I been watching online and looking on craigslist as a dry run for when I buy my next bike next year. I tell ya I am seeing it's going to be a bit of a challenge. Our criteria is short but I going to make sure what I get is what I am going to stick with.

Here's the list we both agreed on:
a. Its has to be Road King.
b. Only 1994-1997 accepted. No FI.
c. I want it to be blue if possible.
d. Naked bike only. I seen a couple with fairings on. Just not my style.
e. No major mechanical issues. We can deal with minor and cosmetic.
f. Cannot be over $9,000. Under 9k is better.
g. Must be in 150 miles of the city we live in. No one is to drive our cars to help get it.


The first 4 (a-f) are my choice. Even though I like to get one with leather saddle bags, that's optional. I can add one later if I cant find one with them already installed with a little sweet talking with the woman.

The last 3 (e-g) are the OL "stipulations". If she going to help pay for it and bring it home, I have to agree to her term or deals off. (Sorry guys she pays 1/3 of house bills(mortgage,water and lights, I pay the rest) so she gets a say in any major purchases.)

The one part that's not helping is (g) as there not a lot of choices here. Honestly I cant see her prob with having my little bro drive my car back.He not able to get a job till he get a judgment on his case from the accident (lawyer advised or he loses the case). I think **** hit the fan when I mentioned the idea to her. I told her he'd be right behind me on the way home but she didn't want to her any more about it.

Like I said, just been looking just to see how easy its going to be to find what we are looking for. Turns out not very at all, not with this list.

 

FYI~
Harley changed frames on the FL's in 1997. For seats and other frame mounted stuff, this makes a difference.

 

Please elaborate, cause I wasn't aware of this. Is this change going to make it hard to find the saddle bag I want?

 

Sounds like you may be waiting awhile to get a scoot.... Why the no FI? I ran an '05 FXST for 10 years with FI and the FI was solid, never caused me a lick of trouble.

 

Not looking foward to having to take the bike to a dealership if something goes wrong with the FI. Also there are less people with knowledge to fix an FI bike than carbed. Just dont want the headache.

Some how I have a suspicion I may have to give up on somethings I want on the list. However getting the OL to budge may be tricky unless I can prove that I can't find something that she would approve of in our area.

 

I bought a new 1996 (back in 1995) Roadking. Fuel injected (first year.) While shopping for a "King/Queen" saddle, I was informed that HD was changing the frame for 1997MY on touring bikes. I had a helluva time finding a new saddle that was for the "last year" of the 1996 bikes. That was a great bike for touring, but I rarely rode it as my Dyna Superglide was/is a lot more fun. When I rode the RK, I felt as if I were perched on a fence. The Dyna made me feel as if I were sitting "in" the bike, rather than perched precariously on top. Sold the RK after 5 years and only 12,000 miles. Still have my 1995 Dyna with considerably more miles...

 

Man I was once considering a Dyna but after hearing stories how they not as comfy on long distance rides I gave up on the idea and aimed for a RK. I rather wanted something that can be use as general purpose,just hope I dont regret that decision. Cause this is a one time last time buy.

 

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/4919781794.html

Its got blue in it. The only thing it isn't is close to you. Fly out to Cali for a little vacation with the wife and ride it home.

 

Dude I found the bike that exactly wanted but the wife said HELL NO!!! cause it was in New Orleans. So I had to pass.

 

First of all, why are you letting the OL tell you what you can & can't do? If you're gonna be a Harley guy, you gotta grow a pair. Tell her "My brother is driving my car. End of discussion". And, instead of letting her pay for part of it, I would take out her portion of the payment in a loan & pay for it yourself. Otherwise she'll be constantly browbeating you on what you can & can't do with it. Remember, women need to bitch & nag, otherwise they back up & explode! Trust me on THIS one even if you don't take any of my other advice!

2nd. I used to be a "carb only" guy till I got an EFI bike. They are way more reliable,and just push the button & go; no choke, no dirty or clogged jets,no farting,burping,coughing,etc. And, once it's tuned, it's tuned. Nothing changes. Only disadvantage is you can't lower the idle to get the "potato" sound, but the trade off is worth it--how much time do you spend at idle anyway? And, I've never known 1 person to have any trouble with EFI, other than dialing it in the very first tune. Never known 1 to fail. Just DO NOT buy a pre-02 EFI with the Magnetti-Morelli EFI system; impossible to tune & forget about getting parts. Stick with the Delphi EFI. The MM system has 2 fuel lines coming out of the tank; the Delphi has 1. And, if you are really stuck on a carb, you can get a carbed bike up to '06.

3. For the kinda bux you can spend, you can get a TwinCam, prolly up to '06. The Evos are nice, but you get less power, and you may have trouble getting certain parts. And, Evos tend to leak more.

4. As far as blue, if you find something you like, it can be painted. Prolly look better than a 15-20 YO paint job anyway.

5. Dunno where you got the idea that techs know more about carbs than EFI...some shops won't even work on carbs. EFI has come a long way in the last few years; you can buy a tuner & tune it yourself. Some guys who tune their own EFI bikes don't even know where the idle adjustment is on a carb.