Bike of Choice for the Tall Man 6'4...?
 

HI,

My partner is very tall and lean, standing 6'4. He is very experienced motorcycle rider and is now looking into getting himself a Harley. The difficulty and uncertainly is his height. He really likes the Street Glide, but I brought myself one home recently, and when he rode it, he sure felt cramped. He had put a deposit down on one, and cancelled the sale as he just isn't sure he can make it work for his frame. He didn't really want to get into a full bagger, but he is looking now. He prefers the Electra Glide over the Road Glide, mostly based on the nose of the Road Glide (not fond of the shark nose). We have heard the Road Glide is most suited to the tall framed man. We are disappointed, as My Man wanted a street glide and loves the look of this bike. However, that being said, he would need to get a tour pack anyways for our little 8 year old girl.

Are there any tall men out there riding street glides and any thoughts relative to the comfort and style of electra glide versus road glide for the tall man? And of course, recommended modifications? Thank you all in advance.

i am 6'4 also i have a street glide all i did was get the floorboard extensions, and crash bar pegsand i feel fine i also put on the Paul yaffe bagger handle bars to give me more of a stretch in my arms but besides that iam fine on it road from FLto Tenn. and back 3000 miles round trip and had no problems..

all the tourning bikes are pretty much the same frame so i dont no if theres a difference in bikes

i am 6' 4'' and have long arms and i also felt very cramped on my sg, i bought a badlander seat and it set me back cpl inches and lowered me about the same. made a good differnce, i recentley added 14'' wild1's bars and now its a huge diffferance and now im very comfortable on the bike for my size, also having pegs on the crash bars helps out so you can stretch your legs out

I have forwarded your responses to My Man's iPhone. He will be very pleased to know that men of tall stature have been able to modify their SG and enjoy their ride. Its an expensive purchase to find out it won't work. Its a relief to find that it can and does work with the correct modifications.

Street glide has the lowest seat to fairing height ratio as well as leg room with highway pegs, then put a correctly sized windshield on there.

If your friend is on a budget go with an 2000 or so road king, buy an aftermarket fairing with adjustable height like the Dead center fairing or the dragon fly.

I can help with that when the time comes. I have helped Jazz basket ball players get the wind off of them.

I'm 6-2". When I bought my Roadglide I thought that I truely wanted a Streetglide. They are nice looking bikes. I tried both Streetglide and at the dealers recommendation I tried a Roadglide. The Roadglide seemed much larger, maybe it is just that the faring is farther away. Anyway I bought the Roadglide and have been glad that I made that choice. Around East Tennessee there is a Streetglide on every corner and the Roadie lets me maintain some uniqueness. ie. there is plenty of leg room and almost too much arm room.

I am 6,9 and ride a road glide. His problem is on the 08+ they added a 6 gallon tank and you became very intimate with the tank. First thing you do get a tall boy seat. Dealer should let him slap one on your bike for a test ride. Also extended the shift peps (kuryakan $50 each) You also will need to get a extended brake pedal from Kuryakan that lowers it a lil. Highway pegs are must. Also you have to move floor boards out and forward and inch. Harley goodies sells these for a about $50. And he may need the mirror extensions. These are all the things I did and I have plenty of room

This is about $600 to do it all.

Maybe what he needs is to ask any friends who have Apes installed on their touring models and that way he can feel the difference. I'm 6'4 and love my Sg. As with your prior issues you should know each bike can be tailored to the rider all the frames are the same.

Not unreasonably, H-D configures most of their bikes to hit the "sweet spot" of rider dimensions for the masses. Those of us with dimensions toward the outer edges of the bell curve have to spend the extra bux to adjust things for best fit. You asked a very reasonable question, and I think any of the standard baggers will fit your partner equally well as a starting point - and probably better than other H-D frames. The "street" versions and CVO models depart from the standard configuration to shift a bit more toward the "custom" look, including ride height and bars.

You can do a lot to the stock seat to make it better for a larger-framed person. Check out a local upholstery shop, and they'll likely be able to modify the stock seat to move seating position back for a reasonable price. I went a more expensive route with a custom seat guy here in the PNW (see sig), and am VERY pleased with the result - all based off the stock seat/pan. If you'd prefer an off the rack solution, do a search here on the Forum and you'll find many great ideas, first-hand feedback on various seat options.

The frames of the touring bikes are all the same. The Street Glide is 1" lower to the ground, but the distance from the seat to the floorboards is the same on any touring bike that is set up identically. Since you ride with your feet on the floorboards (or highway pegs) and not the ground, it really doesn't matter which bike you buy.
With that said, the Road Glide has the fairing mounted further out, giving the illusion of more room.
The other problem big guys have with the Street Glide is the shocks. Since they sit lower, the shocks have less travel, which can be problematic with heavier guys. Especially with fully loaded bikes and passengers. But aftermarket shocks can solve that problem.
Bottom line: get the bike he wants, and set it up correctly.