Hey guys,

I've been reading and going through all the pics and comments on the board as much as I can to learn what I can but I haven't been able to nail down the Street Glide vs Street Glide Special difference.

Ok. To be honest I've just been having beers and looking at all the pics for the last few days but still don't know the difference. What's the short and sweet if it all?

Mac

 

Just go straight to the special and be done with it.... It is better value for what you get.

It will save you from spinning your mind up and you will have more time for beer...

You should be specific what year your looking at. 2017 or 2014 to 2016.

 

Different radio (most dealers have the 6.5 installed), ABS, security, painted inner fairing and different paint. All comes down to whether or not you hate technology. A lot of value, but repair costs way up for future electric gremlins.

 

I believe the special also has the upgraded shocks and the standard has the useless air shocks. Just get the special and be done with it.

 

"Just get the special and be done with it." ~ Stupid

The GPS is about useless unless you NEED to know where EVERY Harley Davidson dealership is located in the country. Just one more thing to flake out on you.

If you change your pipes out for some with ballz your speakers will need an upgrade so you can hear your tunes at highway speed.

The inner fairing is only "painted" if you buy a Vivid Black bike. For my money would much rather have the color matched PAINTED inner fairing.

The shocks are only marginally better. Heard from plenty who ****** them off for a flavor of Ohlins, Progressive, Legend, etc.

Well you do get this ugly @$$ pinstripe that MOST seem to not care for. They did leave that little feature off of the '17 specials.

Smart choice is to buy a '16 with security and abs, slap on some good shocks, speakers, and a painted inner and you would have a bike every bit as good as the specials.

 

I went with a 16SG.... I'd rather add what I want even if it might cost me more out of pocket.

If I wanted to save money I wouldn't have bought a bike in the first place.

 

These opinions are from last years models by the sounds. I was looking at both as well. You can do a side by side comparison under spec and pricing on their site. HD does not show a difference in shocks between the SG and SGS this year. Only differences on the website is 6.5 infotainment, no painted inner fairing, no painted skirt piece below the front fairing (website also says lighted front fender, whatever that is). If you order the base model with ABS it's much cheaper than an SGS. A color option base bike is $21,500, ABS is an option at $800= $22,300. The SGS with a color option is $24,200. That's a $900 difference. I personally have not heard great things about their nav system. The base radio is blue tooth capable which means you can run google maps all day. I'm looking a lot closer at the base model for the money.

 

Nav system works fine for me...bottom line - test drive both and decide which you like best.

 

As others have said varies with the year. With the shocks the same and no pinstriping on the 2017 Specials there is less of a difference. I went with the Special for the ABS/security, 6.5" screen and shocks. Wound up upgrading the suspension anyway, but for electronics screen size matters and I kind of like the pinstriping but most don't.

BTW my bike DID come with the black painted inner fairing and it looks sharp.

 

I love the nav system. If for no other reason than to leave the map up to see the upcoming roads as well as surrounding roads. That said, I've used it for navigation with no more issues than my Garmin units. It's way better than my car's built in GPS.

Radio looks better.

Shiny black inner fairing looks better.

Linked abs brakes work better.

security is nice.

I like the stripes.