Aware, but not everyone wants to ride a dirtbike. And I figured the point of the comparison was as stock.

If we're comparing what you can do aftermarket to both, they're identical. Especially considering you can literally turn a Street Glide into a Road Glide, or King, and back again with aftermarket.

 

Get the Bat wing if it is what you want They have many of them on the used floor. few RG to be had many Dealers have none on the floor.
Batwings being trade in on the in high numbers.

 

Hand guards on Road Glides are more popular than you would imagine. There was a fairly long thread about it here last year, and a lot of the “cool kids” had put them on their well appointed sharks. It was Friday night, I was drinking, and of course ordered a pair. Memphis Shades are popular. They disappear into the bike more than you imagine, and the guy who bought my Road Glide six months ago, who came off a sport touring bike, and said he’d never own a Harley, loves them.

If you put anything over 10” bars on a batwing, your knuckles are going to be catching bugs and rocks anyway. And I’m not just posting to answer you, because I once felt like you do, but I'd buy them again, and might even get some for my police Road King.

 

OP,

I’ll share my experience with batwing and shark nose fairings. I have owned five bat wings from 2008 to 2021 and combined have ridden them for over 150k miles.

I still own the 2021 Street Glide and I also own a 2022 Road Glide.

Back up a few years and my wife and I always preferred the look of the batwing.

Yes as others have mentioned you must and should test ride both. The problem for me anyway was the short test rides on the Road Glide were underwhelming. I rode at least three over as many years at Daytona and at York PA. I was so used to the batwing that the Shark did not feel right, felt top heavy and the front end felt so much lighter that it made me feel insecure with the handling.

My experience with so many miles on a batwing in almost every condition was that they do NOT cut through the air very well. Head winds would really slow them down and the buffeting was really bad at times.

Fast forward and we have now owned a Road Glide for 17 months, have 15k miles on her and she has been to 11 states. My experience is the shark nose is far superior on the open road hands down.

I am really happy I took the leap. You don’t know what you don’t know. The first few 100 miles were weird. The RG feels very top heavy compared to the Street Glide, the fixed fairing messed with my mind. My mind could not accept I was turning when the fairing was still pointed straight.

Now 17 months later I get on either bike at any time and never even think about it.

Figure out what you want the bike for and how it will be used. If you are planning serious touring my vote is hands down for the shark nose.

These two bikes even though they share the same bones are very different. Around town, solo with my H.O.G. chapter and up in the mountains I like the batwing Street Glide best. It is very nimble. On a trip, even just an overnight with a few 100 miles the Road Glide makes the ride way more enjoyable.

Try them both with an open mind and be honest about how you plan to use the bike. Then pick your color and definitely buy a good windshield for maximum enjoyment.

Bottom line is the fixed fairing is less affected by wind. A side wind will move the bike (lean) slightly but the handle bars never move, it is very stable and it just self corrects.

Knowing what I know today I would not have owned 5 batwings.

Best of luck finding the bike that will serve your needs.

Sorry to be so long winded.

 

Cos, what type of camera and attachment do you have set up on that bike?

 

Went from a SG to an RG, back to a SG.

While the RG was undoubtedly "better" in crosswinds and less tiresome on windy days, I've never once felt the batwing "fought" me or was unmanageable.

If you like the look of the SG, get it.

 

They put them on snowmobiles. Ha.

I got a bike with a fairing, so I wouldn't need hand guards.

 

That is an Insta 360 x 3. I really like it. I used to run a GoPro 5 and this is a huge improvement and the battery life is way better.

 

Well I can share a similar situation. Since 2016 I started liking baggers, especially the batwing. I did not like the looks of the shark nose. I test road both and liked them, I thought the shark nose handled the freeway speeds a bit better (80-90 mph). I was currently riding a Superglide at the time, come 2018 I test rode both glides again but went with a Wide Glide because of lane spitting and it was just a smaller bike. Well after the new bike high went away, I was not content. I wanted a bagger, but I started liking looks of the the shark nose. I ended up selling my Wide Glide and went a few years with no Harley and started riding adventure bikes. I am big into off roading and own 4 bikes all for some form of dirt and or adventure.

well I decided I miss riding Harley’s and sold my adventure bike. Back to the dealer with the sole purpose of getting a bagger. Talking with a buddy who happened to be a manager of a Harley dealership. Told me about bike week and they rode demos to Laughlin. We live in SoCal and we get a weather pattern called Santa Ana. It’s very high wind, hot and dry. The wind can easily be 70+ mph. Well he mentioned that when riding into the Santa Ana, the street glide could not hold 6th on the freeway. The road glide was fine. After a short trip the batwing needed gas and the shark fin was just under half a tank.

so I test road the new road glide and zipped up to 95+ and it was one of the more stable bikes I’ve ridden at that speed, not county crotch rockets.

I went with the 24 Road Glide.

So my long winded blabbing just means. Follow your heart or you will have a regret the for me, did not go away. If you’re drawn to the batwing, I’d say go for it, unless you plan on commuting in Santa Ana wind storms. Other than that they are fantastic. I would imagine the reason it had problems was because if the extra with protection. Good luck

 

Or do what some of us have done. Get the King and you can put on a batwing whenever you want or easily take it off in seconds for 'round town riding. If you get tired of the batwing, they do make a shark fairing for the King. It's like having 3 bikes in one.