What Does 'RR' Stand For On The Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide RR?
When Harley-Davidson unveiled its latest motorcycle, the 2025 CVO Road Glide RR, this month, it may have given its fans its greatest limited-edition Harley-Davidson motorcycle yet. Inspired by the custom-made racing bikes its factory racing team uses in MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers race circuit, the CVO Road Glide RR brings the speed and power of the racetrack to Harley's cruisers. Fueled by a Milwaukee-Eight Harley-Davidson touts as "the most powerful engine ever delivered in a production motorcycle" by the brand, the new Road Glide RR might be the fastest motorcycle Harley-Davidson ever built.
Painted in the company's iconic racing orange, the CVO Road Glide RR brings style, performance, and innovation to the manufacturer's popular cruiser. With a titanium exhaust, billet-aluminum components, and carbon-fiber bodywork, the bike represents a leap in the material quality of Harley-Davidson's Road Glide, making it lighter and more durable with materials typically reserved for fighter jets and F1 cars.
In the CVO Road Glide RR, Harley-Davidson says it has crafted a hand-made limited-edition cruiser with the speed, power, and handling previously unattainable for fans of a cruiser class typically fashioned for comfort rather than speed. But what makes this addition so special? And why does it come with the tagline: Somehow Street Legal? The answer to this question lies in the mysterious "RR" at the tail end of its name.
A name that says it all
If you're wondering what makes the 2025 Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide RR special, look to its name. Standing for Race Replica, the RR moniker showcases how this new model takes popular touring bikes like Harley's Road Glide and Street Glide and injects them with speed, power, and handling usually reserved for the racetrack.
The CVO Road Glide RR is modeled after the Factory Racing Team's bagger bikes, one of two models — Indian's Challenger being the other — that compete in the aforementioned MotoAmerica Mission King of the Baggers race circuit. Gaining their name from their distinctive back storage compartments, which mimic the saddlebags riders threw over the back seat when these bikes first grew to popularity in the 1950s, the souped-up touring bikes used on the King of the Baggers racing circuit bring elite engines, carbon-fiber components, and enhanced handling features to elevate their performance beyond their street-legal counterparts.
Lighter, faster, and nimbler, these baggers take designs originally fashioned for comfortable, long-distance cruising and flip them on their heads. This was the problem that Harley-Davidson found itself with: how to bring the innovation and power of the racetrack onto the street. According to Harley, it was impossible, but the company did it anyway. The question now is: does the limited-edition bike live up to its racing DNA?
A (somehow) street legal racing bike
With a Screamin' Eagle131 powertrain, the RR can reach an incredible 153 horsepower while delivering 150 pound-feet of torque and revving up to 6,500 rpm. Using the same V-twin block as Harley's factory racing team, it features CNC-ported heads, an SE8-550 camshaft, and Screamin' Eagle internals — including its Racing King 6 transmission — the Milwaukee-Eight engine is by far the most powerful ever installed in a Harley.
Add an aluminum intake system with an aggressive 68-millimeter throttle and a full titanium exhaust equipped with carbon-fiber heat shields and a titanium muffler, the RR seems sure to meet the hype of its racing roots. The bike pairs this high-powered engine with an equally strong braking system sporting nickel-plated GP4-RX CNC calipers with four 32-millimeter pistons, 320-millimeter Brembo T-drive front rotors, and a four-piston Brembo rear caliper system, the RR is designed to make quick, efficient stops at extreme speeds.
The RR is more than a mere speed demon, however. Incredibly lightweight due to its carbon-fiber, titanium, and billet-aluminum components — which shaved about 50 pounds from the CVO ST's weight — it also brings the elite handling the company's racers depend on. Equipped with 43-millimeter Öhlins FGR inverted-fork suspension and dual Screamin' Eagle Öhlins Remote Reservoir shocks in back, the RR is built for aggressive handling and precise cornering. Its cast-aluminum wheels also decrease the bike's unsprung weight, further increasing suspension and handling performance.
Just 131 will be made
The CVO Road Glide RR isn't only the most powerful factory-built Harley-Davidson, its also one of the most exclusive. With only 131 serial-marked bikes ever hitting the road, the CVO Road Glide RR is one of the rarest Harley-Davidson motorcycles ever built. So it will surely be a prized collector's item for any motorcycle enthusiast lucky to get their hands on one.
But the RR's novelty is reflected in its price tag. Retailing at $110,000, the bike is more than double the base price of its most expensive bagger counterpart: the 2025 CVO Road Glide, which starts at $45,999. Harley-Davidson would argue that the RR's premium price comes with premium performance, delivering 38 horsepower, 3,500 rpm, and 11 lb-ft of torque more than its predecessor.
The RR even offers an advantage over the racers that inspired it — the Skyline OS infotainment system and 500-watt Fosgate Stage III audio system are the most advanced ever put on a Harley. To take the RR to the next level, Harley-Davidson also worked with factory racer (and King of the Baggers champ) Kyle Wyman to craft nine ride modes that enhance performance and customize the experience.
So does the CVO Road Glide RR live up to its racer roots (and price tag)? Well, unless you have the cash to invest in a six-figure motorcycle, you'll probably never know. But if you happen to see its distinctive orange frame cruising a road near you, ask its owner the same question Harley-Davidson did when it finished its newest model: How is that race bike street legal?