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- 2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide
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- 2014 Victory Cross Country
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- 2014 Indian Chieftain
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- 2014 Yamaha Star Stratoliner Deluxe
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- 2014 Kawasaki Vulcan 1700 Vaquero ABS SE
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PODCAST-We try to answer the question of which of the Harley-Davidson “Street Glide” class motorcycles you should buy. What are the difference and specifications? What are the difference in prices and why? Should I buy a Harley, Victory, Indian, Yamaha, or Kawasaki? We dive deep into this topic and you really have to listen in to this episode to get all the details.
We call all these bikes the “Harley Street Glide” class, because the Street Glide is The Motor Company’s perennial best-seller, and the new “Special” edition is the world’s favorite bagger. It is simply a fact that Harley came up with the overall look and style of this class of bagger and the other manufacturers have been chasing it every since trying to get a piece of the pie. Harley has been developing and designing this bike for many years and the others are all fairly new to the game in comparison. Harley has had much time to perfect and test the Street Glide. Not that the others aren't good bikes, but just stating the facts.
The 2014 contenders we chose to compete with the Harley Street Glide in the “cool baggers” class are
- Victory Cross County
- Indian Cheiftain
- Yamaha Star Stratoliner Deluxe
- Kawasaki Vulcan Vaquero ABS SE
MSRP
- Indian Chieftan $22,999
- Harley Street Glide is $20,599
- Victory is $18,999
- Kawasaki is $18,699
- Star is $17,240
EFI
- All are fuel injected
Engines
- Harley Street Glide is 103 CI/ 1690 CC High Output V-Twin Air Cooled
- Integrated oil cooler
- Victory is 106 CI / 1731 CC V-Twin Air Cooled
- Integrated oil cooler
- Star Stratoliner Deluxe 113-cubic-inch/ 1854cc air-cooled V-twin
- Indian is ThunderStroke 111 CI/ 1811 CC air cooled
- Kawasaki is liquid-cooled V-Twin/ 1,700cc / 103.7ci
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Horsepower
- All are around 80 HP plus or minus
Torque
- Harley is 104.7 ft-lb @ 3,250 RPM
- Victory is 105.5 lbs
- Star is over 100 ft.-lb. from 1600 to 4400 rpm
- Indian is 102.8 ft-lb @ 3100 RPM
- Kawasaki is 108 lb-ft @ 2,750 rpm
Valve Train/Misc
- Harley is twin cam
- Victory is single overhead camshafts with 4 valves per cylinder
- Star is 4 valves/cylinder
- Indian 2 valves per cyl.
- Kawasaki is four valve per cylinder
Transmissions
- Harley SG is 6 speed/ wet clutch
- Victory is 6 speed/ wet clutch
- Star is 5 speed/ wet clutch
- Indian is a 6 speed/ wet clutch
- Kawasaki is 6-speed
Clutch Lever
- Harley Davidson is a hydraulic clutch
- Victory is hydraulic cable clutch
- Star is a hydraulic clutch
- Indian is cable clutch
- Kawasaki is hydraulic clutch
Primary Drive
- Harley is chain
- Victory is GEAR DRIVE
- Star ??
- Indian is gear
- Kawasaki is ??
Final Drives
- All have a belt final drive
Cruise Control
- All have cruise control
Wheel Base
- Harley is 64 inches
- Kawasaki is 65.6 inches
- Victory is 65.7
- Star is 67.5
- Indian is 68.1
Ground clearance
- Harley is 5.3 in.
- Indian is 5.6 IN / 142 MM
- Kawasaki is 5.7 inches
- Victory is 5.8 IN / 148 MM
- Star is 6.1 in
Seat Heights
- Harley is 26.1
- Victor is 26.3 IN / 667 MM
- Star is 27.8
- Indian is 26.0 IN / 660 MM
- Kawasaki is 28.7 in
Rear Suspension
- Harley is manually (hand) adjustable
- Victory is air adjustable
- Star is Single shock; 4.3-in travel
- Indian is SINGLE SHOCK / 4.49 IN (114 MM) / PNEUMATIC ADJUSTMENT
- Kawasaki is Swingarm with twin air-assisted shocks
Brakes
- Harley is dual front disc brakes w/ optional ABS-Standard on the Special
- “Reflex Linked ABS System”
- Victory is dual front disc brakes w/ optional ABS
- Star is dual front disc brakes/ ABS??
