2018 Street Glide Anniversary

2018 Harley Davidson FLHX ANV

Project: Stella

The Story Behind the Build

Why “Stella”?

If you know me, you know I’ve always given each Harley I’ve owned a female name starting with “S.” With one exception—“McKenzie.” You’ll understand the reason when you read the write-up on that one. So why Stella? Think back to A Streetcar Named Desire—Marlon Brando standing in the street yelling, “Stella! Stella! Stella!” In my mind, this bike was the one that got away.

The One That Got Away (Until It Didn’t)

In 2018, Harley-Davidson released a set of limited-edition 115th Anniversary models. That’s nothing unusual—they’ve done it for several anniversaries—but this time, there was a very specific paint scheme that caught my eye: a gloss two-tone (Legend Blue and Vivid Black) and a matte denim finish. I absolutely fell in love with the gloss version.

At the time, though, that paint option was only available on the Fat Boy in the Softail model line up. I was still in my “rocket socks” phase—leaning into corners hard—and not quite ready to make the leap to a touring bike. Still, I’d find myself standing in dealerships, just staring at the Street Glide with that stunning two-tone gloss finish, trying to talk myself into it.

Instead, I bought the 2018 Breakout 114. I had been riding a 2014 Breakout and loved it, so it seemed like a natural upgrade. I’ll write more about that bike elsewhere, but let’s just say while I loved certain aspects of it, there were parts I couldn’t stand: the headlight is horrendous looking, the tank was tiny (only 3.5 gallons), and while it performed well, the ride wasn’t quite what I was after. Still, I customized it extensively, as I always do.

Years passed, and I kept kicking myself for not buying that Anniversary Street Glide when I had the chance. I searched and searched but couldn’t find one—at least not in good condition. Most had high mileage, rough cosmetics, or no maintenance history. I eventually gave up the search.

The Right Time, the Right Bike

In 2023, Harley released its 120th Anniversary models, and that’s when bikes from the 115th Anniversary lineup started popping back up—mostly from that group of riders who trade in every five years.

I wasn’t actively looking for one when I happened to stumble on a listing for it. Luckily, I had left the browser tab open on my PC, because when I tried to find it again on my phone later that day, it was gone. I messaged the seller, and he told me the bike was still available, but he’d pulled the listing—he wasn’t sure he really wanted to sell it.

I asked if he’d consider an offer and if I could come see it. He was still on the fence but agreed. I told him to be ready in case I decided to buy it. So I made the drive up to Lake of the Ozarks, and there it was—with only 1,000 miles on the odometer.

The seller had bought it after failing to find a CVO model in time for the 120th ride to Milwaukee. The dealership had just taken in this 115th Anniversary Street Glide on trade, so he bought it instead. But he admitted he wasn’t really attached to it. After a long chat in his garage, I made him a solid offer—no lowballing. I could tell that caught his attention, and he decided to let it go.

This bike—serial number 1,518 out of 1,800—was finally mine.

Under the Tank: The Milwaukee-Eight 107

Harley introduced the Milwaukee-Eight engine in touring models in 2017, then rolled it out to Softails in 2018. Early versions had known issues, especially in the cam chest: sump issues, no rear oil seal behind the pump, cam chain tensioners, etc.

Fortunately, I’ve worked on enough of these to know where the landmines are. First thing I did was tear into the cam chest and swap in S&S components—oil pump, cam plate, chain tensioner. While I was in there, I figured: why not go Stage 2?

I grabbed the S&S 475C cam bundle (even though it’s usually more suited for a 114, not a 107), because the deal was too good to pass up. I knew tuning it might be tricky, but I like a challenge.

I also did:

Stage 1 exhaust with Fuel Moto Jackpot stainless head pipes and Rinehart duals

Fuel Moto oil vent dipstick

DK Customs external breather with a catch can integrated into their custom heavy breather air cleaner—super clean, looks stock. You will see it, but you have to look for it.

The additions and replacements help massively with sumping issues. While installing the cam, I measured flywheel runout— .5 – 1 thousandth, which is incredibly rare. That meant I had darn near a perfectly balanced flywheel. This alone is enough reason to hang onto this bike as long as I can. When I took it to the dyno tuner, he was skeptical at first (like I was) about the 475C in a 107. What he didn’t know is I put some baffles in the Rineharts to help with back pressure. Affter tuning, he said it he was stunned and that she tuned perfectly. His exact words: “Be gentle—she’s got some juice” And he was right. The performance is sharp, responsive, and powerful. 108 HP – 116ft/lbs torque. See Dyna Sheet further down.

Other Upgrades

Öhlins suspension, front and rear

Rockford Fosgate head unit (because I wanted CarPlay and wasn’t about to pay $2,000+ for Harley’s GTS head unit)

Heated grips

Raised the tank an inch and air deflection / redirection pieces. All things to keep her cool and going longer.

I also did some mods with the light setup. Brake flashers, rear panel LEDs stuff like that.

I cover most mods in the videos.

Final Thoughts

I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this motorcycle. It’s one of the best-riding and best-performing bikes I’ve ever modified. After years of searching, I finally have the one that got away—and I don’t plan on letting her go anytime soon.

I didn’t really see a need of adding photos. I did make a couple of videos to speak about the bike and sort of a pre-requisite cam chest surgery video for those interested. The main page photo is before modifications at the time of purchase.