Quote:
Originally Posted by MMARSH
Jeff, Have you ridden a Road Glide? Most people say they are better handling bike because of the frame mounted fairing. I've seen a few of those that I thought looked pretty good. Although I don't think that dual headlight fairing is very popular.
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I actually owned a last year Shovelhead Tour Glide, the ancestor of the Road Glide. It started the "gooseneck" frame, where the steering head is actually in front of the forks, and the triple clamps go backwards. It even had an enclosed rear chain; H-D was still playing with final drive solutions. First rubber-mounted Harley motor as well.
Anyway, I did ride one of the Twin Cam Road Glides several years ago. It didn't handle any different than my Road King, which is a good thing. Both feel about the same at lower speeds, but the Road Glide does much better at freeway speeds as far as wind protection, noise, and stability. Funny, though, the Road Glide gets really squirrelly at anything much over legal freeway speeds. It really starts to float around and feel kind of vague. My Road King doesn't do that, and happily cruises all day long at 90-ish. Probably moot for most folks on Harleys anyway (I can feel my wife slapping my helmet again...).
I've ridden several Electra Glides (of several vintages) with that big "bat wing" fairing. At lower speeds, you can definitely feel it. Especially now, with all of the crap they cram into it. It definitely feels heavier and more cumbersome than the Road Glide or Road King. You never really notice it at speed, though. It also remains stable at extra-legal speeds, which intuitively seems backwards. The heavier, larger frontal area, fork mounted fairing seems like it should affect handling more than the smaller, frame mounted fairing. Maybe it has aero advantages that outweigh all that weight on the forks.
Anyway, I think the Electra Glide is the better freeway flyer, where the Road Glide is the better back road "carver" (if you can even use that term with an 800 pound bike...). The Road Glide feels less ponderous.