First off hi, received a great welcome here and have a ton of questions. I am looking to buy a bike in the next 60 days. I am looking for a street glide, road glide, road king,or maybe a electra glide ultra classic. I will be buying used, maybe even wrecked and do some wrenching myself. My questions are, with the road king first, are there any years that are better than the other? If i get a king i will be making it look like a street glide. The ultra classic i like because i saw one with the trunk off and it looked like a street glide, plus the wife likes the trunk bikes so i figured i can buy two seats and switch back and forth trunk and no trunk..Thoughts? Does the electra glide ultra classic have any bad years? I'm a BIG fan of the street glide look with the apes that dont go over the fairing and thats what i will be looking to end up with in the end. Also i'm 6'4 280 and the wife isnt as one would say petite LOL Is weight a certain issue on a certain bike? We have a combined weight of 470 pounds, man i hope she doesnt get on here reading!! Any info is apperciated and thanks!

 

I'm no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but I had the same question you asked regarding the RK and any years to "beware" of. I liked the most common response I got then....you'll probably never find a year that didn't have it's "problems". The advice I got was to find a bike I liked, and then just do some quick research of my own on that specific model/year and just make sure you're not buying a bike with 20k miles that has [insert whatever problem here] at 20k miles. So rather than approach it so broadly, narrow it down for yourself a little bit first. I personally ended up with an '06 FLHRCI and I'm planning on doing the same thing you are; buy the add-ons and make it look like whatever I want (that's what I like about the RK).

Good luck with the hunt. FWIW I also was looking for one that needed work. Instead of that, I found one with a salvage title that had already been worked on, and after multiple inspections that's the one I went with. Saved about $4k going that route, and haven't had a single problem. Just something else to consider if you're looking to save $$$ (just make sure you have someone that knows what they're looking at inspect it for you; obviously that's a slippery slope).

 

In 2009 HD changed their frames. I have an 2008 Ultra and a 2010 limited (we split our time on two different islands, too much trouble to ship each trip) the difference in the rides is nothing short of AMAZING (2010 wins stability, hands down). On the loading issue it is not a problem for us. I weigh about 275 myself...

 

I been looking at bikes on ebay, a place in new londow wisconsin has some nice bikes at what seems to be good prices. I been reading on here and really like the electra glide ultra classic with the quick detatch trunk option! I'm atleast a month away so i have plenty of time to research lol

 

My gut reaction after reading your post is, you want a Street Glide. I think if your going to get something else and try to make it into a Street Glide, then maybe you should just focus on trying to find a good deal on a Street Glide since that seems to be what you really want when it's all said and done.

 

Ok, this is just my opinion, nothing more.
Having owned a ton of Harley's if I were you ( course I'm not) but what it seams you want and what Harley makes is not the same...
First, I have a Street Glide, but I ride solo, the rear shocks are not the best on a SG for two up riding, especially your size ( I'm not small either, we're big boned)....the seat is lousy too.

If I were wanting what you seam to want I would buy the Ultra Classic.

Ultra, suspension is better, seat is better, tour box, CB, intercom, cruise all standard equipment. Plus you can get the detachable tour box mount and a slim seat and have the street glide look in short order....

I also would try and get a 09 or later due to the new frame and wide tire in rear...

Good luck with your search...

 

You can ride two up on any of the above bikes. In my opinion the Ultra would be the best at what your looking for,with the least mods needed. Good luck, let us know what you end up getting. JR

 

...first off welcome,..now about the bike, what is the budget?..you say you want used or salvaged...so say if the budget is 12-13K..that pretty much eliminates 09 and ups (newer frame)...if budget is over 15K you might find a 2009...as far as the type of tourer? If it's the Street Glide look you want....I would NOT get a Street Glide given your size and the..uh...wife's..how shall we say..."full figured glory"!..ya that's it...reason being...you put you-her-"trunk"-and gear on that bike, and you will WISH you had a lot more travel in the shocks...she will hate the ride...best bet for you is a low mileage 2002-2004 Ultra Classic...make the Tour-Pak detachable, better yet look for one already done...get a set of Progressive 440 HD shocks on it..and you will be a HAPPY-MAN!...good luck and happy new-year!

 

Only one real solution to this problem. Get one of each. Problem solved.

 

GVWR on my 2000 FLTRSEI is 1259 lbs. With fuel/oil it weighs in around 850 lbs. With the gear I always carry, ( tools, cleaning supplies, heavier clothing, etc) I'll add another 25 to 30 lbs.) So that leaves about 375 lbs for people and the gear they are wearing.

Touring frames across models are all the same, the Road King being lightest, increasing how much more you can put on the bike.

Newer frames, ( 09 and later,) give an additional 100 lbs GVWR but the bikes weigh 70 lbs more than the older ones, so net 30 lbs.

Just some numbers for your consideration.