Got a ’16 RGU and recently had a chance for a multi day ride and wanted to give my thoughts on RG vs bat wing. I have always had bat wings but age is setting in and I needed to try a ride that would help to minimize road fatigue, and that’s why I switched over to the glide.

WIND MANAGEMENT
No question that the rounded front fairing is much better at knifing thru wind compared to BW. When the fairing does take a hard shot of wind from front (10:00 to 2:00) the nose seems to be able to distribute that wind and what shock there is goes to the frame and is not noticeable. Direct shots from the side (9:00 and 3:00) will still hit your body and there’s not much any fairing can do to stop that.

PASSENGER WIND
Wife says that she has pretty much no wind hitting the top of her helmet on the RGU. She did have some buffeting on the BW.

PULL BACK HANDLE BARS
For me (32” sleeve) these are great. If you have longer arms, maybe not so much. On the BW’s I was always reaching to hold the grips. On BW’s my arms tended to be straight, elbows locked and pointing outwards which resulted in tension and stress thru the arms and to the shoulders. With the RGU my elbows are flexed and pointing towards the ground. On the bats, I had to lean forward which drove my crotch into the front of the seat. On the RGU I can now sit farther back in the saddle which makes the ride a lot more comfortable.

DISPLAY GLARE
I am about 5’ 11” and this is a big problem when I have the sun at my back. The angle of the display is like someone holding a mirror and having the sun reflect directly in your eyes. Maybe in the summer when the sun is higher in the sky this won’t be an issue. If you’re taller this may not be a problem.

HOTTER IN THE COCKPIT
No question in my mind that it’s hotter in the driver’s seat. For whatever reason engine heat seems to be retained. I have not removed the air deflectors in front of the gas tank and maybe doing that will make a difference.

SOUND SYSTEM
With speakers farther away it’s harder to hear music and radio.

RAIN ON YOUR FACE
Washed the bike and went for a short ride and had a lot of water drops hitting my face from the 2 big holes. So when it rains probably going to have to close them.

NEW OHLINS
In addition I bought a set of #3 #3’s (HD159) from Howard and these are definitely a game changer. I know it’s a lot of money, but the ride is so much improved ride.

 

Nice right up lot of good info, trying to get the wife into one but she will not give up her RK that I have made into a SG. I told her that she can have more than one bike but she is to attached to the RK because it is her first bike.Glad to hear that you like your new ride.

 

I could tell the sound system was not as good as my Ultra Classic right away. I tested it on the e-way for about 20 miles.

I felt more wind due to the fairing still being forward by quite a ways. And even thought the infotainment center has been repositioned it was washed out most of the time. Never had that issue on my FLHTCU.

I opened up the center vent on the e-way and felt like I was going to be blown off the seat. Maybe on a really hot day those monster vents would be nice but why can't they make them variable adjusts instead of open or closed. Our lowers are variable adjust. Why hasn't the Moco thought about this. Car windows are not either up or fully down, and the list goes on. I couldn't ride with that much wind blasting me in the face just to decrease head buffeting. As a matter of fact there was a lot more head buffeting with them open. It was like riding without a fairing... DUH!

BUT... it sure felt better than the first Rushmore Road Glides for a multitude of reason. Handle bars, seat position and the closer fairing just to name a few.