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Harley Davidson FXWG Wide Glide
Harley FXB STURGIS and FXWG WIDE GLIDE Review
Don't expect new yardsticks to measure the Sturgis and Wide Glide. These
80-cubic-inchers violate the conventions now held sacrosanct in the
engineering drawing rooms beyond the Atlantic and Pacific: minimum
weight, compact size, high power-to-weight, simple efficiency.
Efficiency: to wring all excess from space and material. Someday on the
western shore of Lake Michigan efficiency will win, the doorway will be
better engineered, and the entrance less grand.
These motorcycles belong to the first definition of grand: imposing in
size and appearance and general effect. Beyond that, the motorcycles are
grandiose in the second definition of that word: affectedly grand and
pompous. Be it known that before a thing can be grand and grandiose in
our 300-year American tradition, it must first be big. And in this test
the Sturgis and Wide Glide do not fail.
individual
cylinders of 40 cubic inches each. Front to back across the cylinders
measures about 20 inches; and while the basic engine crankcases are
small, the downstairs portion of the FX unit spans almost two feet.
Harley-Davidsons carry all this length longitudinally in their frames,
and by iron-clad consequence, the motorcycles are long. Still, neither
the engines nor the motorcycles model their size in disguise. They are
what they are: big—without apologies, built for those who believe Bigger
is Normal.
Big Twins. Excepting the Sturgis' belt drive (See Cycle, May 1980), the FXB and FXWG share bare essentials: engine, frame, brakes, shocks and swing arms. To be sure, the motorcycles look radically different, and each comes out of a distinct in-house pedigree; the Sturgis from the Super Glide side of the family, the Wide Glide from Electra Glide (FLH) lineage. Nonetheless, all branches run back to the Big Twin trunk. Central to the Sturgis and Wide Glide is the 80-cubic-inch narrow-angle V-twin, the 3.50-inch pistons which travel through 4.25-inch strokes. Low compression, thank you: 7.4 to 1. The 38mm carburetor is as modern as Japanese technology can make it, and the electronic, breakerless ignition represents another step toward now-generation engineering. The separate transmission case houses four speeds, and four suffice nicely. Belt drives aside, internal specifications are ditto. It's the external specifications that turn left and right at the styling studios. The same 80-cubic-inch engine merely provides a metal sculpture background for detailing differences. Motorcyclists don't normally think of engines with individual trim options, but for all purposes, Harley-Davidson offers just that: black cylinders here, aluminum ones there; chrome covers one place, black counterparts the other; acorn nuts on one model, hex-heads on the other; the variations continue through air-cleaner covers, ignition wires, and so on. The actual steering-head angle of both the Sturgis and the Wide Glide is the same time-honored 30 degrees. But to points forward the Wide Glide gets positively radical for a motorcycle that a major manufacturer builds. The Glider's front end rakes out to 33 degrees with five inches of trail; by comparison the Sturgis has 31.4 degrees of rake and almost five inches of trail. Re-angled line-boring of the triple clamps accounts for these differences. Since the Wide Glide sprang from Electra Glide stock, the FXWG front end is a stylized, amplified FLH assembly. Harley-Davidson cleaned up the sliders and tailored them to the Wide Glide's fender; into these sliders fit fork tubes which are longer than standard FLH issue. The buckhorn bar carried on risers spans a modest 28 inches; were it not for the relatively narrow 84 ribbed front tire, the Wide Glide might need a tattooed Godzilla at the tiller in order to turn. Only apparently. By the customizer's book of specs, the Wide Glide's front end rake is positively conservative, so a degree from Muscle College isn't a prerequisite to riding the FXWG. In fact, the Wide Glide's way-rad look is more visual than real. The spoked 21-inch wheel creates the illusion of
front-end height and longitudinal stretch. The comings and goings of the original Super
Glide dual tank illustrates that proposition perfectly. On to 1971. Harley-Davidson's new Super Glide sported a neo-classic 3.5-gallon dual tank. Buyers thought these tanks with their in-tank tachometer-speedometer pods were funky-dumb rather than funky-neat. So in 1973 the Super Glide got a unitary tank, and the instruments took a hike to the handlebar. So much for the perilous ride on the blustery winds of fashion. End of the high-style segregated 3.5-gallon dual tank, known in some circles as the Bob tank. Right? Wrong. Along comes the 1977 Low Rider and the Bob tank is back in cruiser vogue. What was out in 1973 was back in five years later. More time passes: the Bob-and-a-half tank (5.0 gallons, get it?) off the FLH series becomes available on the basic cruiser bike. With extended front end, presto, you get the Wide Glide. The fun doesn't end quite yet. Don't think that the Harley-Davidson Fat Bob (FXEF) has the Bob-and-a-half tank; it doesn't. Basically a Super Glide with a Bob tank, the Fat Bob begins to sound pretty close in concept to the original 1971 Super Glide. Not to worry; tastes change. So Harley-Davidson gives its clientele choice. Want to radicalize your Bob-point-five tank? For a couple hundred bucks, the Glider tank gets hand-painted flames. Perish the word decals. Aft of the tanks, the Sturgis and Wide Glide go
their separate ways. The Glider has its final-drive chain, wire-spoke wheel,
bobbed and curled rear fender, and a license-plate bracket held over from—of all
things—Harley-Davidson's XLCR Cafe Racer! Meanwhile, back in the Sturgis, the
cast rear wheel turns under a very straight-laced, conservative rear fender.
