One thing I didn't see mentioned or I missed it. With the king or any other touring bike you can get aftermarket seats that will drop you into the bike more. A narrower seat will also give you more room to flat foot it.

 

Yeah, I meant to mention that. Mine has a Mustang Super Touring seat. It drops me a little lower and farther back than stock, which works great. I'm a big guy so I really don't need any help reaching the ground but lowering the seat and moving it back gives me the feeling of sitting in the bike while also giving me more leg room.

 

Bulls eye

 

Because the old Road King classics pretty much were the same weight as my Fatboy. The new Road Kings with the new frame, bigger engine, bigger front ends are more top heavy and weight about 90lbs more! Like I said it just makes the bike feel unbalanced on top. Not that the weights an issue. You cant let go if it and relax your arms at a stop. The weight of the bike is not distributed as well as a Softail its more top heavy. That's different then saying the bike is too heavy. I think you guys are misunderstanding what I'm saying.

 

The 2014 CVO Road Kind I had came with a narrow seat from the factory.

 

Last year while vacationing in Florida I came across a 2017 RGU. Traded in the Dyna Superglide for it and haven't been sorry one bit since. The ride is as smooth as glass and the frame mounted fairing along with the lowers are great, it really keeps the wind from buffeting your head around. The added weight takes a little getting used to but with practice its a snap. Like the poster said above take one out for a ride and see for yourself.

 

The Softails feel very different than the baggers. Especially at low speeds. OP is right about the touring bikes feeling more top heavy. I sold a Breakout and bought a Road Glide Special about a year and a half ago. There is no way I will go bad to a Softail. The majority of my rides are local, but there is no issue with longer riding. I just don't get as much time to ride as I would like.

When I first got on the Road Glide I though "what have I done?" The bike is more difficult to maneuver in parking lots, your mind immediately thinks you are going to drop it at every turn, etc. It is heavier, but most of all, I feel like when your feet are on the ground and you are walking the bike into a parking spot, you tower over the softail, whereas on the bagger I feel like I am stuck to it and just wiggling my feet to move.

But, after riding it for a while you realize it is more comfortable than a Softail, and can be made to handle much better as well. The low speed parking lot stuff takes a while, but you will adjust.

 

Let's get back to the Road Glide instead of all these Road King comparisons. As I said, you'll notice the weight at first but with the miles, you'll get accustomed to it. I'm guessing the low speed stuff will be harder, but really, it's just exaggerating the things you do wrong. My RGS has made me a much better rider actually by really forcing me to pay more attention to the basics of slow speed maneuvers due to that higher center of gravity.

Also, not sure where you're going with the hands comment above. On longer trips, I have no issue taking my hands off the bars to stretch at stops, even while standing up and even opening my bags to grab a different set of gloves or putting my gloves away. It should be known that you need to balance the weight out even in the bags, on a luggage rack or even in a tour pack. If you can't let go of the bars without dropping the bike, something is wrong with how the bike is loaded or your balance.

I agree that the stock seat makes you sit up, rather than in like the Softail. I came from a Night Train to the RGS. I put a C&C solo on the RGS which dropped me about 1.5" and put me back about 1.5". It took away that "on top" feel.

 

I have a Deuce and my OL and I tested out a Street Glide and a Road Glide the other weekend. We liked the RG better because of the lack of buffeting on our helmets. My biggest surprise is that it didn't feel as heavy as I expected it too. The SG felt more planted and stable because of the fairing on the handlebars giving it more weight, but the RG felt more nimble as the front end was easier to turn. My biggest gripe with the stock RGS is the angle of the handlebars. It felt like the OEM bars were angled back too far.

When I do get one, I'll ride it locally a lot. In fact, I don't ride my Softail to work very often because of the 25 mile interstate ride, change in temperature between 6:30AM and 4:00PM and the lack of places to store a jacket that I would wear in the morning. That coupled with having to haul a laptop with me (IT work), it makes traveling on something with no wind protection and no bags a bit of a venture. I'll be riding a lot more to work when I have a place to stow things and a fairing to help when it's colder in the mornings.

 

Bingo.