A comparison of great American touring machines and their new Bavarian competition. Cycle World compares the 2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special, 2021 Indian Chieftain Limited, and 2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition.

As autumn descended on most of America and leaves turned from green to brown, we found ourselves basking in the relative timelessness of California’s coastline, with only the cooler mornings and the sparsity of traffic hinting at the approaching winter. On three baggers we cruised north along the Pacific Coast Highway past Malibu’s beachfront mansions, the sun burning off the morning fog; waves crashed off of rocks close enough to mist the road, and two pelicans matched our speed over the ocean. Our motorcycles were designed and built for the long, patient enjoyment of this sort of scene, for long-haul, big-mile touring.

But their appeal lies equally in style, tradition, and the rider’s emotional connection to the bike. We took full advantage of all this. On California’s iconic coastline road, our saddlebags packed and our music on the stereos, we were taking our sweet time to Big Sur.

Along with me for this ride through scenery and soul are Cycle World’s Executive Editor Justin Dawes and former professional roadracer and longtime motorcycle test rider Chris “Siebs” Siebenhaar. Collectively, we’re on the 2021 Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special, 2021 Indian Chieftain Limited, and 2022 BMW R 18 B First Edition. All these bikes walk the line between classic bagger style and feel and modern performance and technology. Each translates the bagger ideal, and represents its manufacturer’s history, in its own way. Each engine is designed to provide loads of immediate torque from idle and maintain highway speeds at low revs while serving as the visual and spiritual heart of the motorcycle.

Engine Character

Powering the Street Glide beneath me was Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee-Eight 114. By design, this engine rumbles and shakes at idle, as it’s rubber mounted in the frame, but it smooths out completely when underway. This engine has progressed and improved through decades of refinement and the addition of a counterbalancer, but retains the signature sound that’s resonated through American motorcycling for nearly a century. The Street Glide has no ride modes, just a throttle and your hand upon it, and that’s all this engine needs. Engaging the M-8 gives the most direct, analog feel in this group, but perhaps surprisingly, it’s also the smoothest and easiest to control. The level of throttle and clutch feel, the way the engine vibrations go through you; everything that makes you feel like an extension of the motorcycle makes riding the H-D a joy. The machine creates a connection between rider and bike that’s become a trademark of the bagger riding experience. Both BMW and Indian replicate this in their own ways with varying levels of success.

Dawes followed on the Chieftain Limited, which carries Indian’s Thunder Stroke 116, an engine featuring cooling fins on the cylinder heads and short parallel pushrod tubes, a design meant to look like the flathead engines that powered early Chief models. The 49-degree V-twin is solidly mounted in the frame, so it doesn’t move around like the H-D’s. Not that it’s bland by any means, firing to life with an unmistakably American rumble of combustion before quickly smoothing out. But much of the 116′s less tactile identity lies in its exhaust note, which is characteristic of its narrow-angle vee; the engine’s idling lope gives way to a loud crack when the throttle is twisted and becomes a satisfying growl as revs rise. Of the three ride modes, Standard was the best, matching rider expectation of throttle movement to engine response. The Tour mode slows response to throttle input, while Sport mode’s abrupt initial response makes it difficult to be smooth. The 116 is strong and torque-rich, with the highest output of the group, making the Chieftain extremely fun to ride. Still, clutch and throttle feel leave something to be desired.

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