My wife rides her own so it's not often she rides passenger anymore. Last spring due to a knee injury she spent a day on the back of my '16 RK stage 1 (213 miles), and then yesterday we dropped her bike off for service and did a 250 mile loop on my Heritage 114 with Stage 2. I'm 5'6 185, she's 5'7 140.

No backrest either bike.

She remarked how much she liked the RK after the spring ride, but she reported liking the ride of the Heritage more. Suspension was smoother overall (pre load set to 4 on both as recommended) and the seat fit her better. It's not as plush as the RK pad, but the shape must be a better fit. She also liked the line of sight better on the Heritage - more over the top of my helmet. The RK boards were the only preference over the Heritage pegs.

As a rider I noticed we seemed to have more room on the Heritage. A backrest might have solved this on the King, but as it was set up on the King we had more helmet contact, and I had to sit more forward in general. Maybe the seat shape gave her more confidence to sit upright, but the feeling was we had more room between us on the Heritage.

For power the stage 1 RK rode great, but the stage 2 114, obviously was better. What did impress me was zero consequences to carrying a passenger. It felt like I was solo on the bike, just completely effortless in every way, whereas the king was great solo, and very good 2-up but there was a deffinite difference in power and response. This 114 is like a Clydesdale horse...nothing seems to phase it.

 

Great report.

I also think the suspension on the new Softails is better than the Touring models.

 

Have you ridden all the new softails to make that statement? I demo rode the Heritage. It rode great at whatever setting the dealer had it on. Then I rode a Slim. It was too firm even after I set the preload to 0 on the rear. The ride was quite jarring.

 

I've spent time on two of the new Softails...but not the Slim. (I also have more than 100k miles riding of various Touring Models...RK, SG & Ultra)

Can't imagine why the ride between the other Softails and the Slim would be so different...more likely, something was not set up properly on the Slim from the factory.

Here are a couple of vids, some pics and a report HERE.


Kevin

 

Definitely the longer shocks of the Heritage probably help over the Slim as well, but the Slim shouldn't be overly harsh as a solo rider.

 

You keep comming up with the goods on the reviews bud. This is exactly the kind of info and comparison I find interesting and helpful. Thanks again.

 

This is also how I ended up going down the Heritage route. The slims beefy triple trees, the old k491 Dunlop, and the general bobbed nature I'm now akin to, is what started me down the new bike route. Love the white available on the slim as well. But all my bikes get a shield Now, so add that on , then I found out about the low profile shock, also something I would immediately change to the taller unit, and who doesn't want the ability to carry stuff from time to time, so bags are handy,,by that time the slim was looking more pricey. What's left over really justified the 114 and cruise even more. If the slim I tested had rode better, who knows. I still love the look of it. But I'm also looking forward to a nice smooth ride and stripping the Heritage down from time to time. Not to mention the weight loss on the Heritage. Felt like a win/win to me. Thats why I'm very pleased to see the review fish. Thanks again.

 

Thanks kb. I had no thought of the comparison while we rode since I'd assumed hands down there wouldn't be one and she'd prefer the King. I know I liked how the Heritage felt for me, but I was surprised when she volunteered her preference for it as well. I asked if she was just trying to make me feel good about the trade, but she insisted she only lies to make me feel better when I occasionally over cook the steak.

One other point she mentioned was it was easier getting on and off the bike, and the smaller bags gave more room for her legs. She felt less penned in and surrounded by body work. Some of that could be the flexibility pegs offer over boards too though.