Sat on a new Road King

[jackM50black]

For the first time, I got interested in a new bike.... that being a 2007 HD Road King. A very schweet black, "Peace Officer" edition, other than it being a fairly plain (meaning not loaded with every goodie you can think of) bike. I sat on every model in the showroom, and next month I'll be back there on "test ride" Saturday. The bike would be good for the kind of medium and extended distance camping trips that I'll be doing this coming year, and after retirement. Ya never know, maybe I'll get a full bagger!

[geoffsimpson]

You're off my christmas mailer

[jackM50black]

Originally Posted by geoffsimpson

You're off my christmas mailer

Ok..... I'll go ride a M109, I'll do anything to get back on your annual Christmas letter list !

[geoffsimpson]

'I knew it...I feel the love. Seriously tho' I wouldn'y buy an m109....did the HD feel a whole lot heavier off the stand? It looks like a tank.

[DrBob]

The Road King is a great bike, well balanced, powerful, and with good range to a tank. It shakes like a Harley at idle, but is smooth as glass on the highway. The 6-speed tranny and hard bags make it a great touring/ camping bike, especially if you add the electronic cruise control. You can always turn it into a full bagger later, adding the trunk and fairing as funds allow. Or split the different and get an Electra Glide Standard, with the fairing but no trunk, and just put a removable bag on the luggage rack for longer trips.

For the first time in over 20 years Harley is ahead of the rest of the industry again: they have 21 cruiser/ touring models with 1600cc motors and 6-speed transmissions and fuel injection, plus 4 models with 1800cc motors and fuel injection and 6-speed transmissions. Their 1100cc V-rod line out performs metric bikes with 40% more displacement, and their touring bikes come with real fairings, lockable hard bags, electronic cruise controls, AM/FM/CD players, and other features that are only found one a couple of metric bikes. Now if they would just do something about that POS Sportster line...

[geoffsimpson]

[quote=DrBob]
For the first time in over 20 years Harley is ahead of the rest of the industry again: they have 21 cruiser/ touring models with 1600cc motors and 6-speed transmissions and fuel injection, plus 4 models with 1800cc motors and fuel injection and 6-speed transmissions. Their 1100cc V-rod line out performs metric bikes QUOTE]

Oh DrBob....what have you done, it's the rapture!!!!

[Dave Nadeau]

Bob,
Is the 96 ci a 1800 or 1600?

[DrBob]

The Twin Cam 96 found in all big twins is 1600ccs, and the Twin Cam 110 in the 4 Screamin Eagle models is 1800ccs.

[scunan]

I just got rid of my 2005 Road King Classic and I loved everything about it except for the $400.00 a month payment and the weight of the bike. The bike was so comfortable with the air ride that I almost felt like I was riding a couch lol. The bike is really heavy and gets even heavier towards the end of an 8 hour day of riding. Besides the weight and the payment the Road King is a great bike.

[Dave Nadeau]

Talking about the Sportster...I saw a prototype photo about 4 months ago of a water cooled Sportster. Looked simaler to the way it does now with a touch of the V rods looks.

[chadrob30]

Lol.

[POE-BOY SAMICH]

Originally Posted by DrBob

The Road King is a great bike, well balanced, powerful, and with good range to a tank. It shakes like a Harley at idle, but is smooth as glass on the highway.

The shakes at idle are CRAZY! Frankly, the shakes were a little more than I could stand on a recent demo. However, the Road King is definitely a great bike at highway speeds.


Jack,
If you don't mind paying the price, I think the Road King is nice for those "weekend get-aways" you are planning. == Just curious, have you sat/demo'd any other tourers (Nomad, Stratoliner, etc)?

[Dave Nadeau]

I had the same feeling about the shaking on an 07 Street Glide....Looked like a ground compactor under me banging away. Coming for a C50 I thought what a POS. But as I moved out and got into traffic I never noticed it. Even at a light I did not notice it. Maybe its from years on Nortons and Truimphs it dulled my sences a bit. I still like the Electra Glide Classic though. Maybe at the end of this comming summer.

[JRoc]

Originally Posted by DrBob

For the first time in over 20 years Harley is ahead of the rest of the industry again: they have 21 cruiser/ touring models with 1600cc motors and 6-speed transmissions and fuel injection, plus 4 models with 1800cc motors and fuel injection and 6-speed transmissions. Their 1100cc V-rod line out performs metric bikes with 40% more displacement, and their touring bikes come with real fairings, lockable hard bags, electronic cruise controls, AM/FM/CD players, and other features that are only found one a couple of metric bikes. Now if they would just do something about that POS Sportster line...

YOU have got to be kidding!!!!!!!
AHEAD of the industry???? They aren't even on par with the industry!

