Agreed,,, the 08's are bastard bikes but I love mine. All the new stuff from the 09 except the frame. ABS, cruise, etc..

I picked mine up for 11K out the door with 17k miles on it... prev owner had it nicely detailed and even upped it to the 103...

 

I've got a 2000 model road king carb model. Had cams changed to andrews and 95 ci along with gas flow heads and inlet manifold. As others have said, 99 to 2001 best cranks and better put together engines with very tight tolerances,as how much end float on a later machine .009" I'd expect. 2000 model .002", could easy have used geared cams. A must consideration if tuning. 102 torques at back wheel not the crank like the 103 ci claim.

 

A. This post is almost a year old

B. What is your point???

I only ever had a 2006 Road King prior to this. At the time I was considering something older. I am not an HD encyclopedia. I don't spend my time keeping track of every model year and issues with them.

 

Holy fucc you addressing me? I thought there was a dog in here!!.

 

I wouldn't be afraid of any particular TC year, 2002 and up. I always thought 2002 was a sweet spot, with forged crank/Timken left-side bearing, and first year of Delphi FI, etc. Think they had the 1" rear axle and updated swing-arm, too. The cam-chain tensioners (as stated, up through 2006) are the original spring-loaded style which seem to be problematic. But this can be addressed.

2009 seems like a good choice, too, since that gets you the updated frame. Judging by eBay BuyItNow prices, you can pick up a 2009 in the range of $12K.

 

That newby got me good with his resurrection of your year old post. Don't know who was the dumber - him for replying to it, or me for not checking the original post date. DUH
That being said, I thought my point was clear as fresh mountain air.
Evidently not, so.....for the sake of conversation here goes: I would expect someone with a post count such as yours to be fairly well versed on several different model years of Road Kings and Electra Glides.
I own a '95 EGC, an '06 SG, and the wife's '07 Heritage and I read (and reply to) posts regarding to not only those bikes, but others all the way up to the new 2014's.
I simply thought you did too.
Was I wrong? Or do you only read and reply to posts concerning your '06 RK?
If that's the case an apology is in order and you have mine.

 

They all have issues doesn't matter what year it is, if the fixes for that year have not been done save some penny's for the rainy day and buy the bike you like the most don't worry about what may or may not break.

 

I was actually out of riding from around 1998 to around 2005. When I was finally able to get back into it I got a 2006 in late 2005. So I really didn't bother with anything before. When I made this post I had just had to sell my 2013 RGU (the big D) and was looking to pay cash for an older model RK. That is why I was inquiring about the earlier years and any issues with them. Also because you hear or read about issues that don't affect you so you don't really keep them in mind for later.

 

Absolutely love my "new" 07 RK Police 103" bagger. Just got it with around 14K miles on it and only issues that needed immediate attention were the compensator changed to SE and primary chain adjuster to "Attitude Adjuster" by Baker. Also just replaced the rear tire as I've put 4K miles on it and rear wheel bearings were losing grease so replaced those too.