So, Tell Me About Your Road King...

Wondering here, what tires are most of you guys running? I currently have the Dunlop E3's, either Kentucky roads are slippery or the tires suck in the rain.

Did a few accidental burnouts that shouldn't have happened. One was a second gear rolling burnout at 3/4 throttle with a passenger and camping gear, another was solo in third at about half throttle. Both times my friend was in front of me on his dyna pulling away. Stock 103" motor on both bikes.

Maybe the roads are just crap there? I ride pretty conservative, especially in rain, but I'd still like to know my tires are at least up for hard braking. Might go back to stock tires for the next swap, I dont know.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I had Dunflops on a '92 FLHS and they were terrifying on any wet surface. I've never bought any of their tires since but I have read very favorable reports about their new tires offered on the touring bikes.

As for roads here in Kentucky they vary from place to place and depend a lot on when they were first constructed as the substrate on older, rural roads were not built to carry the loads and number of vehicles that now run them. And a lot of problems in the mountains are due to bad drainage, especially where the rock strata drains water in a particular direction which just might be where an original road was built. Those sections are rebuilt every 3-5 years, often in two or three days with huge rubber liners to help channel the water. The worst problems are where the coal trucks carry. I don't recall the load limits but they are higher than anywhere else in the country. But I still have witnessed close associates of one of my neighbors handing suspicious envelopes to an enforcement officer, early one Sunday morning in a sort of private place. My neighbor owned about 100 heavy trucks and had paid mercenaries to flush the woods of people who threatened to shoot his drivers as they hauled from a union mine that was on strike. Back to the haul roads, once the hauling is done from a mine site the road is repaired and resurfaced with the bond money the mining company has to post just for that reason. We do have some very nice roads, if you know where to find them and where to avoid the dust, mud, oil slicks and trucks. But your biggest problem is your tires. Maybe Michelin? I've got them on an ST and I do some nice drifting through turns where the asphalt is slick from heavy truck wear. Fun.

I switched to Michelin Commanders on my 2000 RK when the original rear Dunlop wore out. That was 75K miles ago and I've run nothing else. About to have a Commander 2 rear put on.
I've ridden in some Biblical rainstorms and always been happy with the tires.

Well I messed up and went to California Harley today. Sat on the Road King then the Dyna Switchback. It's definitely the Switchback for me. Feels just like a motorcycle should and even though the bags are smaller, I can strap a soft bag to the seat and carry enough crap.

Now, how to tell my buddies I'm getting a Harley. Lol

I'm going to take a loan on the 401k now ' cause life's too short not to, right?

One thing I have to say. I went to several different motorcycle shops Looking around out of boredom, mostly Japanese bike dealers. None even walked up to say hi. California Harley was great. I told them I wasn't buying today and they helped anyhow. Good people there!

I like the switchback, good choice I think. If it was available when I bought my road king in 2008 I may have ended up with one.

I've heard they ride rougher and are short on suspension travel, but I could be mistaken.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

Been reading about the suspension. Most say it's fine except for really rough roads. The 100 pounds less is what sold me. You can feel the difference just sitting on them.

you can always put longer, aftermarket shocks on it to raise the rear suspension travel from 2 inches to 3" or even 4". That's what I'd do if I bought one.

Does the Switchback use the same type of air over shocks that the RoadKing uses? If so, some judicious experimentation with shock oils and air pressures can go a long ways to making that short suspension work pretty darn well on rough roads. My lowered RK does surprisingly well on dirt and gravel roads with the lowered SG shocks, after some twiddling.

Getting back to the Road King, I installed Heritage Bars today, and they are friggin awesome....

It does. I'll check that out, once I get the bike.

Nope.
Regular old shocks.
Decent tho.
first bike in forever that changing out the shocks wasn't the first thing I did.

I end up riding gravel a shit ton these days too,
switchback handles fine.

And you know what?
Probably the most comfortable stock seat I ever had.

Switchback, out the box.
who knew?

Yep. I picked up a set cheap at a swap meet and installed them on mine. No problem with the cables, only a little tweaking of the hard brake line from the master cylinder.

They are not what I would have picked if I had played with various ones, but I've quite happy with them. I can ride all day long without pain or discomfort. I wouldn't be able to lean back into a backrest with them, but I don't need or want a backrest with them. Good width and angles to let me wrestle the bike quite readily on gravel and such. Tall enough to let me stand up comfortably on the floorboards.

Well I had a problem with the starter engaging while riding, narrowed it to what I think is the start button. Only engaged while the clutch was pulled in so shouldn't be the relay I hope. Intermittent problem so I hope I'm right. If anyone ever decides to change their start button it is more of a project than it sounds.



Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I have the new harley soft lowers on mine they can be used in any temp unlike the old style. They really take the pressure off at high speeds and come off in about 30 seconds when you hit your destination.

Any idea how they are different from the old style soft lowers? The picture makes them look quite similar.

They. Attached a little different making them angle towards the motor to direct the air flow. I have a power vision that allows me connect to the ecu and watch different things like engine temperature. I did a test one day in 80 degree weather rode with the lowers on for 30 minutes then off for 30 minutes. The temp was nearly the same a few degrees lower with the lowers on. Now you will feel more heat due to the change in air flow but the engine temp was the same.

I like them, I'm putting it on my wish list. I need to source a stock crash bar first though. Have the 'mustache' bar now the previous owner installed and no stocker. Might just try to post a trade only ad on craigslist or something.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I've always liked the Road King. I'm thinking of picking up a clean police model. How do these compare to the "glide" bikes with a fairing? Are they better or worse on the highway or around town?

They're basically the same bike except for fairings.

The road king has the least wind protection, obviously, and it's very noticeable. I have a detachable fairing on mine that turns it more into a street glide type bike. The batwing fairing makes the air pocket wider, and keeps the wind off your hands and arms more.

Lowers help keep wind off your legs, and help with cold a lot because the wind kind of follows your legs up and gets your chest more. I'm planning soon on trying some wind deflectors and soft lowers to help with that. Look up a few posts, RKC has the set-up I want to go with. I pm'd him about it a few days ago, he advised me that the deflectors help a lot with buffetting also.

The tour pack is just unneeded weight IMO. I have one I bought from craigslist to try out, I had it on for a summer then took it back off. It's roughly the same weight empty as my t-bag is full. Felt like I was hauling around camping gear all of the time. I might add the detachable hardware one day so I can put it on and off easier, it would be nice to be able to throw it on for riding to work or grocery shopping. Doubt I'd ever use it on a trip though due to the weight.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

I have the deflectors on my RKC and it makes a big difference. I usually ride without the windshield and still have little buffeting from below. Also added the tiny shield between the fork tubes and tank....seems to help.