Although the saddles look the same, they're not; close, but different. The proportions and dimensions of these 80-inchers make an individual statement in a downsizing world. Other machines may appeal to the individualist through exclusivity based solely on scarcity; Harley-Davidson appeals with size and looks. Those in Milwaukee and elsewhere know that the look and the size are subtly and irrevocably tied together. The Wide Glide places foot controls and pegs inches ahead, not behind, the grips of the buckhorn bar. To violate accepted canons of control/space relationships would normally be unthinkable; only the size of the motorcycle makes these placements visually successful and at least functionally conscious. To ride the Wide Glide is to realize the license size permits. The motorcycle is big enough so that the human body can be repositioned within its confines. In a curious body exercise for six-footers, the rider's legs push gently against the pegs; this in turn presses the rider's backside against and along the seat's rise; doing this bends the body at the waist and inclines the torso forward, letting hands meet the grips naturally and arms bend slightly at the elbows. Short riders probably couldn't get squared-away on the Wide Glide because the seat rise would be too far aft for them, but riders with Wide Glide dimensions can use peg-leg-seat pressure to cant their torsos forward into the airstream. The foot controls themselves, however, never stop feeling awkWard because the rider can't use the brake lever or rocker-shifter decisively and comfortably without reaching for the controls with his feet; and after a while in city traffic his back will think it's still in gym class, doing leg lifts. That alone tells you why the forward-mounts are called highway pegs; on the open road our staffer with a spiral backbone rode the Glider for 75 miles, without his Gold Belt or ill effects. We preferred cruising the Wide Glide to riding the Sturgis and using its highway pegs, which are a moment away from the real pegs and their foot controls. Years of test riding leads to a preference for instant access to gearshift and rear-brake control levers. The operation of the front brakes of both
80-inchers fortified this desire. The power of the front brakes underwhelmed us,
in part because the grip strength necessary to get really effective
front-braking overwhelmed us. As a consequence, we used FX rear brakes with
greater frequency and determination than normal, a situation that kept our right
boots close to the rear-brake foot levers. Just how much more easy-squeeze
braking force riders would want, especially in the wet, at the Wide Glide's
narrow front tire remains an open question; the Sturgis, on the other hand, has
enough rubber to warrant real front-brake superpower. These Harleys do not compute in a road-tester's notebook, which asks how they compare to most up-to-date technology available. Yet '49 Buick Dynaflow convertibles may be out of step in a world coming to Rabbits and Civics and B210s; still those changes make milestone convertibles no less appealing on a visceral level. Big V-twin Harleys and those rag tops may slip out of date, but so long as Americans believe in grandeur, these things will never quite go out of style. Only a Harley-Davidson can be a genuine American motorcycle; the company came with the territory. If you study America, you'll know this country is moving toward a re-industrialization in which totally re-engineered products will fit smaller doorways, differently shaped. But for now these Harley-Davidsons stand as grand symbols for an age in passing. ® Source CYCLE 1980
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Any corrections or more information on these motorcycles will be kindly appreciated. |