Road King hard to ride?????
Damn dude......

 

I never said it was hard to ride. Just being super picky and didn't like the way it was top heavy and not balanced as well as a Softail. And you have an 02 King with soft bags. Way Different then the much bigger 2014 CVO with stretched hard bags, bigger front end, bigger frame and the way its balanced. 2 different bikes if you compare the 2.

 

​​​​​​​Just so...

 

Not sure what softail you have, but they do make a kit that will allow you to install a set of touring model hard bags. Sounds like the touring platform is not for you. This winter, I am adding hard bags to my wife's Heritage, the kit isn't too expensive. Gonna look for a used set of bags, or get a matazu set off of eBay.

 

The advantage of the Softtail platform is that with certain seats, you can sit IN the bike rather than ON it...if you can deal with the inferior ride that's a big advantage of keeping what you got now.

 

If you think a Road king is top heavy and hard to ride, forget the Road Glide. The King is the lightest and has the lowest center of gravity of all the touring bikes. It's a toy next to my RGU weight wise...

 

It's all the same once you master the balance. I will never remove my tour pak. I've ridden enough miles to feel comfortable at low speed, high speed or anything else. I've passed hundreds of 18 wheelers without issues. I've learned to love the corners. You can learn to ride anything. Don't get hung up on comparing one bike to another. Ride what's comfortable for you. Ride local or long distance or both. I've seen many riders tour on softails and I've seen many on tourers stay close to home. It's all good.

 

I ride my Road Glide Ultra everyday. I've put 20k miles on it in the past 12 months and only took 3 long trips. I take the long way to and from work (and pretty much everywhere else) just because I love riding it so much. I don't think it's top heavy or hard to ride at all. Around town, on the highway, it does it all.

 

Having come from a '02 Deuce to an Ultra to a Road Glide Special (my ONLY ride), I wouldn't even consider another ride for in town. It's good on the highway, AND around town cruising. 14" apes, and I get comps everywhere.

Love my shark.

 

....... yeah, i can see how hard bags, better suspension & the new frame would make for a significantly more difficult ride ...
..... as someone said earlier, maybe ya oughta stick w/the Softie