The Electra Glide Harley-Davidson is probably the most famous motor cycle ever, and certainly the machine that made Milwaukee famous is the one bike which just about anyone in the street can identify readily.

For 1978, the familiar 45° vee-twin engine of the Glide was uprated from its famous 1200CC to a full 8ocubic inches, which is 1338.8cc, making it the largest capacity bike ever built by the American company and one of the largest built by anyone anywhere.

With 7221b of weight to carry, the Glide needs all the power it can get and is still only just able to reach the magic 100mph in" its latest guise. Just to save the Glide owner from any nightmares, a centre stand is not fitted, and the bike has to be rolled on to its massive crash bars for any repairs or wheel changes. The company boasts that the bike has the widest tyres available for its flagship in1978 and they really do grip the road in the dry, even to the point of screeching when they start to break traction. In the wet, however, the beast deserves the upmost respect for they are quite willing to break away even at low speed. The single disc units mounted at either end are not nearly as effective as the drum units of older models, and this is one point where Harley-Davidson would have done better sticking to their famous traditions.

The rider tucked behind the large fairing has a beautifully contoured fully sprung seat to sit on which easily compensates for any harshness in the suspension, while there are neat foot boards instead of the usual pegs. The footboards are necessary as trying to pivot one's right foot on to the car-like rear brake pedal would be impossible if you tried to keep the ball of your foot in touch with the bike. Just to emphasise the car-like style of the Glide, a foot-operated clutch pedal is available to special order; this would rule out even further any pretentions one might have to sports riding. The Electra Glide is purely a tourer, though, and the makers even believe that the rider will have plenty of time to look down at the tank-mounted speedometer and operate the tank-mounted light switch, such is the lazy style of the machine. Mounted as standard at the rear is a large top box and colour matched side panniers, each with its own chrome-plated crash bars.