You will have to be a bit flexible about wind protection if you don't want a fairing. Had a Road King which I dearly loved but it does not rival the batwing for wind protection. Looked so cool without the windshield thou....

 

6'1" and 220 and rode my Sporty XL1200C all over hell. Don't let anyone give you **** about it, OP. In fact, until I put the Tallboy seat and new bars on the RKC, it felt more cramped to me than my Sportster, which had forward controls. That being said, the ride and handling of a properly set up Road King is hard to beat.

 

+1. And I enjoy looking out over at that big headlight. Spectacular! I wouldn't want to cover it up with a batwing.

 

+2 the view over that big headlight is what made my decision easy. Looks even better with the windshield off. Just my opinion though. Everyone is right though, ride all of them you can and then make your decision. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

Here's my 2 cents.

Statistically, the Road King has several advantages. 1st, It's lighter than the other tourers, which means it has more pounds available before you are over its Gross Vehicle weight. 2nd, its lean angle is greater. That comes in handy when you over cook a turn a bit and know you have a few more degrees left to lay it over. 3rd, Its a motorcycle. Not a car with two wheels. It doesn't have a radio, that's what blue tooth in your helmet is for. It doesn't have lowers. Wind is something you're looking for when hopping on the bike. It doesn't have a tour pak. So you don't look like you're missing the old lady when you're riding around solo.

BUT, if she does decide to ride with you...the Road King can handle it no problem. My wife and I...well, lets just say that max gross vehicle weight thing is important. Add a little air to the shocks and off we go, no problems. By the way...she said hell would have to freeze over before she got on. It took about 7 months, but she got on and while she is very particular about when and where she rides, she does ride.

The soft tails don't ride two up very well. They don't lean very well, ask the guys that try to keep up with me. And at cruise RPM, they don't rumble like the other twins do. I don't quite understand the whole counter balanced thing.

My dealer did me a solid when she introduced me to the road king while I was sitting on a Street Bob. Every time I go in, I tell her a new story about riding and thank her for asking me what the hell I was thinking getting on that Street Bob.

What's funny, is the things some of the guys here say are great about their bikes, fairings, stereo, ABS, lowers, etc...are the exact reasons I love my bare bones Road King. I get the wind, I have no distractions from the radio and I can't carry a bunch of crap, so I relearn to deal with what I absolutely need and nothing else.

Again, Just my two cents.

Mike

 

Good post imho !
I went from a street bob to a street glide , love the bob but when wife started to ride more I traded for a street glide , then traded the SG for a RK. I could never tackle the buffeting on the SG. Tried windshields and the fangs ( ugly to me ) and some other stuff but after 12000 miles or so on the SG it just wasn't for me so I traded for the RK
The road King with shield to me offers a great amount of wind protection I do not get any buffeting with the stock shield or LRS 16" shield I can add or take away the WS , if I want I can add a batwing. To me the RK is the most versatile Harley on the road.
Good luck my vote is for the RK.

 

My 01 RK in front on the right. My buddies 00'RK with batwing on the left





I prefer no batwing.


My RK on the right. My buddy's on the left and other buddy,s Slim

 

To me The bolt on batwings for RK's don't look like they fit right. Looks like they sit too high and like they don't belong. Jmo