The Street Glide Trike (The model name coming from the Street Glide-ish fairing it uses) behaves like any Harley Touring model should, with only the greater weight (A portly 143kg in running order) to slow you down at lower speeds. The counterbalanced and rubber-isolated TC103 engine operates smoothly at any rpm, providing fun accelerations up to 100kph.

Things then soften up as the big frontal area puts up a real fight to slow acceleration to nil at 130kph in 6th, while it claws slowly up to 140kph if you downshift into 5th. You can feel the engine pulling evenly up to max torque at 3500 rpm, then simply runs out of kick on its way up to its 4500rpm limit.

(Photo: Harley-Davidson)

The Trike features all the Street Glide instrumentation, along with a radio and a security system that you need to learn about before riding off. You even get reverse, by leaving the box in neutral, then pushing a button and letting the starter grind you rearward – shades of a Honda Gold Wing.

You can store two Harley saddlebags-worth of kit in the low rear compartment, and add a Top Case for more serious logistical operations.

The brake could use a little more bite at both ends for my taste, as I did find that relaxed riding begets relaxed braking from Harley brake pads and discs. One week of energetic riding and the rubbing surfaces clear up and really bite into their work, a good thing on a near-700kg ship when fully loaded.

Both Harley Trikes are smooth and easy to ride, especially after some familiarization to cope with leaning “The wrong way” to ride in corners. I am still too young for this type of riding, but the market is clearly developing for such a stready platform and all that desirable H-D bling!

Full report to come after Bike Week in early March. And I do not understand why they put three Xs in the model acronym either!