Australian Road Rider — August 2017

onto your right leg from the exhaust outlet.

When you stop and put your le leg down,

you can also burn your inner thigh on the rear

cylinder head.

While it might be hot, the engine is

mechanically very quiet, leaving you to enjoy

the somewhat muted but enjoyable baritone

exhaust note that has a delicious gargle on the

overrun. It may be too quiet for some and an

a ermarket exhaust should improve the note,

as well as the asthmatic top end.

The engine is married to a sweet and light

gearbox that feels precise, with no false

neutrals. Sometimes neutral can be diffi cult

to fi nd, so you have to click down gently from

second, rather than up from fi rst.

The clutch is pre y heavy, which is a

problem in traffi c. I resorted to clutchless

shi s, which were easy going up and

possible going down if you judiciously

control the  thro le.

SHARPER TOOL

This is now the sharpest tool ever to come

out of the Harley shed — possibly with be er

steering and ride than the XR1200, thanks to

the Endurance suspension. It features sharper

geometry, with 43mm upside-down forks

gripped by lightweight aluminium yokes. Fork

rake is tightened from 32 degrees to 27 degrees

for quicker steering.

The new rear shock absorbers have an

external reservoir to increase fl uid capacity

and maintain damping consistency. Travel is

increased three per cent to 117mm. The swing

arm is slightly longer to accommodate the

taller shocks.

This all combines to give the Street Rod

deeper lean angles — up to 40.2 degrees on the

le and 37.3 degrees on the right — compared

with the Street 500 at about 28.5 degrees.

The suspension has plenty of

compression damping for aggressive riding,

yet the ride isn’t compromised. It’s fi rm but

not harsh; even when you hit the rare bump

on Singapore’s smooth roads it’s abrupt but

not jarring.

Just like the monkeys in the forest, we

r Rear shocks with external reservoirs are pretty up-spec.

AUSTRALIAN ROAD RIDER | 91

LAUNCH REPORT: HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET ROD

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