Another way to attack this issue is boots. Back in the 60's- 70's you would sit on a bike rather than in it. I'd take my engineer boots to a shoemaker ( do they still exist?) and have thicker lug soles added. It made ya look bigger too- so when you got off the bike to confront the carload of punks tailgating you and intimidate them with your buck knife they would start crying and wetting their pants.Ahhhh...memories.

 

I previously offered the OP a alternate to a Bagger Saddlebag for her Heritage. However, after re-reading her posts, the question was about a RK with a changed suspension.

A quality Air Ride suspension would not cause any handeling problems on a King and would allow a short rider to handle it by utilizing the remote control on the Handlebar. However, a King as set up stock is a tall bike and a short rider might find a little difficult to ride (actually stop). That being said, a short rider like myself, can do a lot to make a bagger rideable. My SGS is lowered with a quality brand 11" shocks in the rear and 1" shorter gas shocks in the front with out any noticable loss of handeling. Lower seats can be used to get the rider even lower to the ground. Handelbar's can be changed to make the short rider even more comfortable.

The bigest problem for a short rider is backing up a big bike (even my Heritage is difficult for me). Like foxtrapper I solved this problem by having a reverse installed on my SGS (specifically a Mechanical Reversing Pulley). I never have to worry where I park as I can back up a fairly significant incline when necessary.

So, even though I'm not sure the OP is ready to move up to a RK, her understanding that a RK with its suspension changed will "ride horribly" is just not true. In fact it is widely understood that rideability, comfort and handeling of any H-D Bagger can be improved by upgrading the stock suspension with a quality brand suspension (air ride or not).

I moved up from my Heritage to my SGS knowing up front that I woulld have to do a lot to make it comfortably rideable for me. And yes, the SGS is a heavier bike, especially with all the add ons I have, so I have to be very careful when holding it up at stops (still not fully flat footed but a good pair of boots with thick soles help), but I must say I enjoy the ride on my SGS a lot more than the Heritage.

Here is hoping all this input has helped the OP answer her query.

 

Thank you all for the comments and additional pics. Very helpful