First off let me start off by saying I'm not one of those guys that has a grudge with harley or hates harleys at all! I love harleys for a multitude of reasons, but technology??? Let's just say it's not there strong point. Saying a Road King shakes a little at idle is like saying Bill Gates has a little money! I just rented a '07 Road King Classic and after starting it up and leaving the parking lot I turned back around and returned it for something else. I swore to the rental agent that "there's GOT to be something wrong with this bike", it's shaking like crazy! It was my first time on a FL based Harley, I usually rent softails. I wound up on a VRod (Night Rod special, talk about night and day) and actually liked alot of things about it but, let's be perfectly honest now and say, you're NOT gonna be out performing any metric bikes on this thing!!! It's fast but have you been on a R1? How bout something in it's range (performance cruiser) like a Warrior (which, by the way, it's looks very similar to (midnight warrior) down to the red pinstriping on the wheels)? Any stock warrior will literally blow the ballz off of any V-Rod (and that's before adding any of the multitude of aftermarket performance stuff offered by Patrick Racing, what they're doing to warriors should be illegal! W O W !)

But lets get back to the Road King:
The Road King is a beautiful machine and very well suited for highway travel. I happen to think the bike I wound up buying, a Stratoliner (which was mentioned earlier by Poe-Boy Samich) is a MUCH better bike than the Road King. But let's compare on paper:

Stratoliner VS Road King

1900cc/113 cubic inch engine VS 1600cc/92.6 cubic inch engine (1800cc/110 cubic inch for the screaming eagle)
124 ft.lbs @the shaft VS 93 ft.lbs @the shaft (115 for the screaming eagle)
weighs a very evenly balanced 49/51 (low COG ) 770 lbs VS 763 lbs (don't know the weight distribution)
4.5 gallon tank w/0.8 auxilary tank VS 5 gallon tank w/NO RESERVE (you're out of gas, YOU'RE OUT OF GAS)
Length 101.6 in. Wheelbase 67.5 in. VS Length 93.5 in. Wheelbase 63 in.

And lastly price, my stratoliner cost approx half what the screaming eagle road king, that it out performs, cost and much less than the stock road king.

Anyway, it's up to you. The Road King is a beautiful machine with a very nice ride. I didn't state it's good features which there are many including, but not limited to, the air ride. Which, by the way, can be added to any bike for about a grand. The six speed tranny, while sounding like a nice feature, feels cheap to me and I prefer the stock five speed, or a Baker six if money's no object! My riding buddy rides a Road King and while it's not an '07 he has what most would consider a "%%%%tload" of money into it. Performance wise I don't think he couldn't do any more than he's done to his harley engine. He loves his bike but he's getting sick and tired of me pulling away from him on the open road! And all I've done to mine is add a Patrick Racing big air kit, Power Commander, and pipe. UNREAL what these few items did to an already very powerful bike!!! That and everytime we stop for a rest people drool over my "Jap Bike" and almost knock his bike over to get a look at mine!!! The funniest line he ever gave me after finishing lunch on a ride (one of the many times we could see people drooling all over my bike through the window) was with all the money I saved buying my bike I could afford to buy him lunch, as he walked out of the joint!

Good Luck,
NJoy...

[geoffsimpson]

It was only a matter of time, the score sit's at...150 for harley, 151 for metric...next up, round....302?

[POE-BOY SAMICH]

Originally Posted by geoffsimpson

It was only a matter of time, the score sit's at...150 for harley, 151 for metric...next up, round....302?

LOL!

Dang, I just lost $50 on the over/under!

[DrBob]

JRoc- if you prefer the Roadline to the Road King, more power to you. I prefer the Road King. Each to their own. The Roadliner compared well to the Road King, but what about other Japanese manufacturers, and what about other Harley models? Again, name me 21 Japanese cruisers with motors 1600ccs or larger, and fuel injection, and 6-speed transmissions. How about naming 10? Or 5? How about even 1? Name me five Japanese touring models with 1600cc motors or larger, fuel injection, 6-speed transmissions, cruise control, fairings, and lockable hard bags. Other than the Gold Wing, there isn't one of those either.

As for your opinion that the V-rod would get blown away by a metric cruiser, let's look at the numbers, all by the same testers:

MEASURED TOP SPEED
V-Rod: 137mph
M109: 128mph
Warrior: 125 MPH

0 - 1/4 MILE
V-Rod: 11.38sec
M109: 11.62sec
Warrior: 12.25sec

0-60MPH
V-Rod: 3.52sec
M109: 3.65sec
Warrior: 3.93

0-100MPH
V-Rod: 8.22sec
M109: 8.87sec
Warrior: N/A

POWER TO WEIGHT
V-Rod: 1:5.99
M109: 1:7.26
Warror: 1:9.10

BRAKING 60-0 MPH (FEET)
V-Rod: 109.5
Warrior: 114.5
M109: 135.4

Oops. Looks like the Warrior is a poor third. In every measure of peformance the V-rod is tops despite being 40% smaller, and other than braking the Warrior is behind the Suzuki M109 also. And you don't really want to open the aftermarket performance can of worms- you can walk up to the parts counter at the Harley dealership and order a 165HP V-rod crate motor, and racers are getting 200+ HP out of them.

