Haven't seen a new Road King yet, just a Road King Special, and I didn't like those bars at all. Are the Road King bars different than the other baggers? I used to have an 09, and those bars were awful, 10 inch mini apes fixed it right up. Are the new ones better?

 

you realize the road king special comes stock with mini apes, right? The standard RK gets different bars though, not the same as the RKS

 

Yes I know that. The Road King special that I sat on had the bars rotated back a bit, and I still needed to reach a little. I would put a touring seat on that bike, and then that would have me further back still, so no good for me.

 

a different seat would likely have you moved forward a bit more. At least that was the case going from the stock seat to a mustang touring low seat. But I changed the bars anyways. the stock ones didn't work for me, but it sounds like no matter whether you go with a standard RK or RKS, you're going to have to change the bars regardless. and just FYI, the RKS stock bars are 9 inch mini apes

 

The stock bars changed with the Rushmore models. They are styled after the heritage bars now. I hated both but at least on the king they are easy to change out.

 

Yeah the stock RK bars are different to all the other touring bikes. They were not comfortable for me, changed to HD 12 inch Fat Mini Apes with 2 inch risers and they now work perfectly for me.......many options to choose from.

Burleigh Bars which are produced locally are very good quality and have a great range....expensive even here in Oz though.......