Road King questions

Jakerson9

Jakerson9

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I sold my last motorcycle a few weeks ago. Of course, I've got to get another one.
The last Harley I had was 77 sportster 1000. It was a finicky, fickle beast that left me stranded many times. "OH, I'm sorry, you only have a one way pass to the blue ridge parkway, my carbs need you to hoof it back"
I heard about a 2004 HD Road King for sale. I believe it is well taken care of, and has 20 or 25k miles.

Can any of you with HD in your blood perhaps school me on why this may or may not be a great bike?
Thankd!
 
I've not owned one, but have ridden a few. I've had Sportsters, an Electraglide, and now a Dyna Superglide.

The reason that I LOVE the Road King is because it can easily look like 3 different bikes in a matter of minutes with the right
detachables.
I'll have one some day.
 
My dad had an 04 and actually wore first gear out on it before it was stolen in Myrtle. He has an ultra classic now.

Mostly normal Harley issues, parts are wildly expensive, opt for a mag wheel model to avoid spoke wheels, and some of them leak. They are really simple to work on and you can do mostly everything in your garage including clutch work if you have the tools. I think he had over 130k miles on that bike before it was stolen. He was in a club then so HARD miles riding in a pack 80mph to Florida quite often and he rode every single day unless it was snowing which on the coast is once every 4 years it seems. Iirc that bike is governed.
 
I forgot to mention I think Harley stopped doing drive by wire in 2007ish time frame? That 2004 is definitely drive by wire.

Snal~ said:
look like 3 different bikes in a matter of minutes with the right
detachables.
Click to expand...
That's the best part, you can put a full tour pack on it and get a detachable ferring for the front end. Or just buy the fiberglass ferring shell from a recked ultra classic and mount it to a windshield mount (what my dad did). You won't have some of the frills the higher trimmed full bagger bikes have but you can also strip it down in the summer.

I dont have a picture of it but the bike was totalled when I was younger insurance payout was actually more than he paid for the bike. We rebuilt it in the garage. Fiberglass work on the saddle bags are really easy and the crash bars honestly keep everything protected.
 
twin cam 88 is a good motor, 5 speed, definitely throttle cables

cam chain adjusters (if not already addressed) will need attending to. if its carbed then its a cv and they are simple to work on, if FI then its a decent system (id suggest going through the system though and replacing filters, sock, etc)

not much else to worry about, fluids, tires, ride it
 
I always liked the looks of the road king, but every time I sat on one it was the most uncomfortable bike I ever sat on. I think they were made for people with 20" inseams. It wasn't just 1 bike either, my buddy has a bike shop and I've ridden and sat on dozens of them, they were all the same.
 
I have a 2000 with 40k on it. No issues decent power, fuel injected, rides great. I do wish I had 6th gear sometimes.
 
I have an '06 with around 65K miles on it. Before that I rode a 97 Heritage Softail Classic.

I like the style of the Heritage Softails, but the ride is much better on the Road King. It's kinda a compromise between the retro '50's styling of the Heritage Softail but with a better rear suspension. Hands down, the Road King is better than the Softail on long road trips.

As Diablos mentioned above, about the only serious defect in the bike is the cam chain adjusters. Harley sells a retrofit kit that corrects the problem, but it's a couple of grand installed. Be careful - they offer two kits - one isn't much better than stock but it's cheaper than the good one (that is a lifetime fix).

If you're going to be doing a bunch of long trips, then look into an ultraglide. They are really nice on the road, but at a sacrifice of the styling of the road king.
 
I’ve got a 2006 Road King Classic. I love it but I ended up changing out the handlebars for some that were a little bit taller, the stock bars were too low and uncomfortable for me. I’ll be doing the cam chain tensioner upgrade this winter. Other than that I’ve been very happy with mine.
 
I'm a fan of Road Kings. As for how they fit, my experience is that Harely’s are built to fit people six inches shorter than me. Or more.

The good news is you can change everything about them to fit you. Seats, handlebars, shocks, windshields. I even have different foot board brakets and foot boards coming in today to increase my legroom further.
 
One thing I would do if you are looking at a twenty year old bike, check with the local HD dealer to see if they will work on it. A lot of the mom 'n pop dealers have sold out to larger corporate interests and many won’t work on bikes much over ten years old. Even one of the best indy dyno shops near me won’t work on “older” bikes.

Unless of course you plan to wrench on it yourself, in which case I’d say find an HD factory service manual to go with the bike and off you go.
 
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Finally got started riding street bikes, and my first is 03 Road King. The cam tensioner problem is no joke, I recommend having that checked. That being said, I haven't had near the issues in mountains as many claimed it would for being carbed bike. But, I guess that's just some blue ridge parkway & back of the dragon riding, with camping gear mind ya.
My biggest issue on it has more been finding someone willing fix it.
As for comforts, mine came modded & it fits fine. Just want some highway pegs for my 10+ hrs riding days, lol
Mind ya, I'm just 6' with 32" inseam
 
I ran across another bike...totally wasn't what I wanted, but it checked alot of boxes so I got it.
Easy to maneuver, manageable power, capable of different riding styles, lots of aftermarket, should be reliable, and it probably won't attract too many tickets. It has 2022 and 2023 tires, 18k miles and documented maintenance.
Not a Road King, this time.

369909390_3238179772995485_7384182635220789671_n.jpg
 
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