Comparing the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® to Past Models for Mount Pleasant Riders
When someone in Mount Pleasant, TN, mentions a 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide®, the reaction is almost always the same: raised eyebrows, a nod of respect, and probably a story involving long highway miles and a solid stretch of good weather. Over the years, the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® has carved out a distinct space within the Harley-Davidson® lineup. It’s the bike for those who ride hard and long, who appreciate both comfort and control, and who expect their touring machine to hold its own when the asphalt twists through the Tennessee hills.
But the question many riders are asking now is this: How does the 2025 model stack up against the models that came before?
The short answer is, it holds up well. But the long answer? That takes a closer look at what’s changed, what’s improved, and what’s been preserved.
The frame-mounted Sharknose fairing remains a defining feature in 2025. It's aerodynamic, commanding, and unmistakable. Earlier versions had the look, but the 2025 design feels more dialed in. Engineers used advanced airflow modeling to shape the fairing and windshield so they better manage wind at highway speeds.
For longtime riders near Mount Pleasant who’ve logged miles through open farmland and rolling elevation, that means less buffeting, less fatigue, and a smoother time behind the bars. Older models may have shared the same shape, but this one’s all about refined performance.
There’s something charming about classic gauges, and if you’re coming from a pre-2020 model, chances are you’ve spent a lot of time watching those analog needles dance. But times have changed.
The 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® now comes equipped with a 12.3-inch color display. The interface is crisp, responsive, and built into the flow of the bike rather than tacked on. What’s impressive here is not only the tech; it’s how seamlessly it blends with the experience. It’s not a screen demanding your attention. It’s a tool that enhances your connection with the road.
For Mount Pleasant riders who’ve navigated backroads and small-town traffic on older dashboards, this upgrade means less guesswork and more intuitive riding. Navigation, audio, and settings are all within a tap.
The 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® runs on the Milwaukee-Eight® 117, and while previous engines had their charm (especially the 114 and even the 103 back in the day), this one feels more confident. It produces 130 ft-lb of torque and handles temperature better thanks to liquid-cooled cylinder heads.
Older models were plenty strong but sometimes ran hot in slow traffic or on warm Tennessee days. This year’s version handles stop-and-go stretches along Highway 43 without complaint. Riders who remember older models huffing and puffing under heat stress will find this one far less temperamental.
The introduction of multiple ride modes might chime like a tech trend, but it's one of the most functional updates for real-world riders. You get three preset modes and a customizable one. Each adjusts throttle response, traction control, and braking behavior.
If you've never experienced ride modes before, it can feel like having multiple bikes in one. One setting for weekend touring down to Florence, another for wet conditions, and a custom setting for your everyday routes through town. It’s a flexible system, and for those used to one-size-fits-all performance on older bikes, it’s a real shift in ride quality.
Safety used to mean checking your tires, testing your brakes, and keeping your head on a swivel. That’s still true, but now the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® has added a layer of technology that watches your back.
The 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® comes with a suite of safety systems: Cornering Enhanced ABS, linked braking, drag-torque control, vehicle hold, and more. These features adjust as you ride, especially while turning or during rapid deceleration. Most of the time, you won’t notice they’re even there.
What sets the 2025 version apart from previous models is that all of this is tuned into the bike without feeling intrusive. You’re still in control, but now there’s backup working quietly to help you stay upright and on track. Riders who’ve had a few worries on older models, say a rear tire slipping on wet pavement, will appreciate the peace of mind these features bring.
There’s a new seat design that still respects the one-piece layout of older bikes but adds subtle tweaks to support comfort over time. Combine that with handlebars that now allow 27 degrees of adjustability, and you’ve got a bike that adapts to you and not the other way around.
In previous generations, riders often resorted to aftermarket tweaks for long-distance comfort. Now, the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® has built the adjustability in. For the roads around Mount Pleasant, from the backroads of Culleoka to a scenic cruise through the Natchez Trace Parkway, this kind of comfort makes the miles more enjoyable.
Let’s not pretend paint doesn’t matter. Riders take pride in how their bike looks, and the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® brings fresh options to the table. Mystic Shift is a standout. Depending on the sunlight, it shifts colors from gunmetal to blue to purple to amber. It’s the kind of paint that gets second glances at every fuel stop or bike night in nearby Columbia.
In past years, color options leaned more toward the conservative. The 2025 palette keeps the classics like Vivid Black but opens the door to factory paint that feels a little bolder without being too loud.
The fairing-integrated speakers in the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® are tuned for highway speeds. You can hear your favorite tracks loud and clear even with a full-face helmet and the wind doing its thing. That’s not something every past model could promise. Earlier systems struggled to compete with engine noise and road buzz.
If you’ve ever pulled over to adjust your volume or abandoned your playlist altogether, this update feels long overdue.
So, is it worth upgrading? If you were riding a Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® a few years back, the answer might depend on how you used your bike. For daily riders or long-distance tourers near Mount Pleasant, the comfort, connectivity, and smarter engine cooling make this model hard to ignore.
And if your current ride is from before 2017, the differences aren’t subtle. They’re significant.
From the first twist of the throttle to the way it eats up highway miles, the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® delivers something new while still respecting the legacy it’s built on.
Reading about it only goes so far. You’ve got to feel how the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® responds to your inputs, how it settles into a curve, how the screen reacts in bright sun, and how the seat holds up after an hour or two in the saddle.
To really get a sense of how it compares to your current ride, Contact our team or visit Boswell's Harley-Davidson® near Mount Pleasant, TN. Take the 2025 Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® out for a test ride and let the experience speak for itself.
No need for a hard sell. Just you, the bike, and the kind of roads that this machine was built for.