davidson was a big solid bike, built like the agricultural implement it was. Today's Hogs are built to look the same (such is the selling power of an image), but with a quality of finish that is unrivalled in America and equalled by few manufacturers anywhere in the world – at a premium price of course. They have indeed come a long way.

Specifications (1975 FLH in brackets)

Motor: Air-cooled 45-degree V-twin four-stroke.
Capacity: 1449cc (1206cc).
Bore x stroke: 95.3 x 101.6mm (87.3 x 100.8mm).
Valvegear: Two overhead valves per cylinder, pushrod operated.
Compression ratio: 8.8:1 (8.0:1).
Power: 50.7kW at 5400rpm (42.3kW at 5150rpm).
Torque: 110Nm at 3100rpm (95Nm at 4000rpm).
Induction: 38mm Keihin CV carburettor (Tillotson carburettor).
Ignition: Electronic (contact breakers).
Starting: Electric.
Clutch: Cable-operated multi-plate wet clutch.
Transmission: Five-speed gearbox with toothed-belt final drive (Four-speed gearbox with final drive by chain).
Suspension: 41mm shrouded cartridge forks at front, twin air-adjustable hydraulic shock absorbers at rear (Shrouded cartridge forks at front, twin hydraulic shock absorbers at rear).
Brakes: Twin 292mm discs with four-pot opposed piston callipers at front, single 292mm disc with four-pot opposed piston calliper at rear (Discs with single-piston floating callipers front and rear).
Tyres: Front & rear: MT90B x 16 tubeless (Front & rear: 5.10 x 16 tube type).
Wheelbase: 1592mm (1550mm).
Seat height: 744mm. (770mm).
Dry weight: 345kg (345kg).
Fuel capacity: 18.8 litres (19 litres).
Price: R199 000 (R3168 – then!).


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