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2011 · Tourer · Buyer's Guide
Factory Custom, Mile-Devouring Torque
The CVO Road Glide Ultra was Harley's top-shelf touring build for 2011, and the recipe reads clearly. A 1802 cc air-cooled 45° V-twin makes 97 hp and 115 lb-ft, geared through a six-speed box and a belt, hauling 943 lb wet down the interstate. The fairing bolts to the frame instead of the fork, so the front end tracks where you point it rather than following whatever the air is doing. ABS is standard. The rest of the CVO money went into paint, trim and finish, and that part you can see from twenty feet away.
On the road it behaves the way a 63.5 in wheelbase suggests: settled, unhurried, most at home holding one steady highway pace for hours. Torque arrives early and stays flat, so you short-shift and let it pull instead of chasing revs. This is the bike for the rider who wants presence and a fully loaded long-haul machine, and who accepts the size that comes with it. The honest part: the 110-ci engine puts real heat on your right leg in stopped traffic, and several of its known trouble spots show up as the miles pile on. Buy on service history, not on the paint.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 97 hp (72 kW) |
|---|---|
| Torque | 115 lb-ft (156 Nm) |
| Displacement | 1802 cc |
| Engine | 45° V-twin |
| Cooling | Air-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Final drive | Belt |
| Fork | Telescopic |
| Front tire | D408 130/70B18 63H |
| Rear tire | D407 180/55B18 80H |
| Wheelbase | 63.5 in (1613 mm) |
| Seat height | 29.5 in (749 mm) |
| Wet weight | 943 lb (428 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 6.0 gal (22.7 L) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Comfort
Safety
Hit the starter and the V-twin drops into that uneven idle you feel through the seat before you register it as sound. It never goes fully quiet, and that is deliberate. Pulling away, 943 lb is honest weight at walking pace; the bars are wide, the 29.5 in seat lets you plant both boots flat, and once you are rolling the mass sinks underneath you and stops being a topic. Vibration is present at cruise but civil, more texture than intrusion, though the mirrors go soft at idle. Behind that big fairing the air lifts over your shoulders and stays there, so a long day never turns into shouting into your helmet. Heat off the rear cylinder builds fast the moment traffic stops moving. The 6.0 gal tank ends up setting the rhythm of the day.
Nils has gathered this one the slow way: club nights, gas-stop conversations on long routes, owners who track him down after a demo ride, and the messages riders send weeks into a trip. None of it is his own verdict. Taken together the reports point the same direction, and the criticism narrows to a single subject.
Owners lead with the engine. The 110 pulls from just above idle with no planning required, and a full load doesn't change that. Comfort draws the same volume of comment, described as all-day for two rather than merely tolerable. After that the reports fan out: a big machine that owners say handles a bending road better than its size suggests, long interstate days they call untroubled, a stereo that stays intelligible over wind noise, and finish work they treat as part of owning something built in small numbers.
Criticism collects in a single place. Heat off the right side of the engine is what owners raise on their own, manageable while moving and much less so once traffic stops or the temperature climbs. A smaller group, steady about it, mentions what the bike asks at walking pace, especially of shorter riders in parking lots.
Lifter roller failures causing engine damage
The 110‑ci engine is prone to needle‑bearing failure in the hydraulic lifters, which can send debris through the oil system and seize the engine.
ABS brake fluid deposits can stick the hydraulic control unit valve
NHTSA safety recall 18V076000: on ABS-equipped 2008-2011 Touring/CVO Touring models, including the 2011 CVO Road Glide Ultra (FLTRUSE), deposits can form in the brake system if the DOT 4 fluid is not replaced within the two-year service interval. A valve in the ABS hydraulic control unit can stick and reduce braking ability. Dealers flush the system with new DOT 4 fluid.
Rear brake light switch overheats near the exhaust
NHTSA safety recall 11V506000: on 2009-2012 Touring, CVO Touring and Trike models built 6 June 2008 to 16 September 2011, exhaust heat can reach the rear brake light switch. The brake lamp may fail to come on, come on with no brake applied, or the switch can leak brake fluid and hurt rear brake performance. Dealers install a revised switch kit.
Compensator failures leading to starter damage
The compensator can wear out around 40,000 miles, manifesting as a harsh clunk on startup or a sheared starter ring gear.
Extreme engine heat causing rider discomfort
The air‑cooled 110‑ci engine, especially combined with a catalytic converter, generates significant heat; riders often complain of unbearable right‑leg temperatures in summer traffic.
Oil cooler line leaks
Minor oil seepage from the oil‑cooler connections is a frequent observation; usually harmless but requires periodic tightening or seal replacement.
Voltage regulator and stator failures
The charging system (voltage regulator and/or stator) can fail prematurely, often around 40,000 miles, leaving the rider with a dead battery and no‑start condition.
Where this Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide Ultra FLTRUSE pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the CVO Road Glide Ultra FLTRUSE is actually built for.
For Sturgis, Daytona and the long ride down to them, this is the machine: sound, presence, and paint people walk across a parking lot to look at. It will not be the quiet bike in the lot.
Made for A1A — Florida Atlantic Coast · Black Hills / Sturgis Rally Hub · Daytona Main Street / Bike Week
Loaded up with a passenger, it holds a mountain highway all day and keeps the weather off you when it turns. Budget for the engine heat in traffic and read the service records closely first.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
It will do Highway 1 or the Blue Ridge in real comfort, but at 943 lb it asks you to plan your line rather than change it. Ideal for scenery days, less so if you want to push a tight road.
Made for Black Hills · Blue Ridge Parkway · Cherohala Skyway
If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Harley-Davidson CVO Road Glide Ultra FLTRUSE. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
Successor · 2015–2016
Factory Custom, Wired for Miles
Successor · 2015–2016
Sound, Style, Highway Soul
Same Platform · 2011–2016
Fully Loaded American Long Hauler