Road King would be my choice but I am biased. I will tell you this though, I have been riding for 38 years now and have ridden all kinds bikes. A couple of years ago I had a ride planned and had folks come from across the state to ride with us that spent the night. We were out looking at the bikes at ten o'clock at night and noticed that my rear tire had wire showing through so riding my bike was out. I knew a girl that lived close that had a SuperGlide that she never road so I called her and arranged to ride hers for the ride. We only rode about 300 miles that day but that SuperGlide was the most uncomfortable bike I had ever ridden in my life. Its bone stock so I am sure it could be improved on with some bars and a seat but I could not wait to get off of that bike. I would not say that any Dyna, although they are great bikes, would be a distance bike. We have a Girl that is a member on here in your same situation that rides. Hopefully she will see this and be able to tell you how her bike is set up. Can't recall her screen name right now. I think its Gypsy something or other. Good Luck and have fun on your new bike whatever you choose.

 

Trike possibly?

 

Thankyou.

I would have to have the left turn etc.. moved to the right hand side.

Hmmm.....

I thought it would be pretty remote chance, but two posters here know two people in the same situation as I, which is extremely useful! So far I have written to people who do mods, but not spoken to anyone who actually rides in that situation.

I did wonder about the advice I was given, hence my original question here. I shall certainly check out the bikes suggested.

On a separate note, would I be crazy trying to learn how to ride on one of these? I'm torn between getting a smaller bike for starting out on, but considering it needs adapting, then selling it again and getting something bigger could end up costing me quite a lot more than finding a decent bike to start with and riding it from the beginning. What are peoples opinions on this? I'm under no illusion that it is a serious matter of safety.

 

my friend has his clutch, brake and all switches on the right side.

 

If this is your first time (no dirt bikes, safety courses, etc), I would be wary on climbing on a 700+ lb touring bike even if you had 7 hands. A lighter weight bike is more forgiving. I would consider something you'd be willing to drop a couple times as your first.

If you found shops that do the mods, perhaps they know of some of the other customers they've done work for that may have a second hand you could buy to cut your teeth on.

 

I just checked the licensing situation; if I did my bike test initially on a smaller bike that was "twist and go" for simplicity whilst learning to ride, I would be restricted to automatic bikes only. I would then have to re-take the test on a manual bike (but not before I basically did the course again to learn how to ride it), so whilst the bike is heavier, would I not be better spending a few days extra practice on the larger bike to start with and do it in one go? If it takes me two weeks vs. 3 days to get used to it off-road first, then that is what I will do. Hmmmm..... is it that much harder to adapt to a larger bike from the start?

As it is, the bike (scooter) I originally looked at weighed 268 kg (vs. 320 kg) so the weight penalty seems less important compared to the fact the CoG is higher on the HD?

The bigger issue I could foresee is the fact that there is greater mass higher up on the HD, but then that would be true to an extent if I looked at e.g. a 650 cc Kawasaki, in order to ride a manual bike.

Argh... I hope I'm explaining myself clearly. I can see me spending twice as much for the sake of not spending some extra time getting used to a heavier bike from the start.

 

Someone brought up the idea of a trike. I was also going to suggest that. On a similar note, a bike with a sidecar may be an idea. There are a few bikes made that are offered with a semi auto tranny (not that kind of tranny ). I wouldn't start with a 700lb+ bike. The Dyna may not be the ultimate long distance bike, but it is much lighter than a touring bike. BMW makes bikes that are designed for distance and are much lighter. Also, since you're tall you shouldn't have a problem flat footing on one. I believe you have many options. I'd look at the trike or bike with side car route. Good luck.

 

A Dyna may not be the best long range bike, but they are more than capable. I have a riding partner that is about 6 foot 4 and he made a trip from Long Island to Texas while meandering all through the south. Like I said, for occassional long rides, a Dyna will do. For long distance touring, then I see one of the touring bikes.

Used to be you would ride what you had wherever you needed to go. Now, you need to have a rolling couch to go ten miles.

 

 

Hell yeah,absolutely beautiful.