Harley Davidson Sport Glide
Like the Valkyrie, there was an original Sport Glide and now the re-introduced version.
First introduced in 1983 (pictured), the Sport Glide was an FXRT and was billed as a Super Glide variant. This model was ultimately discontinued in 1993.
[from RideApart, Nov 2017]
After 25 years, Harley has re-introduced the Sport Glide.
The new Sport Glide utilizes an all-new steel frame with an air-cooled Milwaukee-Eight 107 (1,753cc) V-Twin. The mini fairing and panniers are all removable without tools to change the look of the bike in a jiffy.
Producing 108 ft/lbs of torque at only 2,750 rpm and a 6 speed gearbox makes the bike very smooth and powerful, but with low vibration.
Modifications
Heated Grips
Being in New England, we find ourselves all too often riding on “crisper” days. Having heated grips can make a world of difference in comfort, control, and length of ride. We put these on in December and were able to take a spin on an unusually mild Christmas Eve. Brenda was happy to report that her hands remained warm throughout the ride.
Mounting the add-ons was interesting. Since this model is still relatively new, it can be a challenge to find information specific to it in the forums and on YouTube. The grips were well reviewed and most said the higher settings were too hot (which is a good thing!). I love having the settings dial at the end of the grip, much better than my aftermarket (handlebar mounted) controller on the Valkyrie.
There is a metal slug in the left (clutch side) handlebar that needs to be removed. I recommend some vice grips clamping tightly onto it and trying to spin it a little first to break it free. Then maybe hitting the vice grips with a hammer to knock it outwards. I was loathe to use a screwdriver to help pry it out because I didn’t want to chew up the end of the handlebar but this thing was really solidly in there!
The right (brake side) handgrip was much easier to deal with and there are videos online (not Sport Glide specific) to aid in visualizing the work first.
Wiring the left through the handlebars was a challenge due to the other wires already present in there. I ended up pushing a semi-stiff metal cable (like a tie-out for a dog) through first. You can then tape a string to the end of that cable and pull it through. I used string because the grip wires barely fit so I needed the pull string to be fairly small (plus the tape holding wire to string increases diameter). There are also videos online with different ideas about this part.
The part that took the longest I think was finding the *#!$ spot where the wiring harness (did I mention also buying that adapter harness? I think it was part number 69201750). It is designed to plug into the USB caddy (plastic box under the gas tank, the horn mounts to it). Getting the caddy out was a real struggle for me, and it took forever to find the other connection. By eyeballing the shop manual at the dealership, I finally found it in the “frame plug” – a rubber grommet of sorts inside the frame, left side, under the gas tank. I chose not to remove her tank completely, using wood pieces to raise it high enough to work under but it was tight. Working that plug out wasn’t too awful but working the plastic box out of the frame was much tougher. With the wiring kit, I only had to lop off the connectors that mated from that to the left(?) grip. I just cut the plugs off, shortened the wire to fit, and attached the correct plugs that fit the grip wires. All told I think I spent between 8 & 10 hours on it? (not including 3 trips to dealership because they initially sold me the wrong adapter kit). I’m very slow but much of that time was trying find connection points without a shop manual, trying to find pointers online, and staring at the wiring harness trying to figure out why it didn’t match up. Grrrr. Still, it saved us the nearly $400 the dealership estimated to do the work for us.
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