We got a chance to do a 25 minute demo ride of a new CVO Limited yesterday and I thought I would share our observations as I know we all search tirelessly for some thread of info on the new bikes when they come out, well at least I did! The Harley Demo Fleet was at a dealer not to far from us so we decided to make a day of it and go visit to see if we could get a chance to ride one of the bikes. There was quite a few folks there, band playing and great BBQ even a guy with a bad ass looking trike powered buy a 327.
So we put our name on the list to ride a New CVO Limited, had to wait about and hour before our turn came around, the skies were turning dark but we jumped on, and off we went (as soon as I located the new starter buttons)!
First impressions: Handlebar controls are much different and will take a read of the manual, the cluster on the right above the starter button also houses the 4way flasher control, actually a good place for it.. But the controls will take a bit to get used too. The turn signal switches are positioned much more naturally, and had a good feel to them.I didn't really play around with all the other switches and joysticks too much(besides figuring out how to get the intercom and radio playing). The front end feels stalkier maybe smoother, more solid feeling, we really didn't get to highway speeds so hard to tell, but it didn't feel quite as loose as mine (2013 CVO Ultra). Brakes; Wow!! big improvement, their actually very solid, smooth and quick to stop, big plus in my book. Seating position for me was a good inch higher, passenger height was maybe a little more than that..The seat was night and day difference from mine on the 2013, much more padding in the areas you need it most and not so much in the places you don't. My lady said that the rear seat was really comfortable and felt so much better that our current ride. It's about an inch wider for rider and 2" for pax and a bit more front to back length also. The driver backrest is also more padded a little wider and curved, and the pax backrest was redesigned and more comfortable, they also moved the intercom plug for the pax so that it comes thru the side of the backrest, better solid mount, very nice. I want to see if there is some way to get that seat on my 2013. Huge Plus!!! The 110 engine seemed to pull just fine, sounded like a stock 110, not as much engine noise as mine, exhaust note was pretty good with the stock pipes. Heat; yup the heat seemed the same to me; I really didn't notice much difference in the amount of heat on my right thigh, but I didn't notice any additional heat from the radiator ports which was good. lets see what else; the windscreen is taller than the 13's by a good couple of inches, didn't get to notice any change in buffeting from the vent as we didn't get going past 55. I did notice that the positioning of the 4 gauges in the dash is a problem! They're positioned at such an angle that you can't see them well at all, too much reflected glare from whats above you, whether it be sky or trees, very mirror like effect. The fact that the dash panel is also painted a gloss black is no help either. The size of the gauges are bigger, but poorly angled, not a fan! As I said, I didn't have much of an opportunity to play with the 6.5 "infotainment center" but it was quickly responsive to the controls or a gloved hand and the screen was easy to read(it is positioned well!!!) and the colour, brightness and contrast were easy to see in any light. As we were riding the back roads we had the opportunity to hit some dips and bumps and uneven road surfaces, the front end seemed to navigate the uneven surfaces well but at times the bike felt bouncy and not as smooth as our "13", I wonder if this particular demo bike had a bad shock or something, it was very pogo like at times.
To sum it up I would say I like some of the new features, Brakes, Bigger front end, Seat comfort, 6.5 "Infotainment Sys".
What didn't Wow me was the fairing lower glove boxes, door and latch felt cheap and like they wouldn't last long, the dash and gauge reflection, the rear tourpak lighting strip, not painted to match, I think the front vent should be painted as well, on the CVO's. The paint scheme didn't really do anything for me, I was hoping to like the blue but after seeing the Daytona blue combo on a Street Glide and ultra Limited, the CVO paled in comparison (to each his own, just my opinion)I would like to see custom colour options for the CVO, The 103's have more that the CVO. No dash pad (I know they would have to work around the vent), it seemed to me that they didn't spend much time trying to make the CVO Limited special this year, it's got the 110, but besides a lot of chrome etc, its missing the extra WOW factor that I would expect from a new CVO. Nice bike; it's a CVO, but left me with the feeling that I'll wait a year and see what 2015 brings...again apologize for the run on commentary...And keep in mind my views are only from a 25 minute ride...Hope to get a chance to take a longer ride sometime in the future.
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Topic: Demo Ride 2014 CVO Limited (Read 8342 times)