Harley-Davidson bike’s average top speed is around 115 mph, and the typical time from 0 to 60 mph is about 4.3 seconds. Harley-Davidson basically highlights the cruiser category and has massive V-twin engines.
Harley Davidson is a cruiser with; a long and muscular frame. These bikes are best for riding on highways as they’re heavy. It’s easier for short riders to ride these bikes as they’re short in height. Harley Davidson is famous for its unique looks; it gives rise to the American chopper style.
People who are a fan of chopper-style bikes cannot resist loving Harley Davidson. This brand is an emotion for bikers. Wherever you go by bike, it’s always eye-catching and indeed a showstopper.
What’s Harley’s Fastest bike?
Undoubtedly the legendary ‘FXDR 114’. I’m in love with its tires! It doesn’t matter whatever you do in your life; you cannot die without seeing these tires; they look so good!
It’s available in 5 marvelous colors; vivid black, which is my personal favorite, black denim, silver denim, rock grey denim, and performance orange
It has the Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine, which has a power of 1868cc.
Do you have the same feeling as soon as you see a bike with an engine of 1868cc?
Me too! I’ve been driving a Corolla for the last ten years, with an engine of only 1500cc. Harley Davidson is manufacturing bikes with so much power.
The ‘FXDR 114’ has a top speed of 160mph. This is quite impossible for a cruiser. Usually, cruisers are not built for such speed; they highlight the American chopper style looks for a specific market segment. But surprisingly, it has 9500 rpm, which keeps it moving forward.
Is a 1200 Harley fast?
The top speed of Harley Davidson’ Iron 1200′ is 118mph; not bad as a cruiser right? If you’re looking for a semi-modern & rugged look, this bike is obviously made for you! Even in 2021, Harley Davidson has not feared introducing a ‘not that modern’ bike like this.
I always said that Harley is only for a specific market segment. Not everyone can afford it or love it. One needs to be genuinely passionate about cruisers to bring a Harley Davidson home! ‘Iron 1200’is a bike that’ll surely surprise cruiser lovers.
Talking about speed, you cannot compare a cruiser to a sports bike, never. Cruisers have to maintain American chopper-style looks. You need a powerful engine, a heavy body, and big tires. How can you go in the tracks and race with a superbike if you have all these? Cruisers are all about instant acceleration.
But comparing the ‘Iron 1200’ with other cruisers, it’s pretty fast.
Is Harley faster than a Ducati?
Cruisers are not meant for speed, so they should not be compared to sports bikes. But few sports bikes are slower than Harley Davidson’s cruisers; sad news for sports bike lovers. No offense, but Ducati failed in a few projects, where they were manufacturing sports bikes of 650cc and 800cc but failed to serve the speed.
By the way, those bikes aren’t that bad. Commonly, cruisers will be slower than sports bikes in terms of top speed. So even if you compare a 1800cc cruiser to a 600cc sports bike, the cruiser will not reach the top speed as much as the sports bike can.
But there are few bikes which proved this concept wrong; moreover, they are ‘Ducati’. Such as, ‘Ducati 749’, ‘Monster 659’ and ‘Monster 696’ are relatively slower than ‘FXDR 114′,’ Iron 1200’and ‘Bronx 1250’.Even after having lightweight chassis, these sports bikes couldn’t satisfy their category up to the mark.
Unexpectedly, yes, Harley is faster than Ducati in a few cases.
Why do Harley’s make so little power?
Bikes produced by Harley Davidson have to maintain their ‘cruiser’ category. Hence their bikes have pushrod valve trains that do not let them run at a higher speed. Moreover, as it is air-cooled, it cannot maintain higher rpm.
But to make these bikes powerful, manufacturers give heavier V-Twin engines with a lot of torque but less rpm.
Cruisers have a hefty look—feet forward and sitting back with arms in the air. There is nothing to do even if you hate it; riding in this position and the unique looks is what cruisers are all about!
Everyone has a common question, the style cruisers represent fine, but why are they slow? There are two reasons; engine and chassis. These two make the cruisers heavy or heaviest in the category of bikes.
Honestly, there are many new models of Harley Davidson which have comfortable seats and amenities. You can relax and set the cruise control to the highest road speed limit and listen to your favorite songs on the radio.
You’ll completely forget your surroundings and enjoy your beautiful journey until you see a hard turn, and then you’ll realize you’re on a cruiser.
There’s one thing for sure; it’s not a big deal which cruiser you’re riding, especially the Harley Davidson; you will just love the acceleration. No matter which gear you’re on, you just roll the throttle, and you’ll get the full torque power.
Is the V-Rod the fastest Harley?
V-Rod is undoubtedly a very iconic bike that made everyone go crazy. During 2005, when everyone expected cruisers to be slow, V-Rod was produced, and its top speed was unexpected. Even I’m shocked to see the results.
At a time like 2005, the legendary V-Rod went up to 144mph at its factory test. And it carried the potential to go higher in drag races.
V-Rod was later on upgraded to another version, which was available up to a few units. The limited-edition bike was the coolest Harley Davidson I’ve seen till now. It had the ‘VRSXE Screamin Eagle’ engine, which was too fast for a cruiser. It was a nightmare for all the competitors at the drag race.
Currently, V-Rod is not the fastest Harley Davidson. The ‘FXDR 114’ snatched its position with a top speed of 160mph. The efforts from manufacturers at 2005, is very much appreciated. But after this massive production gap between the ‘V-Rod’ and ‘FXDR 114’, there’s not a gigantic difference in the top speed; ‘FXDR 114’ is only 16mph faster than the ‘V-Rod’.
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In Conclusion: How Fast Are Harley Davidsons motorcycles?
Cruisers are not meant for speed. It’s made for long journeys with riding comfort. Everything in the bike is positioned, so we’ll see that the rider will find it much easier to ride on the highways.
And the bike is relatively low with a convenient ground clearance which helps the rider balance on any kind of road easily; mainly uphill and uneven terrains.
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