Motorcycle Review: We Ride the New Harley-Davidson Performance Baggers!

The new 2022 Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST get the monstrous 117-inch Milwaukee-Eight v-twin, Harley’s most powerful production engine ever.

The new 2022 Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST get the monstrous 117-inch Milwaukee-Eight v-twin
Exclusive first rides on the new Road Glide St (left) and Street Glide ST. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy of Harley-Davidson

Taking its cues from fender-scraping wheelie artists and knee-scraping racetrack heroes, for 2022 Harley-Davidson upgraded its most popular models. The Street and Road Glide STs are true performance baggers through and through, powered by the 117-inch, 106 horsepower Milwaukee-Eight v-twin.

With 127 ft.-lbs. of torque, plus linked Brembo brakes and a longer rear suspension for a deeper lean angle, the fairings of Harley’s two most popular motorcycles are now trained directly at the track. Fresh off Screamin’ Eagle factory rider Kyle Wyman’s 2022 King of the Baggers championship, these new baggers crank up the performance factor to 11.

Reviewed: Harley-Davidson Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST

We recently had the opportunity to ride these killer baggers before they hit the dealerships, and we’re here to testify. These are probably the most powerful and best-riding Harley-Davidson baggers we’ve ever had the opportunity to flog. Handling is phenomenal. We’ve never ridden a better-braking Harley, bagger or otherwise. And of course, all the touring amenities are appreciated, especially the fantastic in-dash touchscreen infotainment system.

riding Harley-Davidson Road Glide ST
The new Road Glide ST tears up the desert. Photo by Kevin Wing, courtesy of Harley-Davidson

But the real pleasure of riding these new Harley baggers is in the saddle. Throttle response is crack, braking is excellent, and the suspension and handling are among the best we’ve ever experienced on any Harley.

This new engine features a high-performance camshaft, a high-flow intake, and high-performance exhaust tuned to maximize engine performance. Screamin’ Eagle Stage Upgrades are available to boost engine performance even further. And if you’re feeling particularly ballsy, the Screamin’ Eagle 131-inch crate engine is also available.

Performance Baggers Extraordinaire

Performance baggers are all the rage these days. Harley could have gone in a completely different direction with these bikes, kowtowing to the wheelie-popping, fender-scraping “Nitro Circus” crowd. While those gravity-defying feats are no doubt impressive (and/or foolish and crazy), we’re glad Harley chose to lean hard into the racing side of performance baggers with these two new models. Because while not all of us can (or want to) rock a wheelie down the road, all motorcyclists can appreciate the thrill of diving into and throttling out of a sweet curve on a twisty road. And the Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST are built for just that. The linked Brembos are particularly satisfying.

riding harleydavidson Street Glide ST
The new ST should inspire plenty of existing Street Glide owners to trade up. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy of Harley-Davidson.

The new STs are dressed in dark and black colors with bronzed finishes throughout for a menacing look. Both feature the complete suite of Harley-Davidson Grand American Touring features, including Harley’s Boom! Box infotainment system with color touch screen and navigation, cruise control, and LED headlamps. And of course, a full slate of optional accessories and rider enhancements are available.

The new Milwaukee-Eight 117″ is the powerplant these big bikes have always deserved. If you own a pre-2016 Street or Road Glide with the Twin Cam 103B motor—and judging by the amount of them parked at rallies and bike nights nationwide, there are a lot of you out there—the time to upgrade is now.

The new 2022 Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST on racetrack
The racetrack is the perfect setting for these new Harleys. Photo by Brian J. Nelson, courtesy of Harley-Davidson.

Both models are available now at your local Harley-Davidson dealer for an MSRP of $29,999.

Motorcycle News: Who’s the King of the Baggers? Harley & Indian Fight for Bagger Domination

King of the Baggers Series
Bigger and badder for 2022, the popular Bagger racing circuit expands to six races this year.

Thanks to the rousing success of the debut season, bagger racing fans will get to watch Harley and Indian duke it out in yet another arena—the racetrack. The MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Series expands to six exciting rounds this year (seven races total).

Last year, H-D factory rider Kyle Wyman rode his Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide to the championship in the debut season of the AMA-sanctioned racing circuit. The first King of the Baggers Invitational race in 2020 was won by Tyler O’Hara aboard a superpowered Indian Challenger at Laguna Seca.

King of the Baggers Series
Kyle Wyman won the 2022 series for H-D on his Screamin’ Eagle 131-inch Road Glide

If you haven’t yet checked out the King of the Baggers, you’re in for a treat. Watching hi-po baggers rip around a road course is thrilling and nerve-wracking, and attending the races is a heckuva lot of fun. So get out to one of the races listed below and support your favorite factory team or privateer, including teams sponsored by Roland Sands Design, S&S Cycle, Saddlemen, and more.

Bagger racing is so popular it inspired Harley to release performance versions of its popular Street Glide and Road Glide models, outfitted with 117-inch Milwaukee Eight v-twins. You can read more about our exclusive ride aboard the brand-new Street Glide ST and Road Glide ST here.

2022 KOTB Schedule Expands to Six

The 2022 MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers Championship kicked off during Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida, with the baggers taking to the high banks of Daytona International Speedway for the first time, March 10-12. The first round went to 2020 KOTB Invitational champ Tyler O’Hara aboard his S&S-powered Indian Challenger, giving him an early lead in the 2022 series points race.

Now the series heads to Georgia and Road Atlanta in Braselton, April 22-24. The championship will then revisit Road America June 3-5, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, a stone’s throw from Harley-Davidson headquarters in Milwaukee.

King of the Baggers Series
Wyman’s Road Glide gets the #1 plate this year. Photo by Brian J. Nelson

Laguna Seca is where Kyle Wyman wrapped up the 2021 KOTB championship for Harley-Davidson, and the iconic track in Monterey, California, will play host to round four of the series, July 8-10.

The final two rounds of the 2022 series will take place at tracks that are new to this inspired and fun series of racing. Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minnesota, the home state of Indian Motorcycles, hosts KOTB on July 29-31, and New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey finishes the series on September 9-11.

A Ratings & Social Success

The three-round 2021 MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers Series generated more than 19 million impressions and an engagement of 1.2 million on social media with the races delivering over 1.1 million views and 43,000 total hours of viewing time on YouTube.

“The popularity of last year’s three-round King Of The Baggers Series was such that it left our fans, teams, sponsors, and racers wanting more,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “So, we are giving them what they want: a six-race championship held at the three tracks that the Baggers competed on last year with an additional three rounds, including our first visit to Daytona International Speedway.”

King of the Baggers Series
Harley and Indian find another arena in which to do battle.

Last year’s King Of The Baggers Championship came down to a fierce battle between Harley-Davidson’s Wyman and Indian’s O’Hara with Wyman winning the decisive final round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to take home the title. Those two will again spearhead the efforts of the Harley-Davidson and Indian factories on their H-D Screamin’ Eagle Road Glide and Mission Foods S&S Cycle Indian Challenger, respectively.

2022 MotoAmerica King Of The Baggers Schedule

  • March 10-12 Daytona International Raceway Daytona Beach, FL
  • April 22-24 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Braselton, GA
  • June 3-5 Road America Elkhart Lake, WI
  • July 8-10 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, CA
  • July 29-31 Brainerd International Raceway Brainerd, MN
  • September 9-11 New Jersey Motorsports Park Millville, NJ