09-18-2020, 08:18 AM
We went to pick her up about 40 minutes NE of my house. Got to the seller, checked the tires and pressures, BS'd for 5 min then donned my gear.
2007 Road King Custom, 13806 on the clock, very good condition.
Fired right up. I'm glad I don't have any fillings or I wouldn't anymore. At idle it's a paint shaker, seriously. With just a hair of throttle it smoothes out so you can see what behind you in the mirrors and going down the road the vibes aren't anything more than I expected but of course it could never be considered smooth. It has aftermarket slip-ons but is not stupid loud and has a good tone. My Bonneville may be louder. I looked around the cockpit to familiarize myself with the controls. Everything seemed reasonable after I figured out the left and right turn signals were by their respective grips. Fit and finish are nice but I honestly expected a little better.
We hit the road back to the 'Boro with a mix of roads and highways. I was following behind my friend in his car because I didn't know the route so I was only able to do the speed he was. Around town it's a laboring beast a lot to get used to for me. When pulling up to stop signs and the shaking kicks in again it's unsettling as it's hard to come to a even straight stop.
On the highway it shines. When able to get up to 6th gear (70-75) it settles in quite nicely and I can see the one positive I took away from this giant machine. I was only at these speeds for 12-15 minutes but I could have gone to the coast happily. I have never been on a better suited bike to just sit and cruise. It was effortless.
When it comes to the engine it's not so glowing. I was expecting stump pulling torque from this 1573cc V-twin. I mean, that's their claim to fame right? "No horsepower numbers but that doesn't matter because the torque is amazing!" That's what I always heard about their big motors. Gotta say disappointing. Acceleration was not exciting and there is no top end that I noticed. I really thought I was going to roll on throttle in say 3rd gear and enjoy it. Nope. Perhaps a Harley engineer took a note from Honda's book and detuned the massive engine for style.
The brakes were fine. No issues there. Maybe I just never got going fast enough to really check them out.
Overall there are a few items that I didn't like about his aftermarket choices like the metal hand grips. Just silly if you are wearing gloves as you really have no grip. And the windshield was right in my line of vision. I had to stretch to see over it and crouch to see through it. My buddy is shorter so he may not have a problem with this. These are also just ergonomic/finish choices that can be addressed.
I know my friend is over the moon to have it and we can tailor it to him. He is a very sedate rider and the cruiser will suite him fine. He is the one that needs to be happy with it, not me. So I wish him many happy miles.
I'll stick with standards thank you very much.
2007 Road King Custom, 13806 on the clock, very good condition.
Fired right up. I'm glad I don't have any fillings or I wouldn't anymore. At idle it's a paint shaker, seriously. With just a hair of throttle it smoothes out so you can see what behind you in the mirrors and going down the road the vibes aren't anything more than I expected but of course it could never be considered smooth. It has aftermarket slip-ons but is not stupid loud and has a good tone. My Bonneville may be louder. I looked around the cockpit to familiarize myself with the controls. Everything seemed reasonable after I figured out the left and right turn signals were by their respective grips. Fit and finish are nice but I honestly expected a little better.
We hit the road back to the 'Boro with a mix of roads and highways. I was following behind my friend in his car because I didn't know the route so I was only able to do the speed he was. Around town it's a laboring beast a lot to get used to for me. When pulling up to stop signs and the shaking kicks in again it's unsettling as it's hard to come to a even straight stop.
On the highway it shines. When able to get up to 6th gear (70-75) it settles in quite nicely and I can see the one positive I took away from this giant machine. I was only at these speeds for 12-15 minutes but I could have gone to the coast happily. I have never been on a better suited bike to just sit and cruise. It was effortless.
When it comes to the engine it's not so glowing. I was expecting stump pulling torque from this 1573cc V-twin. I mean, that's their claim to fame right? "No horsepower numbers but that doesn't matter because the torque is amazing!" That's what I always heard about their big motors. Gotta say disappointing. Acceleration was not exciting and there is no top end that I noticed. I really thought I was going to roll on throttle in say 3rd gear and enjoy it. Nope. Perhaps a Harley engineer took a note from Honda's book and detuned the massive engine for style.
The brakes were fine. No issues there. Maybe I just never got going fast enough to really check them out.
Overall there are a few items that I didn't like about his aftermarket choices like the metal hand grips. Just silly if you are wearing gloves as you really have no grip. And the windshield was right in my line of vision. I had to stretch to see over it and crouch to see through it. My buddy is shorter so he may not have a problem with this. These are also just ergonomic/finish choices that can be addressed.
I know my friend is over the moon to have it and we can tailor it to him. He is a very sedate rider and the cruiser will suite him fine. He is the one that needs to be happy with it, not me. So I wish him many happy miles.
I'll stick with standards thank you very much.