Good grief where did this guy come from? Sounds like Croatia, or maybe Norway.

 

 

Maybe his bikes need tuning?

 

My bike is tuned really well and runs really well.I have a power vision on it and a dynojet map. It is not a tuning issue regarding not wanting to ride it in town doing errands. It is the nature of the beast ..., the stock Twin Cams have a narrow power band and it just is not much fun (for me) riding in the lower gears, unless you are just trying to show off your pipes.

 

BobRR, totally get what you're saying.

I have a Dyna Switchback bought new in 2013. At that time, I had test ridden a 2014 RK. Nice bike, but I was coming from a sport bike and the RK felt massive. Surprisingly though, I thought when moving it handled better than any of the Dyna's I had test ridden (Fat Bob, Switchback, used Super Glide, Wide Glide). At slow speed / parking lot speed, I didn't feel confident that I could handle it due to the weight.

Fast forward to 2017 with the release of the M8's. I'm friendly with a bunch of people at my local dealer, and one of the sales guys threw me the fob for the RK and said go for it. Maybe now being used to the Dyna, the RK didn't feel as massive as I had remembered. I found myself laughing out loud a few times and smiling for the whole test ride. The M8 pulled with more authority from low revs and carried the power higher into the rpm's than the TC. And of course, it handled brilliantly. My gripes were, 1.) the seat sucked, it felt sloped and kept on pushing me into the tank and 2.) could not get used to the feel of the clutch lever, probably looked like a newbie when I test road it with the less than smooth shifting I was applying. I've also test ridden the M8 Road Glide and Street Glide with Stage III, both 2017's. Nice bikes, but they truly feel massive to me. They hold zero interest for me. The RK on the other hand, ....the view from it's cockpit is what I envision when doing a cross country ride, or riding into the sunset in the AZ desert. The RK has romance and cool all over it.

I had the dealer appraise my bike for a trade, but I've put a ton of time and $ into my bike, and it's paid off. While my bike isn't an RK, it's close in form and function. Assuming the RK is still made when my Switchback is done, I can very easily see getting the RK as my next classic type HD (although there is the Pan American). None of the Softails nail it for me. If I could put various pieces from the various models together how I want, I'd have a great bike, but none of the current selections combine the feature set I want. Hence.....the Road King. Yes, it's about 100 lbs heavier than my bike, but there is something about it that gives me a twitch in the pants every time I see one.

Glad you enjoyed your test ride. I certainly "get it".

 

Thank you for your reply.

I just want to say that I agree with you about the clutch lever on the M8 Road King. I also could not get use to the feel of it.

I was surprised when I mentioned this to the salesman who came along for the test ride. I was expecting him to say something like "oh we can adjust that", but he did not say that, which I think means, I have to get use to it.

 

Have you tried the new Heritage Softail 114?

Much closer to a fat boy, still kind of like a Road King, but 100 lbs lighter.

 

Please don't judge the short ride you had on the clutch that you will "never" get used to "ever". Different bike and different clutch system. All clutches, across brands, will have a different "feel" to it and need to get used to it. Its the fun of a different bike.

 

The trouble I have is you make the point of stating that's how you find it then add if anyone goes against that stance they are showing off?! Do you see how that reads? I still think if your bike is a pig in town it's not tuned properly at all, you support my view with the canned map from dynojet, while a good place to start tuning from it does not mean the bike is tuned to perfection by any means, a professional tune would I think surprise you on just how much better a twin cam can be. My opinion based on my experience, no problem if you disagree.
Cheers.

 

This link is a very quick read that explains the clutch lever feel, much better than I can.

https://www.roadglide.org/3-%2Agener...er-2018-a.html

Here is an example comment

and another

But its not all bad
Something like the "friction zone" should be adjustable, don't you think? The part that bothers me is that it is not adjustable. I wonder if the 2019 Road Kings have the same feel.

There is a safety recall on the hydraulic clutch system. I wonder if the ridiculous "friction zone" is related to this...
Recall No. 0173