Trying out the M8
Thread Starter
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,599
Likes: 421
From: Lansing mi
Trying out the M8
My son and I will be trying out the M8 tomorrow. I have a 14 King with 31000 fun miles on it and my son has a 16 Slim. He wants to drive a King and Im doing the King and Street Glide, I will only buy a King but I want 2 tries on the new motor. I will give a full report tomorrow night on how I feel about the difference from a 14 to the 17 mostly on the motor and shifting.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 589
Likes: 124
From: Ottawa
Be careful, lol, before you know it you'll be driving away on two new M8s, that's what happened to me. Had a 2014 CVO BO and my wife had a 2014 Iron 883, went for a test ride to see what all the hype was about and we left with a new CVO SG and a new SGS. We were and still are really impressed with HDs efforts with these new scoots. They definitely hit it out of the park with the M8s. Enjoy!
Thread Starter
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Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,599
Likes: 421
From: Lansing mi
No problem, I will only buy a new King in dark reds, this year they don't have one. My son bike isn't paid for so I think he can walk away to. I'm not really expecting a drastically difference from mine to the M8, we shall see.
Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,512
Likes: 345
From: Ohio
You might be surprised that there's real differences in the suspension performance between the '14 and the '17...
I was almost as impressed by the suspension improvements as I was with the new motor.
I was almost as impressed by the suspension improvements as I was with the new motor.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 13,679
Likes: 11,472
From: State of Confusion
I had a 15 RK that was dialed in, suspension, motor, comfort..made the mistake of test riding a 17 King...my bank account changed the very next day..like RJ said, the suspension improvements impressed me just as much as the very impressive engine update and my 15 had Progressives
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 589
Likes: 124
From: Ottawa
That's exactly what I'm talking about, lol. OP, I think you'll find a lot of us that were not even considering getting rid of our old scoots and buying an M8 until we made the mistake of taking them for a test ride. I spent the better part of three winters modifying and customizing my CVO BO so it was exactly how I wanted it, only to trade it immediately when I took a M8 SGS for a test ride. I went with another CVO, however, the 107 SGS that I test rode would have given my 110 CVO BO a good run for the money. My wife and I are very happy with the M8s. Good luck.
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 6,899
Likes: 3,412
From: OH
I said the same until I rode one. Came back the next day and bought one. It's no where near my built 2010 but it's pretty big jump from my stage one 2016 king i traded.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 5,063
Likes: 2,582
From: On my bike!
The salesman and I took out a 2016 and 2017 SGS and switched up during the ride. Engine note was a little different and M8 had a little more torque out of the hole but honestly it was not that noticeable to me. The salesman said "don't be afraid to open them up" so I did just that, ran them both through the gears pretty hard 2 times each. Suspension wise I could tell zero difference between the 2, both kinda sucked in that field. If someone switched your bike with an M8 without you knowing it would not be as noticeable but subconsciously going in knowing, it will probably seem to be more of a difference. I bought the M8 just because I like the latest and greatest but it is nothing ground breaking over the 103 in my opinion.
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Road Master
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 1,240
Likes: 170
From: Wisconsin
I think the difference between an M8 and twin cam is the shake at idle.You could not switch someone's twin cam to an M8 and not notice the shake.M8 has noticeably more torque and You can lift the front wheel shifting to second gear with little effort,even with a fairing.Couldn't do that with twincam!