I traded my '16 Road King for a Heritage 114....

Being an Evo guy...and eventually a reluctant but satisfied Evo/Twin Cam owner...I have been curious about the M8...

I've appreciated my Twin Cams, but they never have completely felt as good as my Evo, in a set in my ways kinda guy way...

The "smooth" Softails sounded like a step worse to me. We have other bikes for pure speed and power, Harley has alway "felt" the best in other ways. That's what I loved about them. Specs and numbers don't make riding fun by themselves.

Well...

Yesterday was my 4am to 2:30pm work day so what do I do with a few extra hours of daylight? Headed to my dealer to test ride a few new Softails. I'd had an '04 Deluxe for 35,000 miles which I sold in '09 when I had to admit I just couldn't stand the counterbalanced motor in an otherwise great bike. I was excited to see the M8 go back to a single cam design, but unhappy when I'd heard they'd added a second counterbalancer to the new Softail version. I love my FXR, my Dyna...Sporties, RK...good vibes to me are part of the pleasure.

Getting off the Road King and firing up the Heritage, my first reaction was "hell no! Too smooth...is this thing running?" My King had a strong stage 1 and Bassani DNTs so at first I was underwhelmed with the 114...After a few miles I started to feel the difference though. Swapped to a Deluxe and then back to the Heritage. Each time I started to appreciate the M8 more and more. I liked the weight difference. Handling was great, and I liked the looks even though I know why Heritage purists don't. I even liked the dreaded red denim...which is what I bought....To me it looks great in person and I've had a great experience with my black denim '09 Fatbob over the years. Most trouble free paint I've ever had and I think it looks good even though you see it everywhere now. I like the gloss paints, but to me the flat red works with the gloss black also.

If I had taken one ride straight off my King I'm not sure I'd have traded, but the more time I spent with the M8 the more I liked it and the more I could feel what it was, that the 103HO King wasn't. In the end my dealer made me a fairly straight across deal and I decided to roll the dice saying goodbye to my RK.

Had to meet my family for dinner and a movie, and then a nice 35 mile ride home to start the break in. The more I rode it, the more I liked it. It IS smooth, particularly at idle and take off but, luckily for me, it is not without good vibes or character...especially above 40mph...it has a nice presence and where my old TC Deluxe felt flat and a bit buzzy at 80, the M8 just throbs along in a really nice way. It reminds me much more of an Evo going down the road. The 114 makes effortless power too. 75 Mph in 6th is about 2700rpms...and trust me there is no lugging going on.

The 107 Deluxe felt great too, but the Heritage just had what I needed and I loved the look...plus not going to argue with the 114.

Personal reasons for trading the king were that I originally got it to tour with my 13 year old son (aside from always liking Road Kings) but he actually preferred my FXR or Dyna to the king...I know it's strange but he found it "boring" so mostly I rode the king solo...it was a great, bike but bigger than I needed for daily riding and trips were mostly on the smaller bikes...backwards I know...

The only design thing that even I don't love is the saddlebag locks...just ugly and weirdly on top...should have hidden those better. Something will address that down the road. Otherwise I'm very happy with the new bike.







https://imgur.com/gallery/g7b9o

https://imgur.com/gallery/g7b9o

 

Crap....anyone found something better than photobucket??? $40 a month??

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Forget about photobucket... it is 350.00 a year to be able to share links of your photos... I am done with them... I will pay my fees until the service expires and then I will look for alternatives...

 

http://imgur.com/ is still free and just like Photobucket.
I had to download all my photos and albums from PB and move them over.
Not a big deal.

 

Imgur did the trick! Thanks!!

 

Congrats on the bike! That matt red looks good in your pictures.

 

If I post a pic here I just let this site host it....click on insert image and there ya go

 

Congrats on your new ride!

 

Thanks. Yeah it has a great look all its own. Reminds of an old Knuckle I saw on a farm in upstate NY when I was a kid.

Thanks guys! Really surprised myself and riding to work today it just keeps getting better....buyers excitement only getting higher. Zero remorse.