I've owned my 1999 Road King Classic since new. I've got 65,000 miles on it. Love the bike. And would trust it 100% if I decided to take a cross-country trip tomorrow.

That said, it would be nice to upgrade to a 2015 Ultra Limited.

This may sound crazy, but part of me thinks I might regret it, mostly because I'd fear the 2015 might be less reliable than my 1999.

Other than normal maintenance, the only work I've ever had done on my RK is replacing cam chain tensioners, cam bearings, and the stock camshafts (all at approx 40K miles).


Is there ANY reason I should expect a 2015 to be LESS reliable than my 1999 has been ?

 

Absolutely, the wet heads have issues. Also, before you dump the RK make sure you ride a bike with a fairing, I absolutely hate them. Traded my 11 Ultra Limited in on an 11 RKC for this very reason.

 

I kept my Road King and bought a Road Glide. If you have a bike you love and paid for why get rid of it? Ain't like the dealer will give you that much for it unless you sell it outright.

 

Keep the king and buy the Ultra. You now have best of both!

 

The wet heads HAD issues, but I haven't seen much about that recently, so perhaps that problem has been solved. There is a lot of merit in the upgrades in the '14s and later that would be well worth trying out, if nothing else.

 

Id keep your king and buy the ultra. If you trade the king they will probably give you crap money for it.

 

When people ask how I happen to have multiple motorcycles I explain to them that my motto is (or at least used to be) "always buy, never sell"!


However, if it isn't practical (for whatever reason) for you to keep you '99 RK, and buy a new bike, I personally wouldn't hesitate to buy a new bike.
Yes, the new bikes have some glitches, and the more gadgets a bike has can lead to potential problems, but they're usually minor issues.


My first Harley was a '75 and I (we) have owned quite a few since and IMHO, the newer the bike, the more reliable it is.

 

Keep the King!!

 

I would keep the King, I will never get rid of my 99 EG, first, the 99 to 02 engines have almost bullet proof bottom ends, Timkin crank bearing, and forged bottom end, they almost never have crank runout issues, my indy will only put gear drive cams in 99 to 02 twin cams, the newer bottom ends are more cheaply made and can have crank run out issues. After my indy showed me newer bottom ends he had to fix with way less miles then my bike, I just turned 79k on mine this weekend, i decided I am keeping it. I will probably buy a newer bike in the future but will never get rid of old reliable.

 

I have a 2000 Road King and have had zero issues with it. Newer bikes have so many things that could go wrong with them over time (ABS, security system, touch screen navi, cruise control, etc)....I would keep it. Why go finance $30k + when you love your super reliable '99.

I was in your shoes last month and the main reason I havent gotten a new one is because I refuse to test ride one (because I would probably trade mine for a new one) and after I get used to the new one, well, I wont have that "new bike" feeling anymore. My 2000 95ci Stage 2 has no problems keeping up with the new bikes. Good luck