I lost a few months -- the entire summer to be exact -- from my riding season this year due to work commitments. Most often, I only rode to work; and it wasn't even a nice commute. Pathetic. I began to make up for misplaced time with a 4-day trip to Barre, VT at the end of August. That was a great get-away and the western side of Vermont is always a scenic ride.
The upside of working this summer was to get some fun-money for upgrades to my aging riding gear and new pieces/parts for the bike. The list for 2022 includes:
Chrome Front Axle Nut Covers
Mustang Standard Touring Solo Seat with Driver Backrest for Harley-Davidson Electra Glide & Road King Police 1983-'21, Textured, Black
'09-'22 Harley Touring Vivid Black Mid-Frame Air Deflectors from Hogworkz
Harley-Davidson® 16 Inch Detachables™ Wind Splitter Vented Windshield Dark Smoke
Extended shift lever from Softbrake
H-D Chrome Flush-Mount Fuel Cap and Gauge Kit
Dakota Digital 4.5 in. Chrome MLX-2011 Series Speedometer
CVO Road King Windsplitter replacement windshield from Freedom Shields
10" H-D Fused Lo Chrome WITH heated Kahuna handgrips. Super nice upgrade!
YHMTIVTU Motorcycle Saddlebag Liners Organizers
H-D Profile Custom Mirrors Satin Black, since my riding position was perfectly altered after addition of the Fused Lo bars, but I only see my elbows in the stock mirrors...
H-D Tank Knee Pads as my more forward seating position is allowing me to grip the tank more with my knees
Every mod in place now is working perfectly for me and I'm really enjoying this bike. While I appreciate the classic nature of the Road King and I've kept to mods that accentuate it. I hated the stock speedo cluster. 4.5 inches of wasted space for information. It's bad enough to have to drop your eyes away from the road to look down at the tank in the first place and I considered relocating with new gauges on the bar, where nature intended them.
I decided to go with the H-D flush-mount fuel gauge and gas cap. And the largest upgrade was moving to the Dakota Digital instrument cluster. Now I can see much more information and see it quickly without trying to look a the dumb little couple inch square LCD panel in the stock speedo. Dragged this bike right into the 21st century but kept the stock lines.
Next year? New grippier tires and maybe front and rear suspension replacement. I have to constantly slow down in corners to keep from scraping the floorboards. Usually the edge of my riding boots scrape pavement as the first lean angle warning indicator. We'll see...
Another riding year has completed. I always feel like I never get to ride as much as I intended to at the end of the prior year, but I always enjoy every ride I get to take.
