Jerry, I beg to differ...the only bikes listed as Customs are the standard Road Glide Custom, Super Glide Custom and Sportster Custom.
None of these bikes are CVOs and none of the other CVOs have Custom in their name either...hence my curiosity.
Maybe only a few of this years models carry that designation, but if you look back over time Harley has used the "Custom" name on a ton of bikes to differentiate within the families. You'll also see names like "Standard" or "Deluxe" or "Classic" appended to the main model names. 2011's SE Road Glide has Ultra in it's name, because it's based on the RG Ultra, so why would it seem strange to name a CVO based on the Road Glide Custom the SE Road Glide Custom?
BTW, to answer a question from your original post (
Isn't a CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) a custom?), a CVO is not a true custom bike. True customs don't come in production runs numbering in the thousands, and they don't roll off production lines. Kind of like all those cars and trucks with "Limited" badges on the back aren't really low volume "limited availability" vehicles. It's just a name; it's called marketing.
Think of a CVO as an upscale option package with a bunch of stuff from the accessory catalog as well as somewhat distinctive paint. Even the paint isn't what I'd call custom; the numbered paint sets Harley sells in the catalog are much more exclusive than a CVO paint job. One out of a hundred, or one of several thousand. Which would you call "custom"?
Jerry