2015 Harley-Davidson Street 750

Ignition

H-D STREET 750 ZERO SR VICTORY GUNNER 2015 DUCATI DIAVEL

THE RIDE STARTS HERE

2015 HARLEY-DAVIDSON STREET 750

CW FIRST RIDE

Sweet new entry bike or one of the Grandsons of Anarchy?

Don Canet

With the international motorcycle press gathering in Europe and India for the riding launch of the all-new Street 750, it appeared that those of us in the US were going to be left out in the cold. But Harley arranged a press ride for us right in our own backyard. We were given three hours of seat time aboard a pair of preproduction bikes that had been assembled at Milwaukee’s Product Development Center.

My first few laps around the City Orange’s central traffic circle on the designated “photo” bike revealed the Street 750’s steering head bearings were over-torqued, which made for some cumbersome low-speed handling. An easy fix if tools had been on hand.

I then climbed aboard the second Street 750 for a two-hour unescorted jaunt during which I focused on a street-centric route. I’m pleased to report that this other Street 750 exhibited more neutral steering characteristics than the first.

Generous steering lock and a low center of gravity give the Street a sense of parking lot agility that would make it a natural for negotiating the dreaded DMV test course.

I was equally impressed with its freeway manners. The new Harley felt smooth at 70 mph during the 20-minute run back to CW headquarters where I rolled the 503-pound fully fueled Street onto our scale and measured a seat height of 28.2 inches.

Then I strapped the Street 750 onto our Dynojet dyno for a few pulls. In typical H-D fashion, the Street has no tachometer. The dyno, however, reveals that 70 mph in sixth gear equates to 4,500 rpm, which means there’s an additional 3,500 rpm in reserve before the soft limiter cuts in.

While 58 peak horsepower resides at the very upper end of the rev range, there’s a flat and generous plateau of torque that stays above 40 poundfeet across nearly 4,000 rpm through the meat of the range. Although the bottom-end-tuned Iron 883 and Star Bolt both produce upward of 10 additional pound-feet of torque down low, they each come up about 10 short in peak horsepower when compared to the higher-revving Street, which has chain-driven single overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

Using our VBox data logger, we measured the Street 750’s acceleration and braking. It’s quick. The Street hits 60 mph in 4.6 seconds and streaks through the quarter-mile in an impressive 13.69 seconds at 93.8 mph. The Star Bolt, for the record, does the quarter in 13.78 seconds at 93.5 mph. But how does the Street compare with the 883 Iron? The Street squashes that Sportster, which has a best pass of 14.53/90.8. All told, the liquid-cooled 60-degree Revolution X V-twin is very competitive at this price point.

FRESH FACES: Harley's Street 750 and 500 are the first all-new models in The Motor Company's lineup in more than a decade.

BY THE NUMBERS

46

CUBIC INCHES: Engine displacement measured in "American."

15000

MILES: Valve adjustment interval for the Streets threaded adjusters.

Stopping performance, however, may be a different matter. Hard stops from speed require a full-fisted squeeze at the lever along with maximum use of the rear brake. Feel at the lever becomes increasingly spongy as heat builds in the singledisc, twin-piston, pin-slide caliper setup. The new Street produced a stopping distance of 152 feet from 60 mph. The addition of a 125-pound passenger stretched that number to 170 feet. Further adjustment to pad compound is still in the works, Harley says, before delivery to US dealerships begins in June.

The new Street 750, along with its 500CC sibling, represents a shot sure to be heard around the world. These bikes represent the largest global push in Harley-Davidson’s long history, and the 750 delivers with spirited roll-on performance, a muted exhaust, low mechanical noise, and confidence-inspiring handling.

Seasoned riding veterans are likely to pass on the $7,499 Street 750, but that’s largely the point. Maybe it’s time for a new TV show called Grandsons of Anarchy?

2015 Harley-DavidsonStreet 750

ENGINE TYPE liquid-cooled 60° V-twin

DISPLACEMENT 749cc

SEAT HEIGHT 28.2 in.

FUEL CAPACITY 3.5 gal.

WET WEIGHT 503 lb.

PRICE $7499

OTHER BIKES IN CLASS

DUCATI

MONSTER 696

$9295

HONDA NC700X

$7799

H-D 883 IRON

$7990

STAR BOLT

$7999