Hey, is that a big ol' cuban dog-rocket in your claw? Cuz that's just one more style point from this fantastic picture.

Yes sir. Well, Dominican but yea loved my cigars back then.

Need a toothbrush in your back pocket

With a sharpened handle...

and kick start with 10.5 to 1
just to make hot days cooler

Oh, I hear you - just installed an Ultima electronic ignition on the old Sporty. It dispenses with the flyweights for advance, but it does not have the range of advance that the old flyweights had (original to the points, but I was running them with the Dyna electronic ignition). As a result, the idle timing is more advanced to achieve the same running timing. This "upgrade" has made her significantly harder to kick over, and she was never easy to begin with.

Don't know about Ultima, but Twin Tech has a kick-start setting, I am pretty sure they are made by the same people .
Check your instructions for it.

Yup. Got into a long, protracted "discussion" with some of the "experts" on an Ironhead forum. They all swore that the default setting is for three "dead" revs of the crank to avoid any kickback to the starter motor. They all told me that I would have to program that out of it.

I spoke directly with the manufacturer. Better than that, they patched me through to the guy who actually sits there and programs these things. He told me they quit programming for the three dead revs years ago. Most electric start bikes don't need it, and kick start bikes obviously won't start with it programmed this way.

As an aside, these forum "experts" continued to argue with me, insisting I had no idea what was going on nor what I was talking about. Whatever. The internet. The bike starts first kick when warm, it's only difficult when cold. And that's my fault. I just need to develop a new routine, learn what it needs.

Yup,
Most Harley forums are full of armchair experts that hardly know which way a valve goes in.. but they are experts!

Any of you guys know if the Road King standard is ever coming back?

I see it was cancelled for 2023. I can’t believe they cancelled their best (my opinion) bike.

What’s going on with it ?

Where are you at in upstate?
I am uninformed about the current Harley needed repairs-but for a long time the swing arms on newer (and older) models needed some engineering.
that and a track link if sorts.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1690891964.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1690892064.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1690892111.jpg

Rochester

If I get a bike, its probably gonna have to be a heritage. at 5'6", I think trying to reverse a road king is going to lead to a lot of frustration due to its weight. I would only consider new and I dont think i would be willing to add a reverse gear to a new bike

ill have to maybe rent one of each for a day before i (wife) decide

100 miles N E of you 28 & 30
Reversing bike is quite EZ unmounted
Leave the kickstand dwn, lean into is whilest using the handlebars for gripage..
You can push it back and let it come dwn on the kickstand.
On level surface, it will back up pretty EZ in the saddle, the saddle type and height being a major factor in inseam articulation.

I had a ninja that was way too tall for me and had to use that method often. i could do it but would prefer to not have to. and with no current road king classic offered unless NOS, heritage is the way to go for me i think. but i’ll probably give a RK a try just to see. inseam is 29”. seat height about the same in both RK and heritage but 100lbs and frame width probably stear me towards heritage. i love both bikes to be honest. the only two HD that interest me

I was wondering the same thing. I thought the standard RK was one of their best sellers. It's been my favorite for 23 years and through two examples. It just hits the "sweet spot" for me as an all around long distance tourer and short day tripper. I love being able to remove the windshield for those shorter, lower speed backroad rides.

They fixed that sometime between my 2000 and 2013 examples. Completely redesigned the frame and in so doing they (finally) adequately supported the swing arm pivot. I swear my 1980 Tour Glide and my 2000 RK felt like there was a second pivot in that area, working vertically. Your Evo has the same frame, of course. Well known issue, with well known fixes.

Yup, try 'em both. You might be surprised how little difference the weight of the RK makes. Both feel about the same to me.

The weight at parking lot speed? Moving around the garage or parking? I’m guessing I’m gonna have a hard time using my feet on anything less than flat pavement. Once moving I’m sure the weight disappears and wouldn’t be a factor in my decision. I do like the ease of adjustment on the new mono shock of the heritage, not that I would be riding with a passenger or packing for long trips so probably a set it and forget it thing anyway for me. Lean angle is finally very good on the heritage too. Better power to weight ratio as well with the 114. Really sweet bikes. But the RK just looks so right and the rubber mounted engine makes it that much smoother. My brother got the height. I got the brains. Haha

This guy's bike with the mods he has made has been a big inspiration for me and really turned me on to the heritage. I started looking more at them when I found out Harley isnt making the RK classic anymore. And it made me like the blacked out version, though my inner voice says i will regret not getting the black/chrome especially once those forks and everything else has 30K miles of stones chips....but, I hated the blacked out look but now love it. looks like the 1940s to me.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kJKFEFX59Sg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Keep in mind the new generation tin will fit on the old frames with minor mods

Fair questions. Obviously, out on the road, the weight difference is the least noticeable. Pushing it around the garage will be the most noticeable, of course. Most folks might think that parking lot speeds would fall somewhere inbetween, but they really don't. I find the weight "disappears" once moving at any speed.

The RK has air adjustable rear shocks as well. Interestingly, my 2000 had air adjustable forks as well, where my 2013 does not. That said, I "aired up" the forks only a very few times when we really loaded it down for long trips, and it very much negatively affected the ride and handling. Probably why Harley dispensed with that feature.

Back to pushing it around the garage. I've learned to park it not only there, but in parking lots, in such a way as to really try to avoid having to do that. Once you get stuck having to do that a few times, your awareness will be raised, and you'll think about ways to avoiding having to that anymore. And, honestly, once a motorcycle gets up over that 700 pound threshold, I think any additional weight just becomes rather moot. They are all a real bear to push around.

Careful - the Road King Classic and Road King (the standard, base model) are two different bikes. The "Classic" replaces the standard hard saddlebags with some (to me anyway) really cheesy fake leather ones meant to evoke a "classic" look. I very much prefer the standard hard bags, for a number of reasons. Number one, they can be locked.