The Harley Davidson Road King is one of the most elegant, stylish and archetypical Harley Davidson motorcycles ever produced and forever etched in HD's rich history of motorcycle designs. The Road King is the personification of a Harley Davidson icon. Road King stands supreme and has no equal. Those select riders who own one are indeed privileged.
A bike like this is purely an emotional purchase. It checks all the boxes without giving you much in terms of convenience. It’s what makes it special. Most riders love it and want it but shy away. Then when you see it out in the road you get all envious
@@IronBornRider I understood that the prices of motorbikes are designated differently from those of cars. The prices of the motorbikes are proportionate first of all to the displacement and the technology and quality of the engine and frame, all the rest of the accessories have a minor influence on the price.
I am one of those who doesn’t want to be married to a fairing so I got a RKS in ‘22. But I’ll give you that with the new SG and RG and all you can get for just a couple K more, you really have to like the stripped down style to justify the RK over those. I do think if they don’t lower the price or offer nice upgrade packages or financing, they will have a lot of these sitting in the stores for a long time.
RKS is Harley’s best bagger in my opinion. I have a 2021 RKS and love it. Not a fan of the big old fairings up front. Only thing I didn’t like was the handle bars felt uncomfortable so put on 16” apes and improved it a 100%.
It is a bloody fantastic bike, especially for two up. I rode it, loved it, but ultimately I went with a Sport Glide. Why? The Sport Glide is a little lighter, still stripped down and a better fit for me as I ride solo and never carry a pillion passenger. My sport glide with a Memphis shades El Paso screen looks like a little brother to a RKS. But I do absolutely love the simplicity and heritage of a RK.
I picked up my billiard gray last month. its so smooth. I added all thrashin floor controls. I'm gonna eventually do an s & S 128 big bore kit, when out of warrantee. Negatives... seat(long rides), bars and suspension. Its such an classic looking harley. I love it!
Personally I think the road king is the Bagger for the dyna bros... Properly stripped down. Super capable and throw a road warrior and t bars on it then theyre some evil canyon carvers and highway mile crushers. I wish they came in cheaper though.
Great bikes. Dude 11 minutes of you riding around telling us what you like and dislike. Try showing us the bike and going over the bike and details. Give some views of the stance and overall look of what you got going down the road.
I personally don't like the looks of the special over the standard. I get why they cut one. I am sure it helps the bottom line but they still lost some buyers, how many? I honestly don't know but I doubt I'd get a special.
@@pin75us1 it’s like the heritage classics big brother. The heritage is lighter and so it’s easier to maneuver at slow speeds and has a better weight to hp/tq ratio. But the RK is much more comfortable and feels smoother.
@@pin75us1If you’ve narrowed it to those two, I’d say if you want a bit less weight and don’t want to pay quite as much, maybe a bit better handling and for sure little bit better power/weight ratio, the heritage is it. The King will probably feel a bit more planted with that extra weight and it is smooth as butter out on the road! Both great Swiss Army knife bikes! Can easily cross the country with either.
I have a 22 RKS and love it! I don’t want to be married to a bulky fairing and a lot of stuff blocking my view. One of the best looking but underappreciated models. It’s the 30th Anniversary of the model and not a peep about it yet. With the updated SG and RG it is hard to justify the RK unless you get a hell of a perks package like a few grand in upgrades. Unfortunately a lot of these will end up sitting for a long time.
Yeah it’s hard to justify going rk considering the price. You really have to love the rk to buy one, but you can also find some pretty good used deals too on the rk
Woof..... $26k for this??? Gorgeous and comfy for sure (I used to own an RG Limited). BMW R1250RT, R1300GS, s1000 XR.... all the same or less (or more) depending on extras. All have more power, more tech, far better brakes/suspension, far better power/weight ratio, better wind protection, and same (or better depending on options) utility. I truly don't understand HD's thinking here. At most, that RG should be sitting pretty at $18k base.
You can definitely find better value through other brands, but Harley knows that their customers are willing to pay for their brand. They’re pushing it to the limit though lol
I thought the same. I have a Bmw s1000rr, Ktm 1290 sar, 2021 Vespa 300 Gts. All are great bikes. The s1000rr a bullet Fast, smooth but not a touring bike. Bought the Ktm Adventure R, great bike but not a touring bike. Now the Vespa, and everyone laughs. But it is an awesome city machine. A lot faster than you think. Light to light, even top end. Mine will do 87 mph on gps. Now for my new ride. A 2021 Road King Special. Until you have ridden in a car from the 1970’s. You won’t get it. The Road King is Big, Heavy and floats on the road. It “Moves the Wind”. Not the other way around. When you buy a Harley, you buy Paint and Steel. You buy Heritage, you buy old school technology. That’s been around more than 120 years. With the Road King you feel the wind and hear the Engine. It lives like you do. It breathes air, needs fuel to go forward. It exhaust. This will be lost with Electric Vehicles. It’s called a Road King for a reason. If you wanna understand it. Goto a Harley Dealer and test ride one. Yeah they cost lots. But you are buying into a brand. Same like a Bmw. You can get a Honda, but it’s not a Harley. A Harley is not a Honda. There is No “One bike” that can do it all. That’s why I have owned so many.😂
I rode this at the Harley demo day as well. First Road King I’ve ridden. Dare I say it’s TOO smooth? lol it was comfy and would love it on a road trip, but I liked how the Lowrider ST felt a little more. Wish I had the Lowrider vibrations on the Road King. That would be perfection.
