My old blue 05 Road King with 125,000 miles is starting to feel rough. Every bump I hit I feel big time. I just changed fork oil but that did not make much difference .

I think the front and rear need some serious work.

What I am looking for is for people to tell me what I need to do to get a ride that is much better than it was stock.

Let me know what you did and how much it cost. I looked at Progressive Mono tubes and Progressive brand rear air shocks. That's close to 900 bucks in parts alone. And I really don't have a clue how much the ride would be improved.

Thanks!

 

Holy cow that's a lot of miles!! That's awesome!! With that kind of mileage, it could be a list of things that are all acting up to give you the feeling you are getting now. Swing arm bearings, headset bearings, wheel bearings, fork springs, shocks and such. When was the last time any of those had been done?

 

Rear wheel bearings and rotor were replaced recently. I did motor mount about a month ago.

Other than that, everything is original. I think swing arm bushings would be a good idea.

This has been a great bike. I plan on keeping it. Got parts for top end waiting for winter. The ride quality right now is not what it should for a King. I want to feel like a king.

 

The rear shocks were probably junk by 50k miles, get some good shocks, and don't look back.
I have Ohlins, and my bike rides better than my truck.
They are spendy, but I would do it all over again.
http://www.motorcyclemetal.com He is a forum sponsor, and will give a forum discount.

 

My 2001 RKC has about 49,000 miles. On a trip last week with my son riding it he lost the drive belt, which had about 35,000 miles on it. At the dealer where it was replaced we found that the cleveblocks were shot. These are the bushings/bearings on the rear swing arm. The swing arm was moving so much that the belt rode up on the edge of the pulley and snapped. So at 125,000 I would guess that your could be really bad.

But I would also replace the rear shocks with a coil over type, the OEM air shocks are crap even when new. We have Progressive 444 on the RKC and Ohlins 2.5 on the 2012 RGU. The Ohlins are better but more expensive.

 

Good stuff .. keep it coming. Thinking about a grand to get it right.

 

With that many miles, don't look for pieces to fix. Just do everything that could be causing the problem. No doubt everything suspension wise is worn out.


Do the swing arm bearings, head bearings, front springs and oil, rear shocks, motor mounts, wheel bearings and you should have it back just like it was when new. I might also throw in a top end. You've got enough good use out of that bike to make it worth investing a little to get it back to perfect.


If you really like this bike, you can afford to put 5,000 or so into it and still be 17,000 under the cost of a new one. I would even consider taking it to the frame and doing cams, paint, etc.


Bill

 

If the steering head bearings have never been done or possibly even serviced, I would do that first. Any wear in those bearing will be sent directly to your hands. 05 RKs have a spherical bearing in the swing arm, and unlike the cleveblocks they do not loosen up so easily. But of course at 125k I would be looking at all the places others have mentioned, I would just start with the steering head.

 

He can also supply Ohlins cartridges for the forks now, which should provide a dramatic upgrade all round. I have had his shocks for several years, currently doing a custom build using Ohlins fork cartridges, so haven't ridden on them yet.