Good evