In 1971, a young designer fresh out of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design did something audacious: He took the chassis of a Harley-Davidson FL touring bike, mounted the lightweight front end of a Sportster to it, stripped away everything non-essential, and created the FX Super Glide—the first factory custom ever. His name was Willie G. Davidson. And what he built not only saved Harley-Davidson. It invented an entire segment of motorcycling.
Fifty-five years later, Harley-Davidson has brought the Super Glide back. And why that matters is worth understanding.
The Bike that Rewrote the Rules
In 1970, Harley-Davidson was at a crossroads. Honda had just dropped the four-cylinder CB750 in 1969. Kawasaki was right behind with the Z1. British manufacturers—for years the benchmark in performance—were on the wane. The Sportster, Harley’s answer to British twins since 1957, was losing relevance as America’s performance machine.
What Willie G. saw was not a crisis, but an opportunity. He watched what custom builders and owners were already doing in garages across the country: swapping parts, chopping frames, stripping bikes down to their essence. He took that energy and channeled it into a production bike. The result was the FX Super Glide: the 74 cubic inch FL engine in a stripped-down touring frame, mated to the lightweight Sportster front end. Even the electric starter was deleted. Kick-start only. Pure.
The boat tail rear bodywork—a bold, polarizing design statement inspired by automotive styling of the era—proved too radical for buyers and was dropped after the first year. But the concept itself was undeniable. The Super Glide had tapped into something deeper than specs. It had tapped into culture.
“The Super Glide for me, and for us as a company, represents the birth of the realization that Harleys are much more than machines,” says Bjorn Shuster, Harley-Davidson’s current design director. “There's a uniqueness to this riding experience. And when you tap into that, you go beyond specs and you talk about intangible value.”
The 2026.5 Super Glide: Honoring the Spirit
The new Special Edition FXD is limited to 2,500 numbered units for the US and Canadian markets, priced at $15,999. It rides on the current Softail platform, a deliberate choice. Where the original FX used a rigidly mounted Big Twin engine, and the Dyna (its 1991 spiritual successor) used a rubber-mounted engine, the Softail’s monoshock chassis brings the proportions closer to the lean, stripped-down stance of the original.
The visual anchors are unmistakable: red-and-blue graphics over a 5-gallon tank and matching fenders, directly inspired by the 1971 original. Chrome—deep, dazzling—returns in abundance. Harley’s CMF&G team (Color, Material, Finish & Graphics) has achieved finishes that make an emotional impression few manufacturers can match. This is a bike designed to make you fall in love at first sight.
Under that classic skin lives a thoroughly modern machine. The counterbalanced 117-cubic-inch Milwaukee-Eight V-twin—making a dyno-tested 94 hp and 118 lb-ft of torque—transmits through a six-speed box. Cornering ABS, traction control, drag-torque control, and tire pressure monitoring are standard. Rain, Road, and Sport rider modes tune throttle response. A 300mm Brembo front disc and 292mm rear disc deliver stopping power that would have been unimaginable to riders of the original Super Glide, who made do with a front drum brake that, as Cook Neilson memorably wrote in Cycle magazine, “faded like an echo.”
On the Road
The 2026.5 Super Glide is at its best when you slow down and take the long way. At 60 mph on a winding back road, the chassis and narrow wheels give it genuine agility. The steering geometry keeps it stable even at steep lean angles, made possible by mid-mount foot controls. Suspension is firm and confidence-inspiring.
The mini-ape handlebars are spiritually correct—fists in the wind, the classic cruiser stance—but will remind you of their limitations on a long stretch of freeway. This is a bike that rewards riders who understand its character: unhurried, purposeful, and deeply satisfying when ridden on its own terms.
The 2-into-1 exhaust is a highlight. While not a replica of the original FX system, it deliberately evokes the upswept exhaust on the 1977 FXS Low Rider—one of the Super Glide’s most celebrated descendants—and sounds exactly as it should.
Beyond the Specs
What Willie G. Davidson understood in 1971—and what Harley-Davidson reaffirms with this limited edition—is that the most powerful bikes are those that connect with something beyond the spec sheet. The Super Glide wasn’t the fastest bike of its day. It wasn’t the most technologically advanced. But it was the most culturally resonant, and that resonance has endured for 55 years of American motorcycling.
The 2026.5 Super Glide carries that weight honestly. It doesn’t pretend to be the 1971 original. It uses the best platform Harley has today, wrapped in graphics and chrome that honor its origins. And in doing so, it raises the question every great motorcycle eventually asks: what comes next?
At California Motorcycles, we believe the answer starts with understanding where you’ve come from. The Super Glide is proof that the most important innovations aren’t always the ones with the most horsepower. Sometimes, they’re the ones with the most soul.
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