Life is too short to be unhappy.....

 

Isn't there about a $2K difference between the Street Glide and the Deluxe to begin with? If so, it seems like a relatively painless way to get on something more comfortable.

 

Hey big guy you need to test ride a Hoss,if you haven't already.It can actually be a comfortable touring bike.Don't write them off till you try one.Power and style out the wazzo.

 

Stick... I have no idea how this might fit for you, but recently I test rode the 2010 Road Glide Custom and after loving my 2004 Road King Custom for five years, I discovered that the 2010 Road Glide was MUCH more spacious for my long (not like yours) legs and arms. When I went to the Mustang solo seat on the 2010 FLTRX I find even more legroom (seat puts you slightly farther back from the bars than stock.) I'm only 6'1" compared to you, but you should at least test ride the 2010 Road Glide Custom... it's possible you might find the fit decent, perhaps even nice.... it's a great bike anyway. Sorry for your potential loss, but you'll recover from it quickly and it will soon fade to a distant memory. Ditch the Deluxe and get yourself a more spacious bike!

 

Thanks for the good words DHart, the dealer I'm going to has one just like yours I've had my eye one.

 

Fingers crossed for you. I've read posts from a number of very tall riders who report that the Road Glide feels really great for their taller bodies. Like I said, I'm a much shorter 6'1" compared to your 6'10", but the RGC really feels roomy to me. In fact, I would like the bars a couple of inches closer to me. For you, the distance to the bars, especially with a Mustang solo seat, might be perfect! The frame mounted fairing is a great design and gives a very open feeling to the cockpit. I didn't really like the more closed-in feel of the fork mounted fairings - just a personal preference. And you'll notice the steering is a tad lighter than with bikes having fork mounted fairings. Not a big deal, but a nice minor element. Of more benefit with the frame mounted fairing is that strong winds and crosswinds have much less influence on the steering than with fork mounted fairings. If you wind up with any bike having a fairing, just know that any fairing will take some getting used to at first if you haven't had one before, but have no worries, after a few days of riding, you will feel right at home. And the extra storage compartments on each side of the fairing will come in really handy to you. Here's a partial (teaser) review of the FLTRX:

http://www.americanrider.com/output.cfm?id=2317303

Full review found in the Dec issue of the magazine or wait until November for full review on their website.

 

Hopefully I will know tomorrow!

 

i'd like to hear the story of how they are 'acting like dicks' myself.

at 6'10" you are a good foot and a half taller than me so i can't really give you 'real world, this works' information, but i can tell you that the sg is already lowered from the factory so you might not like that aspect of it. however, if you were to go that route, i would estimate that it would take about 45 minutes to find someone who would trade you their stock 13" shocks, for the lowered 12" sg shocks. also look for a seat that sits you back further (are you planning on riding 2 up? that will impact your seat choices too), and some handlebars that don't pull back as far. there are also kits to move your floorboards out and forward (might have to combine 2 kits to get the right combination, some only out, some only forward), but, if you go with a full tourer with lowers, that would impact moving the floorboards forward.

obviously, being tall is not something new to you and you've had to deal with 'making things fit' for most of your life. your bike is no exception, they just aren't built from the factory for folks your size, so no matter what you end up with, you are going to have to make it fit. the good thing is, there are lots of choices to do that. i know some fairly tall folks that ride softails, but theirs are standards with forward controls instead of the floorboards.