I'm currently riding a Vulcan 1600 Classic that I bought lightly used four years ago (my first bike ever BTW).

Over the last few years, I've gotten to really like the Road King, I've been out on it numerous times at the yearly Harley demo days events but I haven't been in a financial position to pull the trigger on one but out of all of the Harleys, that one ticks the most boxes for me.

Just this past winter, I spent a stupid amount of time reading up on various new motorcycles out there and I got caught up on what I was seeing on the Victory website. There was a lot of comparisons between their bikes and the Harley bikes. They listed a whole bunch of stuff about their bikes being superior to the Harleys and I was pretty much eating it all up to be honest.

Well, about six weeks ago, the Victory demo truck rolled in to town and I got the chance to try out the Cross Roads, the Cross Country and I even tried out the futuristic Vision. Of these three bikes, I thought that I was going to hate the Vision because of its super-weird styling but it was really the only one out of the bunch that impressed me.

I've got to tell you that I was soooooo ready to have my socks blown off by the Cross bikes, what with all of the research that I did on them, etc... but I ended up being quite under-whelmed, this really snapped me back into reality. It seemed like the engine was a bit buzzy and didn't have the greatest sound IMO. Maybe after-market pipes would help liven it up but I just wasn't bonding with either of those two bikes. I was a bit surprised at how much different my experience on these bikes turned out to be from what I had imagined.

I actually didn't notice any difference in power from what I had experienced on the Road King, I imagine that there is but I just couldn't "feel" it. The Harley was a way more fun bike IMHO and I felt that it had a ton of personality with the way that it feels when you're riding it. They say that the Vic is more powerful and pretty much bullet-proof but I felt that there was something missing in that bike.

So, surprise surprise, I'm now considering a Road King again and I see that they've even gone with the 103" engine and oil cooler for 2012, etc... that's great!

I don't mean any disrespect to Victory owners, I don't think that you can really buy a crap bike these days, it's all down to personal tastes I guess but I was totally caught off guard by my experience on the Cross bikes, my wife felt the same way as me too BTW. We had bought in to the marketing hype I suppose.

There was also something about the bikes that felt "cheap", maybe it was the lack of chrome (maybe too much brushed aluminum, or whatever it is), maybe the paint, the plastic switch gear looks a bit cheap. Actually my old Vulcan 1600 Classic feels way more luxurious and I actually prefer it over the new Vics. I can't believe I just said that. I didn't even notice a whole lot more power then what I have with my 1600 Classic, I'm sure that there's a difference but I hardly notice it truth be told.

I also had a bit of a problem with the over-all styling of the Cross bikes but that's just me, others will think that they're the best thing to ever come out. Well, now that I've ridden them, I don't think that they're for me anyways, so the styling doesn't matter after all.

I'm definately going to go to the Harley demo days next month, I want to have another go at the Road King, the 2012s look like a good step in the right direction!

 

Good luck.

 

Get the real deal. Anything but the Big Iron is just a toy.

 

The Harleys are bikes refined year over year for many years. The RK is a fabulous bike.

Be prepared to still have a bike that runs hot as a stock bike. This may or may not bother you. Know that if you feel it runs too hot you can fix it, but it will cost you some money to do it right. A tuner, air cleaner and pipes as well as a new headpipe to eliminate the catalytic converter will make it run like a charm and cool it way down.

You and your wife deserve it!

What color you getting? Road Kings look awesome in black.

 

You sound very happy ! ..... it's good to be honest with yourself and get the bike you want, for the reasons you want !

 

After 3 years on my 05 eg standard I did not think I would ever get another touring harley again, about a year ago I test rode a 10 and the difference was obvious even before I left the parking lot. #1 even stock the 96 torque makes the bike feel 100 lbs lighter then it is, the 103 can olny be better. #2 the new frame is THAT GOOD, makes my 05 feel prehistoric, 90+ in crosswinds on the freeway are now not white knuckle terretory, as was the 05-off the showroom floor. I was all set to swap cams ect. but with a header slipons a/c and pc5 im just going to enjoy it. Harley hit a homerun with this new frame, test ride it and you will see what I mean.

 

Can't go wrong with a KING...

 

 

oldhippie said:
"Be prepared to still have a bike that runs hot as a stock bike. This may or may not bother you".

Actually, that might be a plus! Here on Canada's east coast, it usually doesn't stay hot for very long, cool/cold weather is more the norm. As long as the heat from the bike doesn't present problems for itself, i.e. premature wear on the engine, etc....

As far as colour goes, Road King's look pretty sharp in black alright but I really like that Ember Red Sunglo/Merlot, it looks really nice just with the internet pics but I can just imagine how much better it will look in the flesh. I saw a RK last year with that Merlot colour and it was stunning to look at outside where the sun brought out the metal flakes. Wow!



Kingspoke said:
"The salesman told me, in detail how the shock on the victory is offset and was compensated with a torsion bar and how this bike had 4.5" of suspension travel vs 3" of my Limited. I was expecting to be impressed with the ride."

Yeah, I was expecting big things from what I saw on the internet, the suspension was one thing that I thought would be stellar on the Cross bikes but I can't say that I noticed any huge improvements there either. My wife wasn't any more comfortable sitting on the back of the Cross Country then she is on my Vulcan. She's actually more fond of the BMWs but that's another story. 8^)


These demo rides offered by all of these companies are invaluable in that you can't get the whole picture by reading reviews and specs, the proof is in the demo ride itself. I'm not brand-loyal to any bike but when I was out on the Cross bikes, one of my first thoughts was that the Road King was a more interesting ride and I never expected to feel that way after all that I had read.

And the kicker here is that the Cross bikes are just a tad less expensive then a comparable Harley, that's the case up here in Canada anyways. But the switch gear looks and feels cheaper, the paint doesn't look as good, there's brushed aluminum instead of chrome, etc... It just looks and feels a little bit cheap, maybe it isn't but that's the impression that I get.

Anyhow, to get a Cross Roads or Cross Country bike set up the way that I'd like, is in the $23,000-$25,000 range out the door here in Canada, that's a pile of money and puts in it the same range as a Harley tourer or even something like a BMW R1200RT. So, it's not a cheap bike by any means and in that price range, there are a lot of other bikes to chose from.

I just felt that I had to write my feelings of how much different you can feel about a bike after actually having the chance to demo it rather then just getting your head filled up with tons on write-ups, etc... Bikes are kinda funny, I think that they really do have a bit of a "personality" about them and you either connect with them or you don't. I guess it's a really personal choice and there are a lot of things to consider when trying to pick out the right one that's right for you.

 

That's the good thing about the demo days...you can try out all the bikes and really get a feel for what it is you want and what it is you'll be happy with. Good luck!