Question for you CVO owners: are they really worth it? I'm getting a yen for a '12 or '13 CVO road glide custom but am having trouble justifying the price. I'd really appreciate any feedback you can give. Thanks.

 

If you take a RG and add all the extras that come with the CVO I think they are worth it. Plus, you get the better resale value than if you add all the extras to your RG. My sig probably shows that I am a little biased though.

 

By all means, they are worth it. As mentioned, if you add what all is on a CVO, even without the paint, which you can't get unless you get a CVO, What you will have what ever model you started with and that is all it will be worth. CVOs get a better return. Plus I like the power and the engine breaks you better than the 96 for sure. I have the flhtcuse07 and it feels lighter, and handles better than the 2008 flhtcu I had, even though it is heavier. But, this is a personal opinion.

 

I just bought a 2013 CVO Ultra and my thinking is that it probably depends on how much money you may or may not invest in a non-CVO bike.

The more money you plan on spending on a non-CVO bike, the better off you may be by just going ahead and buying the CVO.

When you consider the price of a chrome front end, custom paint, custom wheels, GPS, the larger engine, heated grips and seat, hydraulic clutch, upgraded radio/speaker system, chrome this and chrome that, it starts to look like a CVO may be a better deal.

 

Is any HD worth what it costs? I think not. That being said, my dream scooter is a CVO RG. Life is good!

 

I was in the same position as you, as I had a 2011 FLHTK and was at the crossroads of really putting some money into the extras that the CVOs have, such as painted inner fairing, GPS, Ipod, upgraded chrome wheels, etc. CVO also has a hydraulic clutch, 110 motor, chrome controls, upgraded stereo, super paint jobs, upgraded & heated seat, etc. etc.

I could not come close to upgrading parts & paint for the 10K extra on the Limited, which comes standard on the CVO Ultra, not to mention time & labor for installation. Since I have always loved Harleys, I knew I would not be buying a Goldwing or K1600GTL, so I reluctantly took the plunge.

I'm glad I did, and I think it may be my best bike yet, even though the limited was a very sweet running machine. You're still going to have to kick in to get the right bars, exhuast, tuner, suspension, etc., to get the bike where you want it.

I'm hoping I can keep this bike for a very long time, since it has everything (and more) that I would have wanted to put on the limited along with better paint. Should I decide to sell the bike the hit will not be as bad as selling my own custom edition.

A) Think long and hard if you really want to put that type of money into a bike and B) are you the type that likes customizing every aspect yourself, & C) will you be keeping the bike for some time? (resale on the CVO is good and would be easier to get out of).

I rather pay up front and have most of the things I want already in place especially when comes to installing all of the upgrades on a CVO. If you love doing it yourself and keep the bike for quite a while you can be just as happy. However if you have a change of heart about keeping your "one of a kind" bike you're gonna take a much bigger hit.

It may be problematic to remove the paint sets, clutch, strip the bars clean, remove the inner fairing, and engine performance parts. You can sell all the remaining add on parts before resale, and minimize the larger depreciation, though.

That's how I see it. Oh, and if you have an abundance of cash laying around like most of us, don't worry about it!

 

Without a doubt, worth it. I've owned two and would buy another.

 

It seems like a better value considering what extras you add...resale always seems strong on the CVO bikes

 

As most have already pointed out. If you will be adding all the bells and whistles to a non cvo why not just start with the cvo. Just look at the used CVO's prices. I traded an 07 Ultra that I had the 110SE mod done plus enough chrome and crap to be comparable to a CVO and got pennies for all I put in to it. Picked up my Ultra CVO in August and would do it again, no regrets here.

 

Others have already pointed out just about everything I can think of. I picked mine up in April of this year VERY SLIGHTLY used (1159 miles) with pipes and tuning already done for $6k under what it listed for new and still had 18 months of the factory warranty left. When I was on MoCo's website building a 2012 non CVO to my specs I was about 2k under what I paid for the CVO and that didn't have the enigine, heated seat,iPod, GPS and a few other goodies not to mention the paint.

Depends on if you're really set into buying brand new. There's some decent deals out there on slightly used ones.

When the time comes for this one to go, I'll be looking for another CVO to replace it with.