They look pretty nice, but they dont seem to be much of a cost savings.
A lot more plastic, and still carbeurated. Not that carbs are bad, but 4 is a pain.

If I was going to spend all that money on a metric tourer, id get the GW. Not my thing, but still a nice bike.

I can see buying something that is similar to the HD if you are saving a ton of $$$ and it works for you, but to pay nearly the same...

Now, maybe dealers have better pricing than MSRP on them. They sure have come a long way in recent years in emulating the style of HD.

Before you decide, you should look at this quick comparison provided earlier by Terryt1955

Clicky

 

If you are gonna ride across the country, or do serious touring, I would go for the Yammie.Anything less than that,the King,is the King.

 

I have a friend with a Yama and she seems to like it, but later down the road if you want something bigger like an Ultra, you will get nothing for the Yama and the HD will still have great value. JMHO

 

I had a metric bike and I loved it. but a Harley is a Harley. It is nice to see no one is bashing the jap bikes. When I participated in the Honda VTX Forum and told everyone I was buying a harley, there were almost 10,000 hits on my message and 200+ replies. Half were negative and nasty.

Anyway, 4 carbs on the venture is crazy. They are probably going to do a way with that bike and upgrade their new stratoliner to be a bagger. but that stratoliner is ugly as sin. That is a style that if you like it, you like it and if not you hate it. No in betweens.

Resale value goes to the HD...of course. The history and the charm of owning a HD is second to none.....you just cant beat it. If you are into parts and accessories, Yamaha has some, but not nearly as much as HD.

The choice is yours......I would go with the King!

 

.....to put it in perspective, the difference between a Road King and a Royal Star is like the difference between having sex with a real woman or just using your hand.

 

Was that a sly way of saying its a girls bike?

 

Nice, yeah what he said.........

 

Well thanks one and all for the opinions. I have owned the following bikes over the many years I have ridden - Honda 750, Harley Sportster (cranked up), Kawai Vulcan classic, Honda Valkyrie, 01 Road King, 03 Road King, 03 Ultra Classic, 03 Suzuki Hayabusa. Sold all the aforementioned bikes - made money on the Harley's lost money on the metrics. Favorite bikes in that pack the two Kings, the Valkyrie and the Hayabusa.

I haven't ridden since late 03 (medical problems). I know Harley has made some improvements on the Kings since 03 but not sure what. I know nothing about the Stars except for my snow sleds are absolutely KICK A$$.

This is all actually a moot point cause I just got back from the Harley dealer here in upper state NY and they are a Yammy dealer as well so I got to see the two together. I am buying a new King just not sure which one - Police edition or King Custom. For those that care I will post back with my decision. I have to put money down by the end of the month in order to get the bike beggining of May. So I only have about a week to make up my mind.

 

May!??!

There are several of em sitting on the local dealers floor. Are you wanting to wait until then, or are they just hard to come by in NY?

Wow, I can't imagine waiting that long. I'd go insane.

 

Yea that is a long time to wait. No other dealers in the surrounding area?