A popular bar swap around here is to go with Heritage Bars on the 'Kings. I did that before I rode mine home. Tilt the bars if needed, as mentioned before, to your liking.
Adjust the rear suspension sag to get the ride you need. Don't give up on the suspension just yet.
When you get used to that 'King, I bet you will wonder what took you so long to get one!

 

Yeah the RK is heavy. But hey it's the light weight in the touring family. I'm looking forward to a Dyna M8 bike down the road for city and urban combat duty. The wife and I were talking about the weight of the RK last weekend and comparing it to some of the lighter bikes we have owned in the past. The comparison came up between our Harley F-150 Crew Cab Truck and the Focus. We would much rather be in the Focus on a country hilly road or in the city than the truck. But the truck is much better on the interstate hwys and has a cool factor stuck in traffic the Focus will never have.

I don't have any issues with the seat on our RK. I like the seat. Guess I'm one of the few. The bars? I would like mine to be about 2" lower with the same pull back and width and grip angle.

Really like the grunt down low! It is intoxicating!

With a little over 700 miles on the King the suspension on the bike has got better. Off the show room floor it was like it was a hard tail. And the front forks hardly moved. I had road shock coming up through the head stock like the bearings needed to be adjusted. And wheel hop at the rear at the softest setting 1 or 2 up. And I'm not sure the new and improved rear shocks are any better at all than the air over shocks of the past. The adjustable left shock and the slave right shock is,,, well a half *** design IMHO. So a set of Ohlins or another brand will be purchased down the road. Don't see the rear shocks being in long term use at all.

I'm really enjoying the bags. And have already loaded them down if not over loaded them. My only issue is I keep dragging a boot over one of them getting on or off the bike. Protection film will need to be applied to the lids.

Enjoy your King! I know I will be riding mine this weekend. 50F today and 60F tomorrow.

 

The weather's been cold or dogch!t here at the Jersey Shore since I picked up my King 10 days ago, but I got in a 50 mile ride earlier this week in 45 degree weather (heated grips help!!). I quickly discovered why it's called a "King". Yes, it's big and heavy, but at least as nimble as my Heritage, and SMOOTH. The M8 pulls like a locomotive down low, and, unlike my Heritage, it can STOP! Overall, the bike fits me nicely even with stock bars and seat.

Garage project for today is to hook up the harness for my Zumo. Priority upgrade is to convert all lighting to LED-(I'm thinking all Custom Dynamics) for my dawn commutes, and to add a short sissy bar at the Lady's request.

 

I like the weight of my RK..when Touring we come across very windy conditions and it sticks to the roads nicely..kind of a sweet spot weight wise compared to the other lineup and Touring heavyweights..the fork air deflectors really help with head buffeting as well..I'm 6'3" and the seat and bars feel great to me..I added the extended floorboards and shifter which help as well..suspension and handling are as good as I've ever experienced on a Harley

 

I'm not sure if they changed the stock seat from the 2016 to 17's but finding
a comfortable seat that's lower and as narrow as stock has evaded me for the past year.

 

While the weight of touring HDs is embarrassing I am not having too much issue with the stock shocks. I do have wind and noise issues but the noise is likely helmet related as it seems to be bothersome only when engine braking and such. Wind is purely over the top of the windshield

 

I've never heard ANYONE here talk about PROPER dealer prep including "fitting" the bike to the purchaser! I think that all (most?) dealers just take the cash and head you out the door as quick as possible. You should take your time to adjust handlebar angle and control lever angle to best suit you. Then you should adjust peddle controls to suit your body.

I ended up changing the stock seat to a Sundowner and the bars to the Heritage style bars to get a comfortable seating position. I also replaced the shift levers to the wider ones to get more foot room on the boards. At the same time I adjusted lever height to accommodate my boots. These are all things that a good dealer should do for you.

AND YES I AGREE - There is no way a Road King rides like a Cadillac! BUT I once tried out an Ultra seat on my bike! It was a much more "plush" ride than the stock seat.

 

Put 300 miles on the King with weekend, and I'll admit it's getting better. Not sure if it's breaking in nicely or I'm just getting used to it. Probably a combination of the two. I took the windshield off, and it's a completely different experience. I'll use it for interstate distance riding and extremely cold weather, but it'll remain off for all else.

I'm right at the 500 mile mark but haven't taken it much past 3500 rpm, yet. Always been a stickler for break-in periods, so I"ll probably take it to 4000 rpm through 600 miles, 4500 through 700, and so on until I'm at 900 miles. At that point, I'll get the first service and then run it wide open.Hoping to have all of that complete by the time Daytona Bike Week rolls around. I'm pretty sure I will, but the next several weeks are going to be hectic.

I've also decided what accessories/mods I'll be making. I'm satisfied with the motor, so won't be messing with breather, tune, or internals. Aside from some 16 in apes (brand/style to be determined) and a solo seat, all I want to do is make the front end a bit narrower. I like the fat back end, but all the chrome and extra (and large) lighting doesn't suit me. I'll be removing the light bar and bringing the turn signals up the bars with some bullet style. Looking into a different fender, possibly the HD Custom Wrapped Front Fender? First and foremost, though, is to powder coat the headlight nacelle and saddle bag guards. Possibly the crash bars, but I'm thinking those will be removed. Lastly, the HD breather cover and horn cover both in black just to get rid of a bit more of the shiny stuff.

 

nice, glad to hear you're adjusting to it and good job on the by the book 500 mile break in..you honestly don't have to worry about anything now, ride it any way you want and getting on it at this point is actually better for it, no need to baby it

 

I've just ordered that fender in Laguna Orange, should be in the end of this month.