2023 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide Leaked

CVOs receive 121ci engine, new fairings and inverted forks

Harley-Davidson released the bulk of its 2023 lineup about two months ago, but we’re still waiting to here about more models, such as the Custom Vehicle Operations models that will be joining the CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary. We may not have much longer to wait, as videos of a new CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide have popped up on line, revealing some big changes to the CVO models, and perhaps a sign of what to expect for the 2024 lineup.

Blogger Dr. Dan Morel sent us a video that a source sent him over WhatsApp, and similar videos have been uploaded to YouTube and TikTok. The earliest version we found as uploaded to The Fast Life Garage LLC’s Instagram account.

All versions of the video show three different images, two of a CVO Road Glide and one of a CVO Street Glide. The platforms carrying the bikes and markers like the “RA3” sign in the background of the CVO Street Glide image are similar to what is used in Harley-Davidson’s factory in York, Pa., leading us to believe the pictures to be real.

[UPDATE March 16, 2023: We’ve now received a third photo with a closer look at the right side. It reveals some interesting new details such as signs of variable valve timing and a new transmission]

The first things that we noticed is that the two CVO models have new fairing designs. The CVO Road Glide’s signature shark nose fairing has a noticeably different shape, with the top edge in a convex shape compared to the concave shape of the existing Road Glide fairing, like the 2022 CVO Road Glide pictured at the right below. The front of the fairing has a more aggressive forward slant, with a new headlight shape with extensions protruding to either side. With no visible turn signal stalks, we assume the headlight shape incorporates the forward turn signals. The lower fairing is also a new shape, cutting off just above the highway bars.

Looking down on the derby cover, we also notice the number “121”, suggesting a 121ci version of the Milwaukee-Eight engine, instead of the 117 engine used for the last few years, as well as the CVO Road Glide Limited Anniversary announced earlier. Harley-Davidson giving the CVOs a larger engine comes as no surprise, now with the ST models and the Breakout all coming with the M-8 117. We are a little surprised that it’s 121ci and not the 122ci currently offered as a Screamin’ Eagle Stage III upgrade.

Nestled between the cylinders on the left side, the new CVO Road Glide has a different module from the 2022 model. On the older model, this was the horn, but the smaller unit on the 2023 model appears to be the same ignition coil currently used on various Softail and RevMax 1250 models.

The front wheel design is a match for the Combo Cast wheel Harley-Davidson currently offers as an accessory for CVO Road Glides. On the new model, however, it is suspended by an inverted fork, and paired with two radial-mount Brembo calipers. From the left side, it does not look like the fork has the wire leads for the Pan America Special’s Adaptive Ride Height.

The single shot of the CVO Street Glide also shows a new batwing fairing design. The fairing juts forward below the headlight, which is framed by a horseshoe-shaped LED. The light appears to extend to either side and peek through slits in the fairing. Again, the absence of turn signal stalks suggest these slits may serve as indicators.

The windscreen is missing from the top of the fairing, but from the position of the mounting points, the screen appears to be a new, larger shape, perhaps with electronic adjustment.

We expect Harley-Davidson to officially announce the 2023 CVO Road Glide and CVO Street Glide soon. It’s not clear if they will be joined by a CVO Tri Glide, like Harley-Davidson offered the last few years, but if it does, we suspect it may receive updates as well. The announcement will hopefully also tell us whether some of these changes will also trickle down to the 2024 Street Glide and Road Glide. The fairing designs will likely carry over to the non-CVO models, though we wonder if their engines will stay at their current 114ci or move up to the Milwaukee-Eight 117.

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