What Is A Harley-Davidson CVO, And How Are They Different From Other HD Motorcycles?

For many true-blue enthusiasts, any conversation about motorcycles begins and ends with the words "Harley-Davidson." That's because, arguably, no manufacturer in history has so fully leaned into the liberating ideology many associate with motorcycles. Some motorcycle lovers might even claim few bike builders have as consistently delivered machines so in tune with the filth, fury, and unbridled majesty of living your life on two wheels. 

In addition to the choppers, cruisers, and touring bikes the Harley-Davidson brand is built on, the legendary motorcycle company has regularly bolstered its iconic lineup with runs of limited edition bikes bearing the CVO moniker. For those who don't know, CVO stands for Custom Vehicle Operations, and those specialty bikes represent a leg of Harley-Davidson created for the factory custom market.

That means a Harley with the CVO moniker is a dramatically upgraded version of one of their standard factory models, bestowing each with the company's latest design innovations and technological advances, some of which the company has yet to debut elsewhere. Combined with their super-limited availability, the high-end design elements make CVO bikes as coveted as any on the market. It also ranks them among the rarer Harley-Davidson motorcycles around.  

Harley-Davidson has, of course, been manufacturing motorcycles for more than a century. However, the company has only produced bikes under the Custom Vehicle Operations wing for 25 years, debuting the limited edition models in 1999. Manufacturing numbers for CVO motorcycles can vary from one year to the next. But production on most of Harley-Davidson's custom-made motorcycles rarely seems to top out at more than a few thousand of each model every year.

Given the level of customization that goes into the manufacture of most Harley-Davidson CVOs, it's easy to understand why the company opts to keep production numbers low. As for what sets a CVO build apart from your standard, straight-off-the-manufacturing-line model Harley-Davidson, like the bike's production numbers, customizations vary from year to year. A look at some of the 2024 CVO models offers a glimpse at the sort of customization involved, with the current line boasting everything from eye-catching paint jobs to massively upgraded engines, suspensions, and lighting packages, as well as "Infotainment" packages with Bluetooth connectivity and color TFT touchscreens as large as 12 inches.

If you know anything about Harley-Davidson Motorcycles, you know some of the features boasted on the CVO models are about as far from stock as you can get. While that may not always be the case, Harley-Davidson diehards may cherish the chance to test them out in high style before the company starts including them in factory builds.