I'm getting dangerously close to checking out

nice bike but arent Gold Wings better.

 

Cool looking bike - I like my 2006 RoadKing - 64,000 miles and have been in 18 States with it. I actually just started to look again - might be time to get a new one - thinking 2024 RoadGlide Special with factory Harley motor work and a nice paint job. As I have more free time, a new and nice touring bike would be a nice addition to the garage.

Good for it !!!

MDS

 

that thing weighs 849 lbs without a rider.

Watcha gonna do if you dump it, and eventually you will, because everyone does.

Or, some dooche comes along and tips it over while parked.

How about a nice boat instead. Safer, same concept of a cruise to nowhere, and you can get a half dozen, or more, bikini clad women on a boat with you.

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D

 

People pick them up by themselves all the time. It is a matter of knowing how.
I have been riding Harley dressers for close to 20 years and have had to pick mine up precisely twice. Of all the reasons not to ride one, sorry but thats a ridiculous one.

These guys know how to pick up a motorcycle.

 

Depends on perspective. I know a lot of life long riders who have sworn them off. Never asked why, didn't care. A number of those went to Harley and never looked back. There are a lot of great touring bikes. Never considered Gold Wing one. I have ridden all over North America and almost never see a Gold Wing out in the sticks.

 

For whatever reason you have hated Harleys for years. I'll bet you 10 pictures of Ben Franklin owning one, no matter how good or bad will not change that.

 

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They are a great motorcycle. I cannot imagine touring on anything else. If you have an open mind about it you may love it. They really shine when you spend all day in the seat. I commute on mine every day I can. I like all kinds of motorcycles but at this point in my life I have little want to ride anything else.

 

What ya go now ?

Agreed. I'd like to ride one once for the hell of it. When I've done my cross country trips over the past twenty years, Harley Davidsons sure seem to dominate when you pull into hotels and gas stations. Plus, when you pull into a dealer, they sure have seemed willing to help when I was out of State - both times were bad batteries.

MDS

 

Some people are just not Harley people and I think you are one. I may be wrong. I had a Sportster too and once I was really acclimated to the Dressers the Sportster just felt odd. I jumped off one and went on an errand one day on the Sportser. When I got back I sat down and put it up on BAT and sold it. Never regretted it. I guess I grew out of it. The Sportster to me was what a Bonneville is to you. I ride all sorts of stuff and like all kinds of motorcycles but only really want to get on a Harley dresser when it comes time to ride for the fun of it. I still commute on it a few times a week. Makes driving to work something to look forward to.
I do still think a Multistrada would be pretty cool but I don't have enough miles left in me to justify the price tag.

 

I have had need twice while on a trip to get the scooter fixed and the dealer in each case dropped everything to help get me back on the road. Once I was going to St Louis for a meeting. Stopped out in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. They picked me up 20 miles away. Arranged a rental car for me and fixed the scooter while I was gone. Drove back when I was done, picked it up and rode back home.

 

You could be in this picture.
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Interesting timing on this thread. I just finished a 4 day eastern Oregon ride with a group of friends. There were a variety of bikes-- a couple of GSs, I was on my Triumph Tiger 800, my good friend had his Triumph Scrambler 1200, and one guy had a Harley Road King.

The guy with the Road King was interested in trying an adventure bike, so we swapped and I tried the Road King for about an hour. When I started out, I hated it. It seemed super heavy, the controls all required a lot of force, you really had to push on the bars to get it to turn at all, and my feet were always in the wrong place (I never touched the rear brake pedal). The shifter took a lot of force and clunked from gear to gear... but that said, I finally looked down at the speedometer and I was doing 90! And it felt just fine.

Over the hour, I really started to get comfortable with the bike. I can't say I would want to own one, and I was glad to get back on the Tiger, but it was starting to grow on me.

Oh, and the Harley guy definitely wants an adventure bike... a GS or a Tiger or maybe a PanAmerica. He said he is keeping the Harley because he likes it with a passenger (which I can understand), but he seemed to prefer the adventure bike overall. And, that has been my experience-- Harley guys I have ridden with often move over to a GS or Tiger or something like that, but I have NEVER (just in my experience) seen a GS/Tiger guy move over to a Harley.

Dale, don't do it. The bike you want is a Triumph Scrambler 1200.

 

Get the orange one when you order it

MDS

 

To me its horses for courses.
I wouldn't take a vette in a tight mountain road, or an elsie across country, although either could do it.

Freind had a goldwing. Before I rode it thought it was an "old mans" bike. Then I rode it, beautiful balance great handing, great brakes, for the road all you would need in terms of balance and handling, yet the seat was all day comfy.
My Critique was that above 6k rpm right where youd expect another motor to get on cam, it just went flat, almost liek they had purposefully crippled that beautiful turbine smooth motor. Maybe variable cams is what it needed. This was 10 years ago so maybe the bikes have changed.

Harleys, thats a big piston pre war bently steam train kinda thing, which if youre into it is awesome, and yeah they can be repaired on the road. in theory a beemer of goldwing should not need the repair.

Right now if you had to have one bike that covered evry base(except off road) the new diaval for a price does a great job.

 

And ….. what happened ? You pulling the trigger or what ?

MDS

 

Those new colors are awful.

A friendly dealer will order a police Road King for you. No MSRP, it’s negotiable, so be sure to choose a friendly dealer.

I recently got a Forty Eight. It’s fun, but it makes me want a bigger HD too.

Matt

 

I think the orange looks ok - Harley could do better with their colors.

MDS