I've never owned a softail - never appealed to me but I did ride a friend's Heritage one afternoon. Nice weight; nice handling and overall very nice sound. The huge advantage over RK is that you can strip it right down and the bike still looks very good. Don't let anyone bullshit you into thinking that a RK looks good without bags - not true. I'm on my 6th Road King and have had all the models..... Std, Classic, CVO, Custom and now Rushmore, so the natural thing would be to recommend RK. However, from what YOU describe are your riding preferences.......I would say go with the Softail. Heritage before the Deluxe. A lot of lady riders are on Deluxe so its up to you but the Heritage just looks more manly. Not meaning to start a gender war but some bikes are just better suited to men and some to women....not saying ppl can't ride whatever they want; it's just my opinion!

Good luck in selecting the right ride for you!
RK Lobo

 

Road King.

Seriously though, do like others said, go for some test rides, see what fits you best and your style of riding. Then get the King.

 

I went from a 99 sportster to a 07 Deluxe. Rode my cousin's road king first,it felt heavy and clumsy,especially at slow speeds. The Deluxe just fit me better.

 

Don't kid yourself. The big touring bikes handle just fine, country or city.


And besides, it's not like you are benching that extra weight. However you may end up doing a dead lift

 

I vote for the King, but then again I may be a wee bit prejudice....

 

Same Heritage...stock and stripped down

 

If it was me, I'd test ride them both and buy the one that speaks to me the most, simple.

 

How so, my Roadking pulls like a freight train thru the Mts.

 

Where on the deluxe does it say a womans bike. There are dozens of deluxes around here and i have only seen one woman on one and she looked like a man trapped in a womans body.

 

You stated you like the classic look. The RK Classic stopped in 2013 in the US, so if you're looking for the WWW, spokes and leather bags, you're buying used. Nothing wrong with that, just FYI.