i own a 2005 road king to that im selling my new 11 street glide rides alot rougher than my road king thought the ride would be comparable seems to feel every little bump in the road and i have my air shock adjusted right never owened a new bike will it smoothen out or is it how they ride thought they had the same frame as the electras or do they ride rough too

 

I have about 1200 miles on my '11 Road Glide Custom and it will loosen teeth on a pot hole. I am seriously considering Ohlin's shocks as my first upgrade. It's that bad..

-Sin

 

I was looking at trading my 04 Ultra in on a 11 until I test rode one. That was as rough a ride as I have spent on a bike in a long time.

Stayed with the 04 due to that.

 

Don't forget the SG's have shorter shocks.

Shorter shocks = less shock travel = a ride that is compromised somewhat.

Just add new shocks or an air ride to all the other crap you plan on changing anyway and you will be fine.

 

+1

Ride a new, RK, Ultra or EG, you will probably find the ride much better than your 05.

If so, pick up a set of 13" shocks and you're set.

Kevin

 

I ran into the same thing when I bought my '07 Road King Custom. In similar fashion as the Street Glide, the shocks were 1" shorter. I bought some Road King rear air shocks off of ebay, and installed them. What a difference! So, for less than $100, you should be able to do the same to your SG.

 

It rides rough because the suspension is junk. Mushy 1940's technology in the front forks coupled with rear air shocks that are not only garbage, but an inch shorter than the same shocks found on the Electra Glide. Yeah, let's put the absolute lowest quality, POS shock absorber on our most expensive touring bikes...and oh yeah, on the Street Glide let's make it an inch shorter so it can have an inch less suspension travel. Brilliant move HD!

If you want a quality ride, you're going to have to invest in a quality suspension. There are numerous threads on this (especially the rear shocks) in the touring section.

 

I'm regularly amazed at these comments on here. I had an '04 Road King Custom and now have a '11 Street Glide. I thought my old Road King Custom was a VERY comfortable riding bike and my new SG is even better.

It could be argued that I've apparently never felt a good ride and maybe you're right. But this new '11 is extremly smooth and super comfortable, so I don't have a thing I'd change in those regards.

 

My *** tells me the 09's and up are much stiffer than the previous chassis. Being 64 yrs old is more telling than say 34 yrs old. It is said the newer bikes handle better but at what cost? Think I'll be riding mt 08 for a long time.

 

what??????????????