I ride a 2003 Fatboy, and have been thinking of maybe looking at a similar year Road King. Was wondering just how more comfy the Road King might be compared to my Fatboy, any thoughts from anyone who has ridden both ?
Idahored

 

I have both, in stock heights, and the Road King is plush relative to the Softail. I grind the hell out of my Softail floorboards. The Softail has a very low seat height which is nice. I've never been impressed with the Softails suspension, it is what it is, so no complaints. Softails are great lookers for short rides.

I also prefer the bigger shake of the Evo Road King over the smaller vibration of the Twin Cam B Softail.

I like them both for different reasons. If I had to choose one from the three I have, hands down it would be the Road King. It's a smooth machine that does it all anywhere.

My opinion is from the limited experience from what I got, haven't spent much, if any, time on anything else, for what it's worth.

 

Personally, if I wanted to see how the ride of a Road King compared to a Fatboy, I'd look around and see if I could find one to test ride and see for myself how comfy it felt. In the years that I've been riding, I've noticed at least one thing, what seems comfy to one person might not seem comfy to another. Good luck

 

I owned a lowered 03 Fatboy and put 25000 miles on an 01 Road King. Fatboy was a great bike and fun to ride but the Road King was much more comfortable for long rides.

 

Ive owned both - its easy
A) Ride for the bar - Softail
B) Ride for far - RK

 

Value for the money... RK
Comfort: pre 2018, RK all the way. The new softails are far more comfortable than they used to be. Still, I'd give the edge to the RK.

The only reason I'd recommend a FB over a RK is if you're doing mostly around town riding. Even then, I'd get a different bike than a Softail or an HD entirely. After totaling my FB a few weeks ago, it's just too heavy a bike for the one front disc brake HD puts on it. When you need to stop to avoid an accident, you need to stop.

While I absolutely loved the looks of my FB, I'd never buy another one. For the price, the performance isn't there and neither are the bells and whistles to justify it. Just a lot more safer bikes out there with a lot more options and better performance for that kind of money. My 2013 FB ate tires like candy too.

If anything, the 2018 is even worse to me with that low profile rear tire. Zero sidewall, crap lean angles, still one front disc brake, can't mount a rear luggage fender rack like you used to be able to.

If your heart is set on an HD and it's understandable, what is it you're planning to do with it? If you're hitting the open highways, the RK will serve you well. I'd also advise looking at a street glide. If you're commuting or doing a lot of in town riding mostly, a Fat Bob or Street Bob. If you want the best of both worlds, get a Touring Sport bike. Yamaha FJR1300, Kawasaki Contours 14, or BMW R1200RT. If you want to settle for in between both worlds, get a Heritage. Hard to tell what you're after, you've presented 2 completely different bikes with different purposes.

 

Even for blasting around town the Softail isn't great. I can abuse the FXR on curbs, drops, and corners no problem. I've ridden down dirt roads, empty farm fields, and almost stuck it in a river bed. It's light fast nimble. My Softail sinks in the rocks in my front yard, curbs hit the frame, and I'm surfing floor boards in corners taking it easy.

Even for around town the Road King is better than Softail. If I had to guess I wouldn't doubt it's even lighter, at least the way mine are set up.

 

 

roadking

 

Thanks guys for the feedback ! I got rid of my '95 Electra Glide bagger a couple years ago, because I'm getting a mite long in the tooth to handle it comfortably, (I turn 80 in November) so I bought the Fatboy. After a couple of 300+ mile trips, I decided I needed something with more comfort than what I was getting from the Fatboy, so figured a Road King is a little heavier, and should get a better ride. From the feedback, it looks like the way to go. Thanks again !
Idahored
Riding 2 wheels since 1956