The Motor Company has just announced its wildest limited-edition motorcycle since the V-Rod Destroyer. This is the largest displacement, most powerful production Harley-Davidson to ever go on sale. It is a touring motorcycle called the CVO Road Glide RR, directly inspired by the racing machine in the MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers series. It is fast, it has racing-spec components, it is a limited-run model that will be sold only in the US market, and it will, in the right hands, surprise a sports bike or two.

By Charles Pennefather  Courtesy TopSpeed

Yet, for the vast majority, the CVO Road Glide ST will make more sense. That’s a very controversial statement, but we’ll stand by it for a number of reasons – reasons that we’ll list below. So sit back, grab your favorite drink, and let us tell you why you’d be better off with a CVO Road Glide ST rather than a CVO Road Glide RR.

The CVO Road Glide RR Costs Over Twice As Much As The CVO Road Glide ST

1 CVO Road Glide RR = 2 CVO Road Glide STs + Change

The CVO Road Glide RR is made with some of the best materials in the business. There are swathes of carbon fiber, billet aluminum, and everything is handcrafted to perfection. Don’t believe us? Look carefully at the fairing, and you’ll notice that the orange-to-black paint job doesn’t really have any black in it. That is the exposed carbon fiber weave.

Harley has made this negative space a design as well, which is incredible. And incredibly difficult to repair, too, should something go wrong. Race bikes tend to have a few spare fairings handy, but imagine ordering one of these if you bin it. Oh, and you won’t need just the fairing. The saddlebags are also made of carbon fiber, as is the seat base, fender, side covers, tank console, fork nacelle, and radiator shrouds.

Remember us mentioning aluminum? Here are the things made of the metal on the RR: intake manifold, footpegs, wheels, brake calipers, and the entire swingarm. Aluminum is really light and strong, but it is a pain to work with when it comes to repairs. All of these parts are handmade for the CVO Road Glide RR, which brings us to its price.

Harley-Davidson doesn’t even mention its price on its website. Hey, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it, right? Well, the company is asking for $110,000 for each CVO Road Glide RR. It seems a little excessive when you realize that a CVO Road Glide ST costs under $45,000. And that is also a model that Harley says is modeled after its racing bike.

Differences In Materials Used

The CVO Road Glide RR Is Limited To Just 131 Units

It’s A Gentle Way Of Saying “Already Sold Out”

Harley-Davidson has called its CVO models limited run models. But production is always plenty for all of us to enjoy them. They might as well be, though since they are priced at such a high premium compared to the models they are based on. For example, the CVO Road Glide ST retails at $44,999, the CVO Road Glide for $45,999, and the regular Road Glide retails for just $27,999.

That’s a difference of $17,000-18,000, which means you could have a Street Bob and a Road Glide for the price of a CVO. Of course, Harley will argue that it is putting all of its latest tech into the CVOs, not to mention exclusive features. But therein lies the truth – these are supposed to be exclusive models that showcase the capability of the manufacturer, quite like a liter superbike. So it is alright that they cost a lot of money. Their price also makes them limited run models by default.

However, the CVO Road Glide RR has been officially stated to be a limited-run model. Only 131 will be made and all will be put on sale in the US market only. This is a standard marketing strategy – if demand outstrips supply, the value of the item increases. The high price of the CVO RR ensures that it will remain a collectible, and we expect most of them to go into collections as investments.

In the same way as a Ferrari halo model, we expect that the 131 units are already spoken for. Or will run out really soon, simply because of the investment angle. If an ordinary person (well, an ordinary person with at least $50k in disposable income) wants a CVO Road Glide, the safest bet would be a CVO Road Glide ST.

Pricing Differences

The CVO Road Glide RR Is A Special Bike With Bank-Breaking Maintenance

Race Bikes Need A Lot Of TLC

The Screamin’ Eagle 131 ci in the CVO Road Glide RR is an amazing engine--Harley-Davidson’s most powerful production unit today. It is also now the largest V-twin as well as the largest twin-cylinder engine ever fitted to a production motorcycle in history. The power output lies at 153 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque from its 2,153 cc displacement. This is 26 horsepower and 5 pound-feet more than the CVO Road Glide ST’s output.

Interestingly, the RR has a lower compression ratio than the ST, which means it should run just fine on the same fuel as the ST. All the exotic materials make the RR 50 pounds lighter than the ST. So power-to-weight ratio would be quite impeccable here. Moving on, while you go fast, you stop faster, too. The RR has Brembo brakes that Harley says have taken lessons from MotoGP, the pinnacle of two-wheeled racing.

The specs certainly make them look up to the task: the GP4-RX calipers are machined from a block of aluminum and finished in a heat-dissipating nickel plating. The brake discs themselves are Brembo T-Drive discs which are fully floating discs – something that you will not see on many road bikes, no matter the category. All that sounds wonderful, we know. But a little-known and discussed feature of any race vehicle is the maintenance required.

Engines are rebuilt every few races, exotic lubricants and fuels are used, and every single part is meticulously examined after every race to make sure it will do the job it is meant to. The CVO Road Glide RR isn’t an all-out race bike, but with the kind of equipment it has, you will need to make sure you get the right tools as well as technicians, neither of which will be cheap. One more thing you’ll need to do with the CVO Road Glide RR is regular chain maintenance and lubrication. Yes, this is the second Harley-Davidson with a chain final drive, after the Pan America 1250!

In comparison, the CVO Road Glide ST has a belt final drive, so it is a maintenance-free system. Of course, this also means swapping the chain and sprocket kit once it has worn out, and that will happen, with the way this bike is intended to be ridden. Finally, in race trim, the CVO Road Glide RR has a pommel at the front of the seat, on the tank. That is to prevent the rider from sliding up onto the tank under braking, and to anchor the outside knee during cornering. The pommel has been left out of all the press materials because it looks… ungainly. And that’s being kind to it.

Engine Specs Compared

The CVO Road Glide ST With Official Upgrades Can Get You Close To The RR

And It Won’t Void Warranty, Either!

Just like KTM has PowerParts, Harley-Davidson has Screamin’ Eagle. This allows you to upgrade the performance of your current Harleys. Browsing through the Screamin’ Eagle parts list reveals that you can upgrade a 2025 CVO Road Glide ST with the Screamin’ Eagle 135 ci Stage IV performance crate engine. This 2,212 cc V-twin offers 145 pound-feet and 130 horsepower at the rear wheel. Accounting for transmission losses, that’s almost as much as the CVO Road Glide RR’s figures. Browse further through the Screamin’ Eagle catalog, and you’ll find Öhlins inverted front forks, rear shocks with remote reservoirs, the King 6 racing transmission, and any other matching parts that you might require. All of this will cost you an extra $20,000 or so over the cost of the CVO Road Glide ST, which still brings the overall price to $65,000. That’s around 60 percent of the cost of the CVO Road Glide RR. Of course, you won’t have the exotic carbon fiber and billet aluminum. But what you will have is a usable motorcycle. There’s just one thing that you might find difficult to source, and that’s the pommel from the CVO Road Glide RR…

CVO Road Glide ST Upgrades to Consider

• Screamin' Eagle heavy breather intake kit
• Screamin' Eagle 68 mm throttle body
• Screamin' Eagle 135 ci Stage IV crate engine
• Screamin' Eagle high capacity clutch plate kit
• Screamin' Eagle Racing King 6 Transmission
• Öhlins inverted forks
• Öhlins rear shocks with remote reservoir
• Screamin' Eagle high flow titanium exhaust mufflers

CVO Road Glide ST vs CVO Road Glide RR Specifications

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