I am close to making a deal on a 2016 Ultra Limited for my 2015 Road King. Love my Road King, my wife doesn't like the seat or sissy bar backrest. She is envious of the wraparound ones on the Ultras. I know I could add a tour pack with wraparound, and if I want, a Reckless fairing to the front, but that would put me out about $2k+. The biggest factor is the great, very low APR my credit union is offering me. I bought the RK used and coupled with some credit blemishes, it was not the best. But now with those fixed, what I am getting for my RK, what I am paying for the Ultra with a detachable tour pak, and the interest savings all add up to a deal hard to ignore and pass up. I will know after a couple of days of pondering it.

 

i just bought a Road King and it just had a $1800.00 HOPPE fairing installed, with 4 speakers, 150 watt amp, and a jensen blue-tooth stereo, also has the controls fro it right above the left switches, easy to adjust and tune. the salesman at the dealer has a SG and told me the only difference was the fairing that comes on the SG, windshield on the RK. but for $1800.00 you can get a custom fairing, then again im sure you can take the fairing off the SG. what i did was take the fairing off and install a windshield. but like having that fairing laying around, who knows when ii want to install it and listen to some tunes.

 

Ditto.....

I had 4 RK's before my first Road Glide (on my 3rd now), my favorite RK was identical to yours!

As to the OP's question. Go rent each for a day, put 150 miles on each...Then decide yourself.
Personally, I now do a fair amount of touring and don't think I would give up my Boom box and do another King. Unfortunately my Wide Glide stays parked even when doing a short 50 mile ride because I like the music... Try them yourself, again for a day each at least.

 

get the one with the fairing.

 

I must be clueless as well, since I'm going through a similar decision.

 

Hmmm...old thread, but I'll throw in my dos centavos.

I went though the same thing as well a few years ago. All I can say is rent each bike for a day and put them through their paces. I did, using a planned course, including city driving, super slab, twisties, and even some not so smooth roads, and slow riding maneuvers. Decide on which bike speaks to you. They're both great rides, but in the end, I went for better handling (to me), great looks (again to me), and versatility.

 

I am one who has a Road King, and a detachable fairing. I don't really care for the fairing (yeah I'm in the minority here). Which is good because I'm not stuck with one. Really comes down to if you want a radio or not. I think the RK windshield provides a more comfortable riding air pocket in my opinion. Plus it is a great looking bike.

 

Referencing the bolded above, does the fairing or the windshield cut through the air better at higher speeds?

 

I think so. The fairing (which has a high windshield on it) seem to buffet much more at high speeds.

But the fairing does offer some more hand protection from the wind. Only an issue for me if I'm riding in the 30's or 40's which unfortunately is part of our riding season here in Minnesota.

 

Well damn....... What was the question again????