I've always been a second (or third or eighth) bike advocate. Especially when one or more is a Harley - you're not down from riding when the bike is down for maintenance (not that my metrics never go on the jack). A dual purpose bike is great for getting far away from texters in cages, but still do ok around town. Or riding to Argentina. A sidecar is a treat for grandkids, and it can carry a lot of groceries. Or beer...

If it's just you and just carrying you from place to place, think about a used Sportster 1200. Occasionally there's a nice one in the $3-4,000 range, they're reliable, can run with your 103, and give you a little bit different kind of fun while still having that American made Harley sound and torque. And so many aftermarket bits and bling available, you can nickel and dime your budget away on weekends.

Or just get a metric; I have some of those too, and they can fill a niche a Harley doesn't. My grandson loves it when Grandpa picks him up at school with a sidecar, even if it is Russian.

 

You can get a new Kawasaki Concours sport tourer for less than $13,000 (close to $10,000 if you look hard for a previous year model). That bike will run 150,000 - 200,000 miles. You can get a used one with less than 10,000 miles for $7,500.

Same with The Yamaha FJR.
The FJR and Concours are mile eating SOB's. The FJR has owned the most top finishes in the Iron Butt Rally the last 2 runs.

For something different, Suzuki V-Strom 1000 ADV. Easily found New for $10,000. Great bike if your bucket list has any fire roads or Alaska trip in your future. It runs a bullet-proof water cooled V-twin engine.

If your budget is smaller than that, just look for older models. They can be had very reasonably.

CycleTrader is your friend to search for a bike.

 

A friend is selling his 3 year old Star 1300 for $3500 with less than 5,000 adult driven and maintained miles.

Hell no...love the Road King. It is a beast.

Yes. Yes it is.

Not at all. Just riding the RK Fri-Sun will put 10-12K a year on it. No the thrill is not gone at all...The RK is an absolute blast. I LOVE riding it. I could do 4k miles a week if I was retired...I am not even close to being tired of it. I'll be getting another one when I trade this one in down the road. I think for $3500, I can enjoy another ride and keep this one from needing another motor in 2 years. Sorry your feathers got so ruffled.

Not being completely grounded and stuck driving the Tundra when the RK is down for maintenance is the idea, as well as not piling up an obscene amount of miles quickly.

Having a second ride appeals to me greatly.

 

If you love riding the Road King then ride it. Repair or rebuild the engine when you need to and keep riding it.

Problem solved.

 

Get a used Sporty! Craigslist is full of 'em.

 

A horse won't save him money but they are just as fun and gratifying.

 

B m w

 

If you don't have any plans of getting rid of the bike, miles don't matter. If the engine or something else wears out, just get another one. If you plan to get rid of it in a few years, I would get a bike I don't care about to put the miles on it and save the miles on the Harley. That way it will have less mikes on it when you get rid of it. My bike has 97,000 miles on it but that doesn't bother me because I don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

 

It's almost brand new again

 

I bought a 2004 Deuce as a second ride. Tore it down and made some nice changes. now I have my SGS and my hot rod bike. If you are going to have two, make them opposites.