I bought my first Harley, my '08 1200 Custom, around Memorial Day. Since then I have been riding it like hell. I've put over 6000 miles on it and despite the oncoming winter, I am still riding it every chance I get. Summing it up, I love my Sporty and have no complaints.

After my wife and I got back from a 5 hour ride on Saturday, I was fooling around on the Harley website while watching college football. I was looking around at various touring models and told my wife that if I ever was going to "upgrade" it would be to a Road King Classic (I like the cruiser look) and if I ever saw a 2011 in the purple/black combination (as you can see in my signature pic, I like purple), I might have to seriously consider trading in. Then in a weird coincidence, that exact bike, with low mileage, appeared on my dealer's used inventory page yesterday.

Have any of you made the transition from a Sportster to a Road King? What are the pros and cons? I love riding the twisties and sweepers on country roads. How different will I find the handling? Although I do alot of long day trips (up to 10 hours a day in the saddle), I haven't done any cross country touring and don't have plans to at this point. (My Sundowner seat makes the Sporty perfectly comfortable on those long day trips.) Is there a reason to trade in when there really isn't anything I don't like about my Sportster?

 

I test rode both the deluxe and the road king this summer in sturgis. The test ride was about 26 miles including Highway so I got a good few for both. I rode my 883 c a lot including 4700 miles for that trip. When I test road the deluxe vs road king the road king felt top heavy and much harder to handle at slow speeds. I am tall enough for any of the bikes at 5'9 with longer legs than a guy would at 5'9. So that wasn't the issue. Honestly I think the weight was the biggest jump from the sporty. I debated the two bikes for months. In some respects it is costing me more to have gotten the deluxe since I added abs, windshield, and bags. But it is a joy to ride and is really easy to handle. I would recommend that you test ride a road king coming off of a sporty custom. You may love it. I know for me I didn't like the RK as much as the deluxe. My hubby has a 2002 RK and I agree they are stunning. My deluxe will have same look with bags and a windshield but ride will better for me.

 

Thanks for the reply, Liz. I almost sent you a PM since I knew you had just moved to a Softail. (Another bike I have toyed with is the Heritage Softail Classic.) I appreciate your insights. I'm 6'2" and 215, so I don't think the weight will be an issue. I am interested in your observation that you thought it was top heavy. That is the reputation that Sporty's have.

 

your welcome! Hopefully you can test ride both. The heritage is a great bike too and you basically get everything of the rkc in a slightly smaller package. Personally that extra 100 lbs on the touring frame of the rkc I felt.
My other rec we is the radio the hubby and I got in sturgis.Which means I now have everything I could with a touring bike since I even have a radio / mp3 player in chrome :-)
I certainly have noticed the power difference !!! But I had an 883. I love having a 6 th gear, a gas gauge, miles to empty feature and finally the deciding factor for me was I wanted ABS. I even got a 2011 left over vs 2012 since I got a deal. I really didn't care about 96 vs 103 coming off of 883 96 was going to be powerful enough abs mattered more.

 

883 to RK classic is exactly what I did. Sure it's bigger and heavier but once you get the seat and handlebars that fit your size you will find that tossing it around on a mountain road is just as easy as the sportster. The softails are nice and have their diehard following but if you ask 100 Harley owners that have actually owned both I bet the touring model would be preferred by 80%.
Should you trade in a bike that you love? I can't answer that but I would suggest you ask the dealer if you can take the King out for a few hours. Once around the block isn't really enough.

 

I went from a Sporty (1200) to a FLHTP (like a StreetGlide). Not as big an adjustment as when I went from a V-Max to a Sporty in 1987!

All bikes are a blast. Over 40 years I've owned two dozen of every shape, size, and performance parameters you can imagine. Buy the King. Ride the tires off of it. Then buy something else. Variety is the spice of life!!!

 

Don't trade the Sporty! Just park the new RKC next to it.

 

I bought a 08 883L late summer of 2007. I rode it for -1/2 seasons and after the wife had commented that she would be more comfortable on a bigger bike I traded it in on a leftover 2009 Road King. (got a he** of a deal - couldn't walk away from) Here's the rub. After 2 years of making it mine, the Road King has exceeded my expectations in style & comfort. I absolutely love the bike - but - I dearly miss my Sportster! If I could have I would have kept the Sporty.

If you do decide to buy a RK you won't be sorry. They are EZ to handle and comfortable as he**. My wife absolutely loves her seat (put a sundowner, grabrails and tourpak with wrap around backrest) and floorboards (not pegs). Some day mabey I'll see my old Sporty for sale and, well, whatever. Until then I'll just keep riding in style and comfort!

 

x2!!

 

I went from a 1200 Sportster Custom to a Road King Classic. Best move I ever made. The ride is tons smoother and the looks of a Road King Classic are just hard to beat. Main things I had to get used to were floorboards (different feeling finding the brakes at first) and that riding (especially two up) required a lot more rear brake than the Sporty. Any short (or long) distance trips will show a markedly more comfortable ride on the RK.