Hey all you Road King Heads out there,
I own a beautiful green '96 road king with only 5K miles that I am giving some love to and making it look the way I want. Texas John at 8th day cycle in Lewiston, ID did a 2" lowering kit front and back and a new low profile Drag seat and she's definitely sitting way lower which is what I was after. BTW Texas John is awesome, does fantastic work and is super reasonable for anyone in the area looking to have work done on their bike. I really would like to get rid of the luggage rack and back rest, but that is where we are running into trouble. The 1994-96 road kings had a different rear rack system that you just can't remove. it seems to be part of the integrity of the rear of the frame itself. There used to be someone who made a replacement rear grab handle that went strait across the back and held a license plate, but I can't find one anywhere. With this bike being so old and an only 3 year model I'm sure it will be a struggle trying to find something that will work. If anyone has any advise it would be greatly appreciated.
Jason

 

Picture might help.

 

That rack should just unbolt from the frame rails as it is/was just an accessory item from the P/A catalog. The way it left the factory was with a chrome horseshoe with the license plate bracket. Once the rack is unbolted put a lay-down license plate bracket on the fender and you should be good to go.

 

Here’s a picture and part number, if it helps.
Maybe a salvage yard would have one!?


Item # 12
47440-92

 

Thank you for the diagram. You don’t think that horse shoe as you call it needs to be in there for frame support side to side?

 

Many people replace that "horseshoe" with either lights or something decorative like spikes. It doesn't support anything except it serves as a place for the tag.

 

Well first - you need to stay in the Evo forum where people know things and people who don't, won't make fun of you for asking valid questions. https://www.hdforums.com/forum/evo-84/

Here's the install sheet you can reverse step and get it off. It's PDF file and I recommend you not open it on a phone, pc only so you can see it.

 

Thanks everyone for the help. I was able to get the rack off. Now I just need to come up with something to make it looked finished. I wish I could get my hands on a chrome horse shoe to go back in the racks place.

 

Between ebay and swap meets, you should be able to get hold of a horseshoe readily enough.

 

Finding that 'horseshoe'/rear grab rail might be a bit of a task...I have been searching for some for the '97-'07 Models. They are out there, but they are pricer than I expected. The P/N for your 1996 is different than what I've been looking for though.

I would suggest you look into whether you need something like this...Whenever I have removed the grab bar to do a license plate relocation I have used something similar. While the upper rails on either side of the rear fender are not a major structural piece...they do help support the rear fender and tie-into the rear supports for the saddlebags.

https://a.co/d/bjQrEj1