No large fuel injected Japanese cruiser has a 6-speed. No Japanese touring bike other than the Goldwing has a large displacement motor, 6-speed, cruiser control, locking hard bags, a fairing, a radio, and other touring features found on Harleys. Which is why Harley is on a pace to sell nearly 5 times as many cruiser and touring bikes as Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki combined.
And Japan is taking notice. The new Suzuki C109T will have locking hard bags (FINALLY!) and maybe even a real fairing. Electronic cruise control may be an option. That would certainly compete better than the C90 does. I'd seriously consider a touring version of the Roadliner, should they equip it to compete with the Electra Glide Standard or Classic.

[Fishpart]

It has to be a personal choice, riding is riding, will the RK give you what your looking for? Or will one of the other bikes give it to you. I will say Harley is expensive and 99% of the time they stand by their product and getting service is nothing like what I use to go through with my metric. But again it's a personal choice, no matter what just remember it's the same Wind!

[geoffsimpson]

Thank you DrBob, Metric to HD is scoring at 151 to 151, anybody wanna play the split? Round 303 begins in 10

[JRoc]

I stand corrected Dr. Bob, a stock warrior is not as fast as a stock V-Rod. Porsche really did a great job of designing that engine, for such a relatively small engine it really puts out alot of power. I have ridden it and it does get up and go. However, I have no idea how they found a stock warrior because there aren't too many of them around. The bikes are relatively inexpensive and modding them is VERY common. The warrior I've ridden is modified and the guy that owns it is NOT rich. So my comparison between the V-Rod and the warrior was stock vs modded, really not fair. I was comparing two bikes I actually HAVE ridden though, not read about! I could tell you this much the V-Rod was fast the Warrior was scary!!! I'm sorry if I don't believe anyone could get 200 ponies out of a V-Rod, even if you put a chevy small block in there! But if you could get anything close to 200hp out of a V-Rod it would be V E R Y V E R Y V E R Y expensive!!! I think the V-Rod is the nicer looking of the two but they're not exactly collecting drag racing titles! What Patrick Racing has done/is doing with the Warrior is nothing short of amazing! If you look up the results of any drag event you'd be hard pressed to find any V-Rods in the top three (the class is hot rod cruiser by the way). Anywho, I'd hate to buy a V-Rod (which by the way puts out 74/80/or screaming eagle 86 ft.lbs depending on model) and get blown away by a kid on a slightly modded warrior that cost about what my stock v-rod cost (but puts out over 150 ft.lbs) but that's just me.

Soooooo,

It seems you really like the six speed as you keep mentioning it. Have you ridden the six speed that comes standard on the 2007 Harley line? If so, honestly do you like it? I've ridden that tranny as well as the '06 five speed and I prefer the latter. I've also ridden a baker six and well that's a different animal all together. If you haven't ridden the '07 6spd and you're going by what you've read then that's what I assumed before I had ridden it. After riding I could tell you I thought it felt VERY cheap. Locking hard bags/stereos/cruise control/fairings these are aftermarket add ons that you could put on ANY bike. As far as displacment the four big Japanese companies have Harley on the run. How long did Harley sleep on the Japs before they updated there 1340cc displacement? Now they went from 1450-1550 in one year! They also fended off technology for quite some time cuz most of there customers wanted carbs instead of fuel injection, feeling it was somehow better, these are the same guys that say a V-Rod isn't a real Harley. As a result there F.I. bikes don't have any provisions for additional fuel (reserve/auxilary)with the exception of the aformentioned Non-Harley designed V-Rod. All I'll say to this is, if you don't think this is important you've never run out of gas!

And the Metrics are:
Honda 1800cc
Suzuki 1800cc
Star (Yamaha) 1900cc
and Kawasaki 2000cc!!!

Do you NEED that much engine on a bike? That's a personal question but I will tell you I never went from a bigger displacement bike to a smaller one. And another thing I'll add is Harley's while not much heavier than the other big bikes FEELS MUCH heavier!

So Let's get this right,
Harley's big cruisers

PROS:
Excellent fit and finish
Excellent aftermarket support
Membership into the "cool" club
Great resale value
etc.

Cons:
Smaller engines hence less power
Much heavier feel
MUCH more expensive even though they aren't required to pay tarriffs cuz they're made here in the U.S.
etc.

Do I think the Roadliner is a better bike? I think it's sooo much better it's not even in the same class, lightyears ahead!!! I dare anyone to ride one and tell me you don't feel the same way.

To each his own, all I'm saying is before spending twenty large on a bike you should test ride the competition. You might be surprised, I was shocked!