Batwings with stereos rule!!

 

You will find you are going to get a different opion from every member, two things to consider 1st what are you going to ride it for primarily (round town scoot, short trips under couple hours ride = windscreen, or highway comuting, long trips many hours of riding = Batwing or Shark nose fairing) and 2nd which ride "calls to your soul" because ultimately you are the one riding. Every bike has it's pluses and minuses you will just need to go with your heart and maby the checkbook will let you know which way to go. For me and my wife we chose the Ultra which met all of our wants and needs in one package. I have found you are better to go your "ultimate" bike first and not compromise because you will eventually end up with the one you wanted at first just many $$ later. Of coarse this is just my .02

 

y ahave to sacrifice looks sometimes for comfort, I love my ol road king but the batwing has a nicer soundingstereo

 

Wassup?

I have an '08 RKC. I'm currently researching for a fairing purchase. Check out this thread I started a couple weeks ago. I received quality feedback from a couple members, TSJA, in particular. Follow the thread and you'll get good info on two aftermarket fairings.
https://www.hdforums.com/m_3206819/tm.htm

Personally, I would recommend you go the route of buying an RK/RKC then buying an aftermarket fairing. You get the best of both touring model worldswith this option: 1) a wind-in-your-face cruiser for around-the-town and short- to medium-distance trips, and 2) sturdy wind protection and MUSIC for medium- to long-distance road trips.

There's a lot to be said for the sturdier seats you could get with the EG-family of touring bikes, in addition to the benefits of a fairing. With the SG you get the fairing features of the EG bikes with a sporty cruiser styling. The RK bikes are a different class. You may pay a little more by buying an RK then an aftermarket fairing, but you're talking about an extra $1-1.5k - about the same for an SG or EG. What the RK/aftermarket fairing combination provides you is the ability to tailor your riding experience for cruising and touring. Personally, I like that versatility. I enjoy riding to and from work and around town without my windshield, but I am missing being able to listen to music and talk radio on long trips.

I've settled on a Dead Center (DC) fairing with Alpine's marine stereo system: iDA-X100M with the SPS-600M speakers. http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...odel=iDA-X100M, http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...g=en&tab=F. I like this stereo for it's iPod interface features, iTune Tagging feature, and bluetooth capability for phone calls on the road. The DC fairing is lockable (!!) and can be installed/uninstalled as easily as the stock windshield. The only key differences I've been able to find among the main aftermarket brands discussed on this site (Dragonfly Concepts, Dead Center Cycles, Hoppe)are the dashboard looks. Stereo packages are really a non-issue since you'll discover that a lot of guys opt to install their own stereo set up, rendering any argument over speaker size/shape or the number of speaker available moot, IMHO. I like the DC fairing because the dash space above the stereo allows me to customize the look with dials, or decals, or whatever I want.

You'll get a lot of opinions on the type of bike you should get. The EG, SG, and RK camps are pretty entrenched. The comments you've received so fair are typical of everything I've researched on the forum. My only exception is to Mile High King's comment about the windshield providing you more visibility of the road immediately in front of the bike. I respectfully disagree with him in that I find that to be a specious argument. Focus on the styling you want for you bike and its functionality for both short and long distance rides. My recommendation is to consider the riding versatility an aftermarket fairing/RK combinationprovides you withtailoring your riding experience.

 

I was recently in the market to get a new bike and after several months research I narrowed it down to either a Road King or a Street Glide. Love them both but bought the Glide, mainly because of the fairing. Better protection, variety of shield inserts available, stereo, and better gauges. If you don't plan on doing any touring, the RK was attractive to me for the ability to take the shield off but you hardly ever see anyone do it other than for a quick run to the local beverage outlet of choice.

 

I have an ultra classic and enjoy the bat wing protections. My friend has the road king because he wanted the look. He put a faing on it, but he never takes it off. We do a lot on the road. You know what I tell him he should have bought!

 

I have a 05 Road King custom and run the wind screen only occasionally. I bought a Hoppe Quadzilla detachible fairing for it. It has a 200 watt am/fm/cd withe Sirius sattalite radio. Had it painted to match the bike and it looks great. When i want to run local I remove the Fairing, 2-5 min tops. and run without. the elec. plug slips into the steering head out of the way for a clean look.

 

Get the batwing. You can turn it into a moneymaker.


[IMG]local://upfiles/24433/F031304CAF234E7A9289209C7F898E7B.jpg[/IMG]

 

I went from a 58 Duo-Glide, to a 71 Electra-Glide, to an 05 EGC, to an 03 Ultra, and now I havean 05 Road Ultra. It started out as a stock Road King standard, and let me say it is the best bike I have owned to date! I dontknow what your looking for, but to me a motorcycle has to be versitile and be able to fufill my needs. That being said, I choose theRK so that I only need 1 bike for what ever mood I'm in to ride.80% of the timemy RK is a solo wind in the face FL like this.



Or I can dress it out like an Ultra like this!



Or anywhere in between, depending on my mood or needs at the time. In short, you can make the RK do ANYTHING you want it to be. Some folks are satisfied with 1 bike, me I have a Road King, a Street Glide, an Electra Glide, and an Ultra all in the same bike. The choice is yours though, you just need to figure out what kinda bike, or bikesyour lookin for!

Sorry, to answer your origanal question, the batwing offers WAY MORE protection from adverse riding conditions than the windshield. I've been in rotten weather with both, oh yea, lowers are the chit in bad weather also!

 

So how much do you have to spend for a tour pak, aftermarket batwing and lowers? And my hearing sucks, how do do hear a Cd playing? I've actually had to go to helmetswhich cover my ears because I get ringing so bad. I think it's from those loud concerts when I was a teen. sometimes I waer a full face for the quiet. Why not stck IPod earplugs in.I could save a bundle and get a stereoless batwing. Just a thought.