Putting my #4 bro on the RKC in May for a roadtrip to/thru the AmSW. I'm confident he's gonna come to love it, as I have. I am adding a Sundowner in case his wife flys in to meet us and wants to do some day-trips with him/us.

 

The nice thing about a Roadking is they can go from hot looking bar hopper to a full on touring bike in a matter of minutes. A good seat, detachable tour pak, detachable windshield and your there. We had an 07 NT and since I bought the RK we've never looked back!

 

It has all been said. The Road King is a great touring bike, either for solo or two-up riding. Motorcycling is not my wife's passion. Nevertheless she accompanies me on one week-long tour every summer because she enjoys the socialization with our group.

Three observations:

(1) Most stock Road King's need some tweaking to obtain all-day comfort. For many, if not most, the stock seat is akin to a torture device and must be gotten rid of immediately. I ride with a Mustang wide touring seat. Also the stock handle bars give many riders pain between the shoulder blades because of having to reach forward. I replaced mine with the Road King High Bar which is taller and has a little more pull-back while keeping the same basic configuration.

(2) Detachable accessories! Road Kings can be set up so accesories are detachable making your bike easily go from a tourer to something suitable to be seen on the boulevard. I have a detachable luggage rack, a detachable passenger back rest, and most recently a detachable tour pack. I pretty much hate a tour pack. But as I said, riding isn't my wife's thing and the tour pack makes her feel more secure and comfortable. But, when she gets off, it comes off.

(3) Cruise Control! My '05 FLHR didn't come with stock cruise control, but the bike was factory set-up for it. The money I paid to add it was worth every penny.

 

I did a 2000 mile round trip to Golden Colorado last September on my '07 Road King Classic. I had a Mustang solo seat with backrest on it and was fairly comfortable for the trip.

 

There's gonna be compromises any way you go, and only you and your wife can decide what they will be. If you want full two-up touring comfort, then get an Ultra. You get the best wind protection, front and back stereo, great storage capacity, etc. At the other end is what you've got, something like the NT. Looks cool, but if your wife is like most, she is not going to like long tours on it. In between are bikes like the RK and StreetGlide. I came down with an EG Classic, definitely not the coolest machine on the street, but most but of the creature comforts of an Ultra and at a much better price. Take your time in making this decision. Haste makes waste.

P.S. If you have experience in touring for a week or longer, then you already know this. If not, then be forewarned. After the first few days, comfort gets to be the most important thing in the world. If something about a given bike is bothering either of you at the end of a 300-400 mile day trip, it's only going to get worse the further you go.

 

Keep the 1100RT and 1 HD. If you go with the RK & NT, you will have two bikes with basically the same performance level. You will miss the performance and handling of the BMW if you get rid of it. JMO.

 

I don't have my RK anymore, but I did take it from Va Beach to Key West and back. The trip down, took 3 days. 500 the first, 500 the second, and ~130 the last. On the way back, I did it in 22 hours.... Yep, one day.

Another trip was to KC from Va Beach and back... Going over, it was a one day trip... ~21 hours. On the way back, 3 days.

The one day trips, I was by myself. The 3 day trips, my father-in-law was with me. He had a really bad back and could only set on his EGC for about an hour at a time.

The best mods (IMHO) for trips like this are a riders backrest and the mustang pillow top touring seat that I had.

Chris

 

The wife and I did 750 miles in a day on the RKC with a mustang solo and the wide pillon. I love the windshield, cruise control, footboards, highway pegs, and the all around versatility of the RK. It may not be the best touring only bike but for in town and long distance its hard to beat.

 

I put 32000 miles on my 03 RKC. Several 5000 mile trips with two up. I had a HD adjustable back rest and the quick release luggage rack. I had all three sizes of the Cabelas water proof compression bags that I would pack gear in to bunge down on the rack. Leathers would bunge on top of that. Plenty good touring ride and room for what ever you need for two weeks. Of course we hit a laundry mat about every three days. I also have carried a tent, sleeping bag and all camping gear when solo.

 

I like the fact that I can strip it down to a very cool look for local rides and then add the passanger seat, windshield, Backrest, tourpack, garmin, and I run a bluetooth headphone off my handlebar mounted iphone and I have a full touring bike. It is very flexible and yet has that great touring ride. I did change seat and bars for comfort though.