As every rider knows, the engine is at the heart of the experience of riding a motorcycle. The amount of torque and horsepower it delivers over the RPM range is in direct proportion to the feeling it gives you when you roll on the throttle. We know what riders want from a motorcycle engine because we’ve been building them for 110 years. Project RUSHMORE gave us the opportunity to dial it in just right. We conducted thousands of road tests with real riders giving us feedback to build the next iteration of the legendary Harley-Davidson® engine.

Let’s start with the big news: 25% more volume for your tunes. The new Boom!™ Box 4.3 Radio puts out 25 watts per channel at 1% distortion and features a factory-tuned, optimized equalizer that pumps out more power and can be played louder while maintaining the clarity of your sound. And the new speed tuning system delivers more than just volume changes at different speeds.

Here are some of the innovations The Rider Project led to: the new Reflex™ Linked Brakes with Anti-lock Braking System. New dual halogen and LED headlamps and fog lamps, brighter Tour-Pak® lighting, brighter turn signals, brighter brake lights, and a new steering head with stiffer front forks. Locked-up tires are now history even when there’s wet pavement. We’ve made it feel even better to lean your way through a turn.

Project RUSHMORE is the journey we set out on to take our touring motorcycles to places never imagined before – to turn all the possibilities for what a motorcycle can be now into true Milwaukee steel. We did it our way, as we’ve always done. As riders. Riding with other riders. Thousand of hours, countless road tests, millions of miles. Looking for the technology and innovations that truly make the ride better. We went over the bike fender tip to fender tip. Making it work better.

We dialed in the comfort of our machines the hard way: over thousands of miles in all kinds of riding conditions on every kind of street, road and highway ever laid down in pavement. Experienced riders and passengers putting in long hours in the saddle and giving us feedback on every aspect that contributes to comfort on the road.