After a month of Road King ownership, I'm still settling in. I like it. A lot. It's powerful and handles well enough for what I want to do at this time. I have spent years getting ready to make this transition and am very, very happy to have this bike. Now, I have to learn how to use it, and get the most from it. I have learned where I am in the rev range by feel now in most gears. I have also learned how far I can lean by scraping both floorboards a few times. Answer here is: not as far as I would like, and far less than I am used to.
I wish the brakes were 10 times better, and by that I mean more responsive, but I will be looking into that. Hey -- did you know that motorcycles have a rear brake? Seriously! I'm not kidding, turns out they do. And while this bike has 2 front disc rotors, they seem to be mostly for show; you can't actually stop this motorcycle quickly using them. I ride covering the front brake with my index finger, and they are good for scrubbing speed, but if you really want to stop a 900lb Harley in a hurry, you MUST use the rear brake in conjunction with the front brake, while downshifting of course. After 30 years of nearly all of my braking being completed by my right index finger, to the point I have lifted the rear wheel off the ground more times than I can count under severe braking, a handful of front brakes can't stop this bike anywhere less than an airport runway. And THAT was an important lesson for me to learn early.
I have heard in person, and read a lot from Harley riders who have the impression that the front brakes will kill you, and you should avoid them, and there is something to this if you are riding a H-D at say 15mph or less. Then, using the front brake without care while turning can tuck the front end and make bad things happen. I believe that is due to the frame geometry and weight distribution under braking, but could be wrong. Police motor officer training PREACHES nearly dragging the rear brake to perform slow-speed maneuvers, while applying power and controlling the clutch friction zone, and I've seen enough videos from current and ex motor officers to believe them 100%. They can suspend the laws of physics and make these bikes do insane things and perhaps next year after some ride time, I will join friends of mine and start to practice these techniques. After I install the Drop Guards... Meanwhile, I constantly practice using the rear brake.
So brakes could be on my future upgrade list. Along with lighting. This bike has the old-school lights. HD sells other models with some LEDs at this point, but I'm not aware of many with full LED lighting. Huge aftermarket for that also and for good reason. It's not so much to see at night, as much as to BE SEEN during the daylight. Super bright lighting is one less reason for someone to tell the responding officer they didn't see you after pasting your ass.
As every rider experiences on a regular basis -- and hopefully can escape! -- on my most recent ride I had a driver looking to the the right, saw it was clear, I'm guessing did not look left again before turning left across my path : statistically the #1 cause of motorcycle accidents. I was watching and anticipated this action as I approached and was already slowing down. I'm fairly proud I didn't flip him off, but wish that I'd had an LED highbeam that I could have flashed at him.
I reeeeeeealy wish that my backordered Mustang Touring seat would arrive as I hate the stock seat. When my wife first saw me riding the bike she said I looked like Easy Rider, and you know, not in a good way. The stock seat has a very pronounced slope at the back which forces the rider to lean backwards to make contact.
When I lean back to the seat, I am in a posture very similar to driving a car, and you would think that would feel perfectly normal, but to me it is unpleasant for a few reasons. First, slouching VS sitting up straight puts a lot of strain on your lower back as the miles go on. Zero lumbar support from the seat.
The next problem with this is that this slouch puts my line of sight right about at the top of the stock windscreen, which I find unnerving entering corners. I knew I was giving up much high-speed control of a motorcycle as I transitioned through the years from a sportbike crouch to the cruiser slouch, but obstruction of my line of sight is unacceptable. I am also waiting for a backordered Harley Windsplitter as my first attempt to correct that, as one of it's benefits will be that it is 3" shorter.
So I spend about 1/2 my ride time using my quads to push back and help me to sit more upright, which takes strain off my back, allows me to see over the windscreen and puts me in a position I feel (you may disagree) provides me more control. That soon moves the pain from my back to my legs... Another problem with is that the stock seat has limited flat surface area to occupy as they devote a couple inches of the driver space to the sloped back. I am hoping the new extended reach seat fixes all 3 of these issues as it eliminates the slouch-slope which will give me more flat space all the way back to the more upright seat step, which provides some lumbar support. I added a backrest to provide more as needed. And, it's better padded than stock so I'm hoping it adds a tiny bit of seat height from the ground. All of this will give me (maybe not you) a better seating position.
Once I get all of the seating issues worked out, I'll start considering handlebar replacements as the stock one are a bit too pullback. I know I can swing them forward but I'm talking more about shape and z-bars. More on this in a future entry.
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