Well after 5 months and 4000 miles, I've decided it's time for the HD Hard Lowers! After my trip to Maryland, I decided it's time.

Any feedback on ride differance, pricing, vents, part #'s would be appreciated!

 

Added mine a few weeks ago. OEM w/ Hoppe vents. You feel the heat of the motor in anything warmer than 70 degrees. Anything colder, yup, you guessed it, you stay a little warmer. A little more protected from the elements. Wind buffeting -- not affected much by lowers -- at least that's my personal experience (after 35k miles on two different roadglides).

 

Well heres my .02. I bought them when I got the bike put in the hoppe vents, only put them on for winter runs or long trips. Last year did 8 western states and hit some rain and cold weather, worked great. 2 weeks ago I left for Canada, got 200 miles from home and started loosing oil pressure, found out that the 4 quarts the book says to put in is a half qt too much and the oil was cooked. I changed the oil on the road minus 1/2 qt went 3k miles without any issues.
I dont think I will be using the fairings any more. But thats just me,

 

Bagman, thinking about getting rid of them?

Mark

 

Ive kicked it around, but going to think about it some more before I pull the trigger. I knew this ? would come up.

 

thinking of buying hogg chopps they claim better air flow around engine then the h-d fairing lowers and they are half the price

 

I put Hog Chopps on my RG. I like how they mount in front of the crash bar rather than around it like the HD lowers. The look fits well with the RG fairing. Protection from the wind and the rain is excellent.

Yes, they are half the price but the finish is perfect.

 

Sounds like the Hog Chopps may be shaped and mounted in such a way as to avoid the heat issues that result with the HD lowers. And the fact that they are less expensive than the HD lowers doesn't hurt either.

Overall, I am really pleased with the HD lowers. From photos, it looks like they "tuck in" a bit more than the Hog Chopps which provides a little cleaner look. But I've not seen the Hog Chopps in person, only photos.

I have considered the glove boxes for the HD lowers that I installed, but at another $320 for the pair, I've resisted so far. The thought of having $1k in the total lowers package is a bit hard to swallow... But the appearance of the lowers without the glove boxes is ok, and I'm not convinced of their utility for the price.

 

Still stuck between a rock & a hard place!
The HD lowers, detachable kit & glove boxes from my dealer will run around $800.00!! The only reason I want the glove boxes is to install speakers...later. The trouble with that is NO ONE makes a speaker kit to fit the RG glove boxes, nor the HoggChopp lowers!!

 

I have some i just run in the winter. They will cook you on a road glide in the summer. You get absolutely no wind behind the fairing with lowers unless you have vents in them.