I hear you, it didn’t have the same rowdiness that the lowrider st or breakout has. I think next year they may put the new 117 engine in the roadking which could fix that.
Road king Road king special well it has a nice speedometer and you know how to ride a motorcycle. What’s the point of this video? 🤔 Is this supposed to be a review or did you accidentally post the wrong video and this video was meant for your wife and kids so they can see you riding motorcycle I’m confused brother.
I'm waiting for the more basic, standard Road Kings to ride. I hope Harley brings back the RK Standard and the Classic Models. Was disappointed to find out there is only one RK variant.
You can probably still buy a Police or Fire dept Road King which are stripped down models...some dealers will sell them to the public if they've had the bike on the floor unsold for 6 months...or something like that.
What phone mount you using there? Road King Special isn’t the best for blasting the interstate all day but perfect for the roads in this video. It’s got classic lines and old school cool that will look as good in 10 years as it does now. All the bikes with screens instead of gauges age like cell phones.
I didn’t have a phone mount on the bike, I think you might be seeing a sticker on the windshield. Agreed that the roadking needs a bit of modification (windshield) for longer rides. Thanks!
The M8 114 engine touring is different from the cruiser bikes. One is hard mounted with 2 counter balances, and the other is rubber mounted with 1 counter balance.
Rubber mounted engine makes it smoother, steeper rake/trail = more maneuverable, extra weight on the highway = stability. That said people say the touring frame bikes are way oversprung for one rider weighing less than 160 lbs. so if your riding on bad pavement it will be harsher than the new softail.
I love my '23 RKS except for the stock bars. The grip angle is way too far forward. My 2021 Road King Standard was a much better bike. Really sorry to see H-D drop the Standard. Also, no USB port😡
I have a road king and an ultra limited as my main rides. I mostly use the ultra on long rides, but I love riding my road king the most. I am a lot more comfortable on it
'Life Begins When You Get One".... I Own a 2023 RKS. Need to change: SE StreetCanon's, Diag4Bike tune, 14'Apes with Kahuna heated grips! Mustang seat (original is too low for 6'2! ) And indeed a Freedomshield.....Rides like a dream and much more emotion then a fairingbagger model... I think you normally rides a sportsbike, as I look at you riding style😅😅. tanks for the enthusiast review anyway🤘
I could be wrong but it felt like the sdh had a lower center of gravity when it’s parked or during slow maneuvers. But get both bikes moving and the RK is seriously so well balanced I didn’t feel like I was riding a bagger. The SDH felt beefier and more planted though. It’d be a really hard decision between the two but the aftermarket availability would put the RK on top by a hair.
I dont understand why it's almost same price as street glide and road glide when ypu lose a ton with the fairing. Only $1k cheaper!? I want a RK Special so bad but the price is just too much at $25k before all the fees taxes etc. Also the fact that they couldn't just put the 1 small feature of a usb port that would make the bike feel more complete is mind boggling to me. For $25k they couldn't put a usb port on it!? Really!? That urks me so bad even though it's an easy add on but I domt wanna have a sloppy add on, I want it built into the bike!! Im getting ome but I do t feel good about what im gonna pay for it but im a sucker for this bike.
This exactly! I really like the roadking but the price doesnt make any sense when compared to the new rg and sg. It’s like they almost want you to buy the rg/sg over the rk. Not adding a usb port is criminal. A touring bike but no easy way to charge your phone?!
I actually decided I'm going with the 2024 Breakout 117. I couldn't get over the pricing and insult of no usb port on RKS. You're right, Harley doesn't want to sell the RKS, they wanna sell the glides! No dealership within 150 mile radius of me carries a single RKS but they all carry 10+ glides in stock so that made it even more obvious. Breakout has all the features I want plus a dang usb port and is cheaper but still is expensive but everything is right now and hopefully that changes next year with different leadership in America cuz ive been had enough of this bs.
@@Nucklehead-mm9gf I almost think they are going to just cancel the Road King. Sad, but everything is about having a king of the baggers wannabe so that’s whether they’re pushing. That breakout will be great if pretty much all you do is around town stuff and light commuting, enjoy it! I am thinking of getting an aftermarket USB port for my RKS. Have to take the tank off which is more time consuming than difficult. It is irritating, that being something I should not have to do to this bike.
@@mickeygaines007 yeah it seems to be trending that way and Road King is Harleys most recognized bike even people who don't ride know a Road King. Hope they don't drop it from the lineup cuz I personally love that bike. As for the Breakout I'll be doing mostly local and work commutes but do wanna take a road trip every year but probably nothing super far and mainly within 300 miles of home. Probably coast of Rhode Island or somewhere not too far.
Guess I'm really stuck in the past - think 70s - but "smooth ride" is an oxymoron - and put-off - for me when it comes to motorcycle ridin'. Maybe that's why I'm stickin' with my ol' sportster 1200 to this day . . . though thinkin' of getting me a twin cam Fatboy : )
@@IronBornRiderheritage is a little lighter and maybe a bit lower, so might be more ideal for smaller riders. If you want a bike capable of crossing the country but don’t want quite a much weight and for a better price to what you get ratio, that’s probably who will want the heritage if shopping against the King. 👑 RK will feel a bit more planted because of that weight. Both very much “Swiss army knife” Harley’s!
