Road King vs Road Glide
Road Master
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 963
Likes: 0
From: pa
whoever said if you want a bar hopper buy the road king is an idiot. road king is a great touring bike, and i think their most comfortable ride. the road glide fairing sucks, offers no protection. i would go with the standard and not the classic. i had a classic, and i regreted not haveing the locking hard bags and tubeless tires
Road Captain
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 526
Likes: 99
From: Merrimack NH
You're only as young as you feel.....now where's that damn Geritol????
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 741
Likes: 3
No matter what the dissentors say the RG is just flat out better for bigger bodied humans than the RK. I have many thousands of miles on both machines and at 6'3" and 240lbs I would MUCH rather spend serious seat time on a RG. It's not just a rumor either that they are the best handling bikes HD makes. Guess that's why when it was time to plunk down my hard earned recently on a newly redesigned 2009 I bought a Roadie and not a King!
Last edited by ghostflamed; Feb 21, 2010 at 06:15 AM.
Tourer
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Daytona Beach
Get the king and then when you go to a rally you can wander around like all the other king owners looking for your putt in a sea of rk's. My ugly roadie will be right where I left her with the crowd of people standing around it pointing and laughing.
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 12
Ive had both. The RK is by far the most versatile touring bike in the line up. You can dress it up (given enough money of course) and tour, and strip it down for the boulevard. I had 16" apes on my king, and it was very comfortable. I even added fairing lowers, with some speakers and built a windshield box to hold a couple of 5 1/4 speakers. There was an amp in the saddle bag and a satelite radio mounted on the tank console. Where Im going is that you can make a RK any bike you want, by either adding or taking away. My roadglide is a touring bike. Id recommend adding lowers with the purchase because I feel it cures the wind buffeting associated with these models. My RG handles far better than my RK but there is a difference in years (01-08) and I added a bagger brace to the RG. The RG is smooth riding and at top speed it still feels planted (not that you are going to really ride it that way). The RK is more affected by wind with its lighter front end. You really just have to ask yourself what you want and crunch the numbers. If you plan to add a radio to a RK (most say they wont initially), look at what a detach fairing, and radio outfit would cost and go from there. Classic styling or something different.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 4,530
Likes: 607
From: Raleigh NC
there ain't SPIT difference between the Road Glide, and the Road King.
Same engine, transmission, frame brakes etc.
Whether you go with one or the other is YOUR choice.... no one cares, and you are going to fork over the cash... no one else.
Ride both, and get what YOU like.
both are nice bikes, and you can tour, OR bar hop, on either.....
demo them both, and decide... if the OL is gonna ride along, make sure she gets some seat time too
Same engine, transmission, frame brakes etc.
Whether you go with one or the other is YOUR choice.... no one cares, and you are going to fork over the cash... no one else.
Ride both, and get what YOU like.
both are nice bikes, and you can tour, OR bar hop, on either.....
demo them both, and decide... if the OL is gonna ride along, make sure she gets some seat time too
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 289
Likes: 12
From: Marysville, OH
My two favorite rides. My next bike will be a RG, only because it will be used for two up trips. I will be keeping my RKC for my daily ride. Best bike I ever had.
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Cruiser
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
It's all about personal opinion and riding style/preference. So with that said here is my opinion, I came from only owning choppers and bobbers for over 20 years and used to rag on all the bagger guys out there with their stereos saying no way would I want a fairing and stereo because that is the point of riding, to feel the wind and hear the engine and exhaust. So when I finally decided on a more comfortable ride I bought a RK and was happy as a pig in s**t for the first year. Then, I tried out a set of speakers in the bags for some tunes and was amazed at how much I liked the tunes. Then added some front speakers to the crash bar so I could hear the tunes at a higher speed. Once again, I was amazed that I really liked having tunes. That got me to convert my RK into a RG with full stereo. Now, I was REALLY skeptical of doing this because I did not think I would want the fairing but let me tell you, I wish I had just bought the RG from the beg. I run the short windshield and still have all the wind in my face that I want but on the highway I don't get thrown around on my bike. I am not talking about the bike itself I am talking about my body acting like a kite on the highway. What an amazing difference, now I can ride for 5oo miles and get off the bike feeling like I just rode 200 miles.
Long story short, well not that short. Go with the RG, if you trick it out a little it is not Fugly at all plus like was pointed out, you can pick it out alot easier at a run or bike night.
Long story short, well not that short. Go with the RG, if you trick it out a little it is not Fugly at all plus like was pointed out, you can pick it out alot easier at a run or bike night.
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 741
Likes: 3
Disagree...the ergos are definitely different. The reach to the bars, room from floorboards to seat, position of floorboards, position of seat, etc. ARE different. and make the bikes feel completely different even if they do share the same components.