95 Road King, any particular issues?
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 110
Likes: 27
From: Cambs
95 Road King, any particular issues?
I'm still trawling around for a Big Twin and I've seen a 95 Road King at a realistic (I think...) price. This would be a rubber mount 80" Evo Engine, from what I can see.
Tidy appearance, no obvious mods, mileage 42000.
Any known problems or issues I should be particularly aware of?
Tidy appearance, no obvious mods, mileage 42000.
Any known problems or issues I should be particularly aware of?
Road Master
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 759
Likes: 936
From: Under the affluence of incahol.
Nope. None at all. I have owned a 95 Road King for the past 8 years or so with no problems. My favorite motorcycle these days. Love it. Just clicked over 60,000 miles without problems. (I have four other bikes licensed so the mileage gets spread around.)
Other than routine scheduled oil changes and services about all I have done is a new voltage regulator when I first got it, to cure a misfire it had, and recently a front engine mount isolator. I will probably do the back ones soon too. 26 year old rubber ain't the
best.
Other than that, I made a few mods to suit my riding preferences: Andrews EV13 cam to wake it up a bit. Racetech fork springs and Intiminator damper valves to stop the brake dive thing, Progressive rear shocks and Tru-Track stabiliser link to settle the rear end down on the curves. And four-pot front calipers to bring it into the modern era brakewise. It already had slipon mufflers and free flow air filter.
So it goes surprisingly well through the twisties well and tours well. And gets more comments than any other bike I have ever owned because it has a dealer dress up bling kit and two-tone paintwork that sort of catches that 1960s Electra Glide look. But without the maintenance. It's a keeper for me.
They seem to have picked up value a bit since I bought mine too. Bit of a future classic maybe.
They have the well earned reputation of running for ever. 200,000 miles not unheard of. Only common ****le may be minor cylinder base weeps, but most have had that fixed long ago with the installation of modern gaskets/fix kits.
Edit: Interesting. It won't let me use the word ****le. A word beggining with n and with two g's in the middle meaning minor annoyance. Go figure. Political correctness to the Nth degree. (Are we allowed to use the Nth word?)
Other than routine scheduled oil changes and services about all I have done is a new voltage regulator when I first got it, to cure a misfire it had, and recently a front engine mount isolator. I will probably do the back ones soon too. 26 year old rubber ain't the
best.
Other than that, I made a few mods to suit my riding preferences: Andrews EV13 cam to wake it up a bit. Racetech fork springs and Intiminator damper valves to stop the brake dive thing, Progressive rear shocks and Tru-Track stabiliser link to settle the rear end down on the curves. And four-pot front calipers to bring it into the modern era brakewise. It already had slipon mufflers and free flow air filter.
So it goes surprisingly well through the twisties well and tours well. And gets more comments than any other bike I have ever owned because it has a dealer dress up bling kit and two-tone paintwork that sort of catches that 1960s Electra Glide look. But without the maintenance. It's a keeper for me.
They seem to have picked up value a bit since I bought mine too. Bit of a future classic maybe.
They have the well earned reputation of running for ever. 200,000 miles not unheard of. Only common ****le may be minor cylinder base weeps, but most have had that fixed long ago with the installation of modern gaskets/fix kits.
Edit: Interesting. It won't let me use the word ****le. A word beggining with n and with two g's in the middle meaning minor annoyance. Go figure. Political correctness to the Nth degree. (Are we allowed to use the Nth word?)
Last edited by PeterB; Dec 8, 2021 at 01:09 AM.
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 110
Likes: 27
From: Cambs
I have Intiminators in the forks on my 1992 Sportster and they work very well. Same for Hagon rear suspension units.
I like the Evo Sportster a lot and I've always felt that the Evo Road King was the last of the "classic" Big Twins. I owned a couple of shovelhead Electra Glides and liked them, especially a late "rubber shovel" FLT so if the Evo is like that with the reliability of my Evo Sporty, I'll be happy
I like the Evo Sportster a lot and I've always felt that the Evo Road King was the last of the "classic" Big Twins. I owned a couple of shovelhead Electra Glides and liked them, especially a late "rubber shovel" FLT so if the Evo is like that with the reliability of my Evo Sporty, I'll be happy
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,103
Likes: 19,257
From: The Wasteland
Is the RK stock? As a new to Evos guy, I found the stock 80 incher could use a little something to wake it up. I'm used to the Twin Cams, which to my butt dyno feel much more powerful than the Evo does.
Other than a little underpowered, these are wonderful machines, and to be honest it's still not a big enough deal for me to spend a ton of money to get another 15 or 20 HP out of it.
Other than a little underpowered, these are wonderful machines, and to be honest it's still not a big enough deal for me to spend a ton of money to get another 15 or 20 HP out of it.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 21,737
Likes: 17,577
From: Driftless Area
At that age and mileage, it's probably been taken care of already, but the base gaskets and the cam bearing were issues.
I did James base gaskets, Torrington bearing, and a few other things just because I was already in there. Did the work myself (except for some machining), spent about $1500 on parts. Doesn't take much to wake up an Evo. Mine will hang right in there and pass a stock Twinkie.
I did James base gaskets, Torrington bearing, and a few other things just because I was already in there. Did the work myself (except for some machining), spent about $1500 on parts. Doesn't take much to wake up an Evo. Mine will hang right in there and pass a stock Twinkie.
Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 223
Likes: 91
From: It depends
I own 94 RK, 40ish miles on it. Replaced stator twice. Nothing more. Just one annoing thing is oil mist which goes from air breather during long, higher speed rides. Can live with it. Great bike.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,103
Likes: 19,257
From: The Wasteland
Theres an easy fix for the oil mist. Just route the lines to a catch can or down to the ground. Dozens of threads on how to do it here on the forum.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 8,161
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From: central NC
All good info. I looked at a local ’95 RK with 9500 miles in bone stock primo condition. Just never ridden. We never could come to terms on price. I’m friends of the family, so maybe someday.
Last edited by gonemad; Dec 12, 2021 at 10:22 AM.
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