2009 Harley Davidson Road King Touring Review: History, Engine, Wheels, Performance, and Styling
The Harley Davidson Road King first hit the road in 1994 as a touring bike with classic 50’s styling, and it still looks great today. The 2009 Harley Davidson Road King is the newest edition in a line of classic touring bikes that includes the 2009 Harley Davidson Road King Classic, the Electra Glide and the Electra Glide Ultra Classic. Designed to be a good alternative to riders wanting a top quality touring bike, but don’t want to ride a BMW or Japanese distance machine, the 2009 Harley Davidson Road King is as good as any touring bike on the market. Newly designed for 2009, with new space-age materials to improve the strength and overall power to weight ratio, the 2009 Harley Davidson Road King has been re-done from top to bottom to improve all aspects of this classic ride.
The 2009 Harley Davidson Road King comes with Harley’s Twin Cam 96, a
1,584 cu in, air-cooled, V-twin four-stroke powerplant, fly-by-wire
throttle control, fuel injection, and an active intake and exhaust
noise control system that reduces the noise level of the bike when it
thinks it’s in an urban environment. In addition, this system will
decrease the noise level of the exhaust if it’s taking part in an
emissions test, so it might come in handy. The 2009 Harley Davidson
comes standard with a 6-speed manual transmission, aluminum wheels,
Dunlop tires, leather seats and dual-disc brakes. It also includes
telescopic fork suspension in the front with twin-sided swingarm in the
rear, a 63.5 in wheelbase, 5.1 inches of ground clearance and a
wet-weight of 812 lbs.
Despite having been re-engineered for 2009, the Harley Davidson Road
King has the same classic 50’s look that Harley riders love to ride,
only with a space-age performance. The frame is completely new; they
incorporated new space-age materials that are stronger into the design
and a new geometry that improves the handling characteristics of this
Harley motorcycle and makes the frame stiffer. They removed the 16 inch
wheels that appeared on the 2008 model and replaced them with 17 inch
wheels for the 2009 model that give the bike a slightly higher profile.
The 2009 Harley Davidson Road King handles much better than the 2008
Harley Davidson Road King, the engine chugs along at 70 mph in
overdrive 6th gear, but the ride is smooth and handles well at speed.
The fuel mileage was about 52 mpg at an average speed of 50 mph, but
decreases to about 40 mph, if you like to ride faster. The 2009 Harley
Davidson Road King isn’t a quick machine that’s easy to maneuver in
tight spaces, but just the same it handles much better this year and
the changes in technology and materials have made a real difference.
The vibration while the motorcycle is idling is reduced significantly
due to the new engine mounts that have been incorporated into the 2009
Harley Davidson Road King. Just the same, you can still feel the
characteristic heat and power of the engine coming up from below, when
you turn the throttle. The paint and finish are outstanding to look at
and they really give this classic bike the look Harley riders purchase
this bike for. The cable runs are a little ugly to look at though and
the brackets are clumsy to work with on the 2009 Harley Davidson Road
King.
The 2009 Harley Davidson Road King is a very comfortable bike and still
has everything Harley riders loved about previous years, along with new
materials and innovations that definitely make the 2009 Harley Davidson
Road King, a better motorcycle.
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