Yeah, it's all a matter of taste. Cruise is nice, and I installed it myself. Only took about a case of beer to get the friggin 'c' clip on!
But I really like the hard bags, you can lock em, and they are watertight!

 

First, you've picked an incredible bike...now which one YOU want is totally up to you.

Saddlebags: I have an '02 Classic and with regular care (cleaning & waterproofing 2x/summer) the leather still looks good. I've seen plenty of scratched fiberglass bagsthat were caused by the rider/ passengergetting on/off their bikes. So if scratched leather is your onlyconcern my feeling is that it'll happen just as easilyon hard bags and they're harder to repair. A good leather care kit takes care of most scratches....or you can get aleather () cover for thehard bags.

Paint: I like certain paint jobs that flow from the tank to the bags...so my choice, based on paint alone, is the hard bags. With the caveat that you'll be pissed when your passenger scratches the cover.

Tank Badge: You can buy and replace your badge any time.

Good luck on your choice.

 

i prefer the angle of the leather bags (looking from the rear). theyre kinda tapered unlike the std bags.

 

Wide White Walls, theleather bags, and the front fender tipmade it easy for me to go with the RKC. However with a Road King you can't go wrong.

 

I have a Jake and Elwood Blue RKC which doesn't come with a tank badge because of the custom colour. I like the wide whites, spoke wheels, cruise and the leather bags, but I think I would like to get hard bags also. Your call.

 

I second Manish's thoughts. I'm a huge fan of the cruise control; however as others have mentioned you can add that to the standard RK. I bought the RKC; however both bikes are awesome! Get the one you like the most and enjoy the process of deciding!

 

I like them both. I went with the hard bags for the locking ability ( I know, if they want in, they'll get in.) They are also water proof. Plus you can put ice in and it becomes a cooler for the beer.

 

I'm a standard kinda guy...but then I'm a little biased

 

Road King Classic

 

I must say I love my Road King Classic until I saw Phat66's RK- Buy what you like...