Ok here's a good one to contemplate. I of course have a road king with bags and a windshield. A Heritage also has bags and a windshield and is roughly the same sized bike (I believe). So why isn't the Heritage classified as a "touring" bike? What makes it not? Just curious to see what's said.

 

it is classified as a softtail as that is what it has. people tour on them just like they do sportys and dynas.

 

It is a soft tail and has a different frame and engine

 

HHmmm. I guess it depends on the way it's looked at. I say yes you can tour on it just as well as my King. So why not a "touring" bike. But then again I do know it's a soft tail so the frame'll be different as well. But the Heritage does come with the 103 just like my King. Engine's the same. Don't mind me, I just thought it interesting how it didn't fall into the "touring" family even though it's perfectly capable. Another thought is just what MT says, I suppose you can "tour" with pretty much any of the models if it's equipped right. But there has to be a distinction somewhere though. Eehhh like I said, just interesting to see what others thought and get the ole brain cookin on something. Keep the comments comin.

 

You are missing the point... A "Touring" Harley isn't about what it can 'do'... it IS about what engine and frame it has. The Heritage does NOT have the Harley 'Touring' frame... so it is NOT a member of the 'touring' family. Also... that 103 in the King is a totally different engine than the 103 is a Heritage. The King has an ALPHA engine, and the Heritage has the BETA engine. The "A" motor is rubber mounted. The "B" motor is soild mounted and has internal rotating shafts for balancing.

The three big twin models are Touring... Softail... Dyna. These are based upon which FRAME is in the bike and has NOTHING to do with what YOU think it should be based upon capabilities.

 

Let's take it one step further! I would suggest that if you haven't taken your Road King on a trip anywhere that you in fact don't own a touring bike. In fact, it could be classified as a local scoot! And in fact, I know someone who owns an old Vespa scooter who has traveled through out all of the US and a chunk of Europe with it. I would classify his scooter as a tourer.

 

I TOURED coast to coast, sturgis 13 times , gulf to cannada and a lot more about 160,000 miles worth on my 76 FXE SuperGlide

 

See now this is good stuff. (But all replies are welcomed. I'm just realizing this is what I was after.) Don't get me wrong here at all. I'm a complete noob about all of this and was just voicing opinion and question. I'm glad you posted this cause these are technical reasons for classifying the bikes where they belong. (Stuff I don't know about). I'll admit it. I knew the frames would have differences, but I didn't realize the differences in the 103 engines. I thought a 103 was a 103. I guess you can say I have the need to learn is why I posted originally. Thanks for this one.

 

This is what I was told by my dealer..... so it's most likely wrong


FL = big block heavyweight (has floorboards)

FX = big block sport cruiser (has footpegs)

XL = sporties

 

The difference in the a and b engines both being 103's is touring is rubber mounted. When you look at a road king sitting at idle, everything is vibrating. When you look at a soft tail 103 sitting at idle, nothing is moving, no vibration. At speed, the touring models really smooth out and the soft tail models will vibrate a little more. Both can still be ridden coast to coast. And again, yall correct me if I'm wrong. You cannot put a soft tail engine on a touring frame and vice versa.