Comparison: High-End Cruisers- Harley Davidson CVO Limited vs Indian Roadmaster

Harley Davidson- the largest leisure motorcycle manufacturer has launched its flagship motorcycle- CVO Limited in India via CBU route and priced at Rs. 49.23 lakh. Currently, there is no dirct competition available in the market, however Indian Motorcycles is also about to bring the Roadmaster in India, which will compete with it. Both the bikes are highly premium machines with a big price tag, so let's checkout that which one justifies the cost better.

Design, Styling and Features: Both the bikes are flagship models of their respective manufacturers, and costs enough to give best performance and reliability. The Baggers have been designed to provide best in class comfort, performance, safety and infotainment.

Harley Davidson CVO Limited: One of the most expensive machines across the world, H-D CVO Limited is a very special touring machine with a classic-modern fusion styling. The ergonomically designed machine has been made under Project Rushmore Control. So, it gets all the latest comfort and convenience features like bucket seats with pillion back and arm rests and foldable rider's back-support, easy accessible controls, Batwing front fairing with lowers, sleek hard saddle bags and tour pak with one touch opening, day-maker LED headlamps and Boom! Box audio system with 4-chanel speakers and 6.5” touch screen.

The CVO Limited has been custom painted with hand-finished graphics and 3D badges on the fuel tank and fender. The pure H-D styling of the bike includes chrome dual exhaust, bullet turn signals, dual finish black-chrome V-twin with Screamin' Eagle badges, and mirror finish alloys. The motorcycle rolls off the line with a full compliment of custom touches from the Airflow Collection: rider footboard inserts, passenger footboard inserts, shifter pegs, brake pedal and cover, highway pegs, heated handgrips with rubber inserts, and shift lever arms. The bike comes equipped with the factory fitted ABS, electronic cruise control and H-D smart security system, featuring keyless ignition with a proximity-based, hands-free security fob.

Indian Roadmaster: With pure American luxury, this new Indian motorcycle has taken its name from the 1940's iconic Roadmaster. The bike looks bigger than the CVO Limited and actually it is. It also gets all the comfort, convenience, security and infotainment features, which are almost similar to the CVO. However, some of the features are much different like its Horizon Windscreen featuring power-adjust, Desert Tan Genuine Leather heated seats with individual controls and high/low settings, Heated grips featuring 10 temperature settings and adjustable passenger floorboards for extreme comfort.

Safety comes equipped with the Roadmaster as it comprises features like High-resolution ABS, tyre pressure monitoring system, pathfinder LED lighting throughout, and electronic cruise control. The bike comes with keyless ignition with remote opening for 142.3 litre storage, Triple power ports and advanced infotainment system featuring communication, navigation, telephone, Pandora integration, bluetooth capability for hands-free multi-device connectivity, which fulfils all the convenience and entertainment needs of a motorcyclist.

Engine, Transmission and Performance: Both the high-end baggers are powered by advance 1800cc V-Twins, which provides modern performance with classic look to the machines.

Harley Davidson CVO Limited: The latest Twin-Cooled Twin Cam 110 engine powers the new H-D CVO Limited. It has the iconic Harley Twin Cam engine design with advance air and precision-cooled technology and Screamin' Eagle air filter, which makes it more reliable, attractive and better performer. The 1,801cc V-twin delivers a peak torque of 156Nm at 3,750rpm, which is smoothly controlled by six-speed Cruise Drive transmission. The quite shifting gearbox has been designed for smart transmission, which reduces engine speed on the highway, so you get a better match between engine RPM and road speed.

Indian Roadmaster: Propelling the upcoming Indian Roadmaster is the iconic Thunder Stroke 111 engine. Powered by closed loop fuel injection system, the square geometry 1,811cc V-twin makes 138.9Nm of maximum torque between 2,600-3,000rpm. Torque figure is 17Nm lesser than the CVO, however, sufficient for a 403 kg weighing cruise machine.

Chassis: Powered by high performance engines and more than 400 kg weighing machines have been equipped with highly reliable brakes, suspensions and wheels and other equipments.

Harley Davidson CVO Limited: Supported on super strong 49mm telescopic front forks, H-D CVO Limited gets fully-adjustable air ride suspension with pneumatic adjustability. The bike runs on durable 17” front and 16” rear wheels with 130/80 and 180/65 section rubber respectively. The front wheel has dual 300mm disc brakes with 4-piston calipers, while the rear gets single brake unit of similar type. To ensure safe braking, the ABS has been provided as an standard feature in the system.

Indian Roadmaster: Rolling on rigid 16” cast wheels, the Indian Roadmaster comes with 130/90 front and 180/60 rear tyre. The bike gets 46mm telescopic front forks and pneumatically adjustable single shock at the rear. Both the dual 300mm front and single 300mm rear disc brakes come with the ABS assistance ensuring better safe braking.

Pricing and Verdict: Both the bikes come in a segment, where a slight price different doesn't matter, but when the difference is Rs. 12.23 lakh?

The Harley-Davidson CVO Limited and Indian Roadmaster are almost similar bikes in the terms of purpose, design and features. However, CVO comes with a little extra torque and a more popular brand. Apart from that the Indian Motorcycle is claiming to bring Roadmaster in India with a very lesser price tag, which is around 25 percent cheaper than the CVO Limited. So, the pricing is a major factor to decide the winner among these two. However, for now, only H-D CVO Limited is available in India, so if you want to save money, you have to wait for the Roadmaster.