Ride First Class on the 2014 Harley-Davidson Street 500

Harley-Davidson is the big elephant in the room. If you know anything about the motorcycle industry, you know the legacy that Harley-Davidson and their loyal fans have created for themselves. Until now, Harley-Davidson has not really marketing or created anything for the streets quite like the Street 750 and the Street 500. Both models are due to be released in 2014, first quarter and third quarter respectively.

The Harley-Davidson Street 500 is like teaching an old dog new tricks. Yes, I said it. That’s a good way to think about what is going on with the Street 500. Both of the engines in the 500 & 750 are the all-new Revolution X engines. The 500 has a 494 cc liquid cooled V-Twin aluminum engine. For reference, the Street 750 has a 749 cc engine. One cool thing about this V-Twin engine is that the cylinder heads are angled at 60 degrees instead of the conventional 45 degrees. There are a few benefits to having the cylinder heads at those angles. By having more angle between the engines, it allows the engines to have, in essence a lower profile keeping the vertical height much lower. The low profile translates to everything else as well. For example, the seat is also lower to the ground, keeping the whole center of gravity much lower. The gearbox is a 6-speed beauty that slides between gears effortlessly when you need to shift, this is especially good while driving city streets where your speed will change constantly. Engine horsepower for the 500 version has been estimated to be anywhere from 32-40 hp at 8000 rpm but there has been no official hp releases form Harley-Davidson. Although not officially announced, a Harley rep has been quoted to state that the 750 will be pushing 54 hp at 7500 rpm with 44 pound-feet of torque.

The body of these Street models leaves no stone unturned. Both body lines are sleek, clean, and stylish. The biggest gripe that loyal Harley-Davidson fans have is the headlight, we’re heard several fans complain about the styling cues used for the headlight. One feature that we found to very pleasing was the transition from the seat to the actual tank. The lines are very smooth and it makes it easy to ride around town while not having a bulging tank in your way. That being said, this is an entry level Harley-Davidson motorcycle and it will be priced as such. Although it will be hard to find something better refined for that price, you can easily find something that has more horsepower, leaving you feeling like you’ll want to add some aftermarket performance upgrades.