- Indian is dual front disc brakes w/ ABS (comes standard)
- Kawasaki is dual front brakes w/ ABS
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Tires
- Harley
- Front: 130/60B-19
- Rear: 180/65B-16
- Victory
- Front: 130/70R-18
- Rear: 180/60R-16
- Star
- Front: 130/70-18
- Rear: 190/60-17
- Indian
- Front: 130/90B16 73H
- Rear: 180/60R16 80H
- Kawasaki
- Front: 130/90×16
- Rear: 170/70×16
Weights
- Harley is 810 lbs Wet
- Star is 813 lbs Wet
- Victory is 760 lbs DRY (basically the same as others when wet)
- Indian is 848 wet
- Kawasaki is 835 lbs
Fuel Capacities
- Harley is 6 gallons
- Victory is 5.8 gallons/ 22 litre
- Indian is 5.5 GALLONS / 20.8 LITERS
- Kawasaki is 5.3 gallons
- Star is 4.5 gallon
Fuel Economy
- Harley is 42 mpg
- Victory is 42 mpg
- Star website says “N/A”
- Indian is 42 mpg
- Kawasaki is 36 mpg
Entertainment Systems
- Harley-Davidson Boom!™ Boox Infotainment System
- Integrated GPS
- 6.5″ touch screen model
- 4.3″ non touch screen
Learn to use the Boom!™ Box system and more!
- All other models have a standard stereo with no integrated GPS
You will want to tune in and listen to this episode for a ton of more information that we go over. We talk about what all this data means for the rider. We answer many questions and give much guidance based on our experiences.
Keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up!
Regarding this podcast, great episode. Just a few thoughts from my recent experience.
HD is far above with GPS in infotainment system and is the reason why I chose it over the Indian (well that and the better value-while less motor it does have the GPS and my Ultra Limited was darn near the same price and has a trunk, heated grips, etc). When I was looking at the Indian at the Las Vegas Indian/Victory dealer he told me they were advised at the national dealers show that Indian decided not to include the GPS in the bike for two reasons. One was due to the GPS getting outdated and then becoming somewhat unusable, and second doing it their way the buyer can choose their GPS module they want to use and hard wire it in. Thus allowing a constant updating of technology when the buyer wants. I didn’t take the bite because I got the sense that Indian just didn’t know about the GPS in the radio HD was planning until it was too late, or otherwise they would have done so as well. I am guessing, but it makes sense they will do so as well in the future. At a minimum they can include a handlebar mounted unit like on the CVO’s prior to the new radio came out. Also HD hopefully will get up to speed on the GPS updating for its customers and in turn the convenience of the unit in the infotainment system outweighs the ability to customize my way. I have read that some dealers are updating maps if they have the most recent version for free if you are having other services done, but we will see here locally.
Great write up Rick! Thanks for sharing and good info!
I am obviously a little late to this discussion. First I want to say this show is great and your work is great. I am thinking about becoming a patron or joining the site as soon as I do a little bit more research. My opinion on this subject is that you guys claim to not have been able to find any information on the strat or the 1900cc engine that star uses, then you haven’t done a lot of research because the information is out there. There at least 10 sites I can think of off the top of my head that will show you dyno results. First let me make this known, I have a 2015 Street Glide Special. My previous bike was a 2012 Yamaha Raider which has the exact same engine as the stratoliner. My bike dyno’d stock at 92hp and 119 lb/ft tq. Even though I don’t have the bike anymore I still have the dyno results to prove it. I’ve let friends ride my bike and they all praised the power and handling of this bike. I went with the Street Glide because this bike is set up perfectly in my opinion for my needs. The only thing it lacks is power after coming off the Raider. But believe me guys, stock, none of the bikes in this comparison comes close to the star Stratoliner or the Raider where power is concerned. That being said, I love my SGS, but I also loved that Raider. Just for different reasons.
I forgot to add one thing, the 5th gear of the Star is not an issue. It’s smooth with power on tap. As soon as you twist the throttle you’re gone. However, if you’ve ever ridden a bike with a 6th gear before riding the Star you will look for the 6th just out of memory. 6th gear just feels right.
Thanks for weighing in brother. We research as much as we can, but already putting in 16+ hour days trying to balance all this. We appreciate each and every Partons. Gives us more ability to try and spread duties out and bring even more content.
I can dig it. Work is work. We should live to work, ride to live. Keep up the good work. I will be joining today. Have a good one bruh.