Harley-Davidson FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport review

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Harley-Davidson FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport review

Legends

Ninety years after the first two-cylinder from Milwaukee, the future of the American 45-degree Big Twin is now coming with almost one and a half liters of displacement, two camshafts and 68 hp.

You dare! Harley is providing the evolution engine, which has been built since 1984, with the completely redesigned successor, the Twin Cam 88. Now every Japanese can build a great V2, but if Harley is to be on it, Harley has to be inside. The legendary 45-degree V-twin embodies to the Harley community roughly what the catechism is to a Catholic. The pure teaching. The heart.
And the balancing act between tradition and modernity has been successful. As soon as the engine is started, the Twin Cam 88 engine knocks Harley spirit out of every cooling fin. Tangible vibrations, staggering concentricity and the casual thrust of the long stroke and the massive centrifugal mass when rolling. Then the technocrat waits for any signals of the modern age – and fortunately waits in vain.
The effort involved is only noticeable in a direct comparison with its predecessor: the old Evolution engine does inimitably lasciviously with the connecting rods up to 110 km / h, but above that it seems to dissolve in vibration-related self-destruction mode. Its start in the lower speed range is modest, for a relaxed driving style it must always be kept in the middle speed range.
The Twin Cam 88 engine is completely different. Much earlier it delivers usable propulsion without tearing from the carburettor, noticeably more energetically, it pushes the engine forward, and when the old unit has long stopped turning, it continues to crank indefatigably. great!
The gearbox is housed unchanged in a housing that is decoupled from the engine. Noisily but precisely, the gear steps can be sorted over a long shift path.
The FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport forms the perfect environment for the completely redesigned Big Twin. A peculiar mixture of character and performance. The whole thing is garnished with strict black, which seems too inconspicuous to some, but is considered the ultimate for many. In any case, the matt black coating of the otherwise chrome-plated surfaces has an advantage in bad weather: After a short time, the Harley choppers look like a Christmas tree that has been given to a horde of three-year-olds to decorate; the Super Glide always remains itself. A big, black motorcycle. One to drive and not just to look at.
Now the name sport is really the last thing such a pile of iron deserves. But sport is a relative matter. On the one hand, even playing chess falls under it, on the other hand, real racers understand by this term anyway things that would cause nervous twitching and chronic sleep disorders in normal contemporaries.
A shortened caster, the flat handlebars and the double disc brakes in the front wheel are reason enough in Milwaukee to give a motorcycle the nickname sport. It should be fine with us. The long machine swings lightly, neutrally and without the ambiguity of a chassis trimmed for excessive maneuverability in every radius. Only those who overdo it with keeping clean will have problems, as the heavy load then tends to agonized pendulum movements.
Of course, a chassis with such short suspension travel cannot be comfortably tuned, but the FXDX does fantastic even on third-order roads. The great mass is simply harder to disturb than the few pounds of a modern super sports machine, rebound or compression. The Super Glide has no objection to rapid movement, even the required ground clearance does not allow the giant black streak to become a feared enemy.
The brakes also live up to their name. With one special feature: the braking force at the front is absolutely sufficient, but it only increases linearly. A strong pull on the hand lever is necessary for uncompromising deceleration. In this respect, it is a great thing that the footbrake decelerates tremendously when the pedal is pressed lightly. You quickly get used to leaving normal braking work to the foot brake. Unfortunately, when the brakes are braked, the rear wheel locks faster than the driver can whisper “Yikes”.
These are peculiarities that take getting used to, as well as the strangely upright sitting position – there is no passenger comfort, by the way – the stupid ignition lock placed under the driver’s rear, the side stand that is barely accessible for folding out and the bulky turn signal, kill, start and high beam switches.
Tspit. Such a Harley and the FXDX in particular is an extremely everyday motorcycle. In particular, drivers who collect points faster than detergent loyalty bonus snippets in Flensburg should be comforted with a Dyna Super Glide Sport without ever complaining of boredom. If that’s not true everyday suitability.

Conclusion

As the legitimate successor to the Evolution machine, which has been established for fourteen years, the Twin Cam engine combines satisfactory power and power output, smooth running and suitability for everyday use with the immortal Harley rumble. He finds his ideal environment in the Dyna Super Glide Sport: It meets the requirements of a socially responsible motorcycle without being a diaper-soft marketing device. Anyone looking for a modern Vinvent C Rapide, a classic driving machine, will be happy with this motorcycle.

Twin Cam 88: This is new – Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide Sport

A familiar face, but a lot different inside

The motor covers no longer have a bearing function, so the lack of force improves the oil tightness. Modified cylinder heads and exhaust valves with a smaller plate diameter optimize the combustion process. The bore has been enlarged by 6.5 millimeters and the stroke has been reduced by 6.4 millimeters. The modified stroke / bore ratio improves the vibration and response behavior of the 45-degree V-Twin. Crankshaft imbalance is practically eliminated by fixing the crank pin by means of a straight press pin. The oil circuit has been completely rebuilt; there is a nozzle below the cylinder feet that injects oil under the piston crowns for additional cooling. Significantly enlarged cooling fins also contribute to improved cooling. The Twin Cam 88 comes with two uncontrolled catalytic converters as standard.

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