does HD hate the road king?
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,276
Likes: 1,076
From: SE SC
Harley doesn’t hate the Road King………they just hate you
Hate to say it, but those that love the RK and RKS will keep buying them, no matter what. I got tired of the bat wing. I like the shark nose, but it just “ain’t me”. That’s why I bought mine.
When I get tired of this one, though, I’l probably buy a used Twin Cam or Evo……I’m done with new bikes that use the consumers as “test beds”.
Hate to say it, but those that love the RK and RKS will keep buying them, no matter what. I got tired of the bat wing. I like the shark nose, but it just “ain’t me”. That’s why I bought mine.
When I get tired of this one, though, I’l probably buy a used Twin Cam or Evo……I’m done with new bikes that use the consumers as “test beds”.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 18,252
Likes: 3,679
From: backwoods
Here is the thing no one buys it. That's the sad truth
I put my 2015 Road King on Consignment on Oct. It has 63k miles and listed it orginally for 11k. Now I recently put the price down to 8500. Still no takers after 2 weeks. Yes it is winter time, but I live in the Greater Sacramento area so when it's not raining people are riding. I priced it accordingly and no one wants a high mileage bike for 8K I plan on taking it out of consignment and selling it myself but Im not holding my breath since I already tried to sell it multiple times. Actually I try to sell it every year.
I believe that no one buys the Road King and giving the black treatment is what is keeping it still alive. I wouldnt be surprised if the production on them are really low. No one buys them.
I put my 2015 Road King on Consignment on Oct. It has 63k miles and listed it orginally for 11k. Now I recently put the price down to 8500. Still no takers after 2 weeks. Yes it is winter time, but I live in the Greater Sacramento area so when it's not raining people are riding. I priced it accordingly and no one wants a high mileage bike for 8K I plan on taking it out of consignment and selling it myself but Im not holding my breath since I already tried to sell it multiple times. Actually I try to sell it every year.
I believe that no one buys the Road King and giving the black treatment is what is keeping it still alive. I wouldnt be surprised if the production on them are really low. No one buys them.
You see it in classified here all the time,
People get emotional and defensive, they love their bikes. Not enough to keep them though. You want lower miles yourself
I got a bike with 70 and 90 so people spare the stories.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 18,252
Likes: 3,679
From: backwoods
"used to be trade it in every year or two to keep you OUT of the poor house. You could ride for a year or two and almost get exactly what you paid for it on trade and then factor the tax savings. Not so much today."
That explains why the Harley Corporation business statements show a steady decline in revenue.
That explains why the Harley Corporation business statements show a steady decline in revenue.
You can walk in and buy what you want now . Plus now Harley improved and changes things. It's not the same bike for 10 years. People want big. 96" is to small for them
Cruiser
Joined: Mar 2022
Posts: 204
Likes: 216
From: Kitsap County
just saw the 2024's. road glide and street glide look like they got totally revamped. road king special is same old same old. why didn't the road king get the same amount of love? i mean take the fairing off the road glide and it's a road king so it shouldn't have been too hard...
thoughts?
thoughts?
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 4,996
Likes: 655
From: bklyn,ny
If they made 1000 RK anniversaries last year, they would have sold out. If they had the ***** to build An ST model, it would sell out. I can’t ride a fixed fairing bike and I don’t want all the electronics. There are folks who are minimalists and like abasicc touring bike; and it ain’t a RKS.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 3,824
Likes: 603
From: Myrtle Beach SC
Thank you HD for not screwing up the Road King. I've owned 52 Harleys yea really. The Road King will always be my favorite. It''s what Harley was all about. Not electronic gadgets and rolling boom boxes etc etc. Heck I've even traded a 2018 CVO Ultra on a Road King Special. Long live the Road King....
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 5,281
Likes: 3,418
From: Idaho Panhandle
In a land with gravel and bugs, I want a windscreen on a touring bike. Without a screen, it’s a cruiser with bags.
In a land with gravel and bugs and thundershowers, chrome remains easy to clean and tough to chip.
For me and me alone, the special is not a road king. It’s a nice motorcycle, a fabulous cruiser, an always ready bat hopper, and capable of making a run to Sturgis, but it is not a road king. The ElectraGlide Highway king special icon revival or whatever they named it is not a road king. It’s a nice motorcycle and if you own one, you’re way more cool than I’ll ever be. But it is not a road king.
The king is more than a stripped down ElectraGlide. The king belonged to Harley’s history. It was the thread that tied Harley’s history together. It was a solid line from flatheads, knuckles, pans, EVOs, TCs, and M8’s that stretched longer than the glorious history of the sportster.
I do not consider the S a sportster and I do not consider the special a Road King. Nor the police version. Sure, one can cobble together a functioning look alike, but it shows a disregard for Harley’s own history. No, not a disregard, they just are so new, so removed, they don’t know or care about history or for that matter, how riders use their motorcycles. It’s an arrogance I’ve yet to master.
I don’t like where they are going. I know I don’t matter. He was hired by a board to meet the Wall Street paradigm where history has no place or importance only doing more with less is critical to maximizing profit. This blindness on their part is opening doors for other manufacturers. It isn’t obvious yet, but it will be. (And I’m not talking about Polaris)
On, I think the Road King Std was the focal point that drove the ElectraGlide, Street and road glides. Those riders were riding modifications of the king, not the other way around. The heart, the core is the king. The batwing, the shark nose were the factory mods. Should they be loved, yes. The king was not a stripped down ElectraGlide, it was the heart of a great motorcycle design.
So to answer the OPs question, I don’t think they hate the Road King, I think they are just too stupid to know about what the King offered Harley as a business because history, core reasons for why the king was popular was lost to make more profit/margin per bike. They simply lack the ability. It’s a common problem and the ruin of many fine manufacturers.
In a land with gravel and bugs and thundershowers, chrome remains easy to clean and tough to chip.
For me and me alone, the special is not a road king. It’s a nice motorcycle, a fabulous cruiser, an always ready bat hopper, and capable of making a run to Sturgis, but it is not a road king. The ElectraGlide Highway king special icon revival or whatever they named it is not a road king. It’s a nice motorcycle and if you own one, you’re way more cool than I’ll ever be. But it is not a road king.
The king is more than a stripped down ElectraGlide. The king belonged to Harley’s history. It was the thread that tied Harley’s history together. It was a solid line from flatheads, knuckles, pans, EVOs, TCs, and M8’s that stretched longer than the glorious history of the sportster.
I do not consider the S a sportster and I do not consider the special a Road King. Nor the police version. Sure, one can cobble together a functioning look alike, but it shows a disregard for Harley’s own history. No, not a disregard, they just are so new, so removed, they don’t know or care about history or for that matter, how riders use their motorcycles. It’s an arrogance I’ve yet to master.
I don’t like where they are going. I know I don’t matter. He was hired by a board to meet the Wall Street paradigm where history has no place or importance only doing more with less is critical to maximizing profit. This blindness on their part is opening doors for other manufacturers. It isn’t obvious yet, but it will be. (And I’m not talking about Polaris)
On, I think the Road King Std was the focal point that drove the ElectraGlide, Street and road glides. Those riders were riding modifications of the king, not the other way around. The heart, the core is the king. The batwing, the shark nose were the factory mods. Should they be loved, yes. The king was not a stripped down ElectraGlide, it was the heart of a great motorcycle design.
So to answer the OPs question, I don’t think they hate the Road King, I think they are just too stupid to know about what the King offered Harley as a business because history, core reasons for why the king was popular was lost to make more profit/margin per bike. They simply lack the ability. It’s a common problem and the ruin of many fine manufacturers.
