Getting to Know the 2011 Harley-Davidson Super Glide Custom
The 2011 Harley-Davidson Super Glide Custom is a Softail-frame cruiser built around Harley's Twin Cam 96B engine. It sits somewhere between a standard Super Glide and a more stripped-down bobber aesthetic, with forward controls, mini ape-hanger handlebars, a chopped rear fender, and a teardrop-shaped fuel tank. It was Harley's way of offering something that looked aggressive out of the box without requiring a parts catalog to get there. Here's the raw spec sheet: 1584cc air-cooled Twin Cam 96B V-twin, 5-speed transmission, belt final drive, 16-inch front wheel wrapped in a 130/90-16 tire, 15-inch rear with a 180/70-15 tire. Wet weight lands around 636 pounds. Seat height is approximately 26 inches. The fuel tank holds 5.3 gallons. Top speed is electronically governed for most markets, and you're looking at roughly 38-42 mpg under normal riding conditions depending on how hard you twist the throttle.
The 2011 Harleydavidson Super Glide Custom A Ride Into The Future
When I first bought a 2011 Super Glide Custom, I expected it to be everything the brochures promised. It wasn't, but it wasn't terrible either. The Twin Cam 96B makes decent low-end torque, which is what matters for this kind of bike. You're not riding it to pass on the highway at 80 mph. You're riding it to cruise at 55-65 and look like you know what you're doing. The real character of this bike comes from the chassis tuning. Harley kept the softail frame, which means the rear suspension is hidden inside the frame rails. It looks rigid. It isn't. The rear does have actual travel, and for a bike that sits low and wide, it handles reasonably well through corners. But don't expect sportbike handling. The trail and rake numbers put it firmly in cruiser territory, which means leaning angles are limited and quick direction changes feel heavy. One thing nobody warns you about with these bikes: the mini ape-hanger handlebars. They look great in photos. They make lane-splitting in traffic a genuine hazard because your wrist angle forces your elbows out, and you lose fine throttle control when you're navigating tight spaces between cars at 10-15 mph. I learned this the hard way on a busy Tuesday morning commute. My suggestion is to consider a slightly lower bar if you ride in traffic often. Aftermarket bars for the Super Glide Custom are plentiful and cheap, and swapping them takes about 20 minutes with basic tools.
The engine itself — the Twin Cam 96B — is generally reliable if you maintain it. The known weak spots are the primary chain tensioner, which can stretch and rattle if you don't check it every oil change, and the pushrod tubes, which tend to leak oil past the seals after 40,000 miles or so. There's also the issue with the clutch hydraulic master cylinder on early 2011 models. Harley issued a service bulletin. If you're buying a used one, ask whether that was addressed. If it wasn't, a rebuild kit costs about $45 and takes an afternoon. Another practical consideration: ground clearance. With the forward controls and low exhaust, this bike sits closer to the pavement than you'd think. I hit a manhole cover at a shallow angle on a local road and nearly pegged the exhaust pipe. The footpeg bridges are also low-slung, which means your feet are vulnerable if you stop too sharply on a slight decline. I added riser blocks to my foot controls just to give myself a margin of error, and I wish I'd done it from day one.
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What It Actually Feels Like to Ride
The riding position is relaxed but not comfortable for long distances. The forward controls flatten out your knees, which sounds good until your lower back starts complaining after two hours. The seat is narrow and fairly firm, and Harley didn't engineer this bike for cross-country touring. It's a weekend ride, a coffee run, a local cruising kind of machine. If you want to put 500 miles on it in a day, you'll want to invest in a better seat and possibly a windshield. The stock wind protection is nonexistent. Power delivery is smooth but lazy. The Twin Cam 96B peaks at around 82 lb-ft of torque at 3,200 rpm, which is plenty for getting up to speed in town. Highway passing requires planning. You'll downshift, wait for the revs to build, and then go. It works, but it's not instant. If you're coming from a sportier bike, this will feel sluggish. If you're coming from nothing, it'll feel perfectly adequate. The brakes are adequate for the weight. Front disc with a single caliper, rear disc. They stop the bike, but they don't inspire confidence at high speeds. I replaced the front brake pads with a performance compound on my first week of ownership, and the difference was noticeable. You don't need to go full racing stuff, but the stock pads are soft and fade under repeated use. A set of EBC Green Stuff pads ran about $30 and took 15 minutes to install.
Maintenance and Costs
Oil changes should happen every 5,000 miles or so. Use a good quality 20W-50 motorcycle-specific oil. The primary case uses separate lubricant, and you should check the level on that every time you do an oil change. If the primary is low or dirty, the chain tensioner and clutch won't last as long. Air filter replacement is straightforward but easy to forget. The airbox is under the seat, which means you have to remove the seat and a few fasteners to get to it. Every 6,000 miles is reasonable, but if you ride in dusty conditions, cut that in half. A clogged air filter will make the bike run rich and reduce fuel economy noticeably. Tire replacement is where costs add up. The rear tire is a 180/70-15, which is a less common size, so options are limited and prices reflect that. Expect to pay $200-280 for a quality rear tire. The front is more standard. I go about 12,000-15,000 miles on rears and 18,000-22,000 on fronts, depending on riding style. Aggressive cornering kills the rear faster than you'd expect on a bike this wide.
Chain maintenance on the belt drive is basically none. Belt drives don't need lubrication or adjustment in the same way chains do. You just inspect them periodically for cracks or fraying and replace when they show wear. A belt replacement runs about $150-200 in parts and another hour of labor if you can't do it yourself.
Aftermarket and Modifications
This is where the Super Glide Custom gets interesting. The platform is one of Harley's most popular, so there's an absurd amount of aftermarket support. Slip-on exhausts from Vance & Hines, Arrow, or K&N will give you a better sound without touching the engine tuning. Most of these are plug-and-play and don't require a reflash, though you may notice a slight rich condition that a tuner can correct if it bothers you. Engine work is where you need to be careful. The Twin Cam 96B is robust, but if you start opening it up with bigger cams or porting, you'll want a professional tune. Harley's stock ECU mapping is conservative, and deviating from it without adjusting fuel delivery can cause knocking and eventual damage. I've seen people blow engines on this platform because they bolted on a cold air intake and never touched the tuning. Don't be that person. For suspension, if the stock setup feels too soft for your weight or you want better handling, Progressive Suspension makes a set of rear shocks that swap directly and cost around $250. The improvement is immediate and significant. I wish I'd done that before I ever rode the bike stock.
Should You Buy One?
If you're looking for a stylish cruiser that turns heads and doesn't cost a fortune to maintain, the 2011 Super Glide Custom is a solid choice. It's not the most refined Harley Harley makes, and it's not the most powerful either. But it does what it's supposed to do: it looks good, it rides comfortably at cruising speeds, and it's relatively inexpensive to keep running. Used prices in decent condition run somewhere in the $7,000-10,000 range depending on mileage and modifications. I'd budget another $500-1,000 for immediate maintenance items — tires, fluids, brake pads, and possibly a tune if the previous owner modified anything. That brings the total into a reasonable ballpark for what you're getting. There are better motorcycles in this price range if you prioritize performance or comfort. But this isn't a motorcycle about those things. It's about attitude and presence. If that's what you want, it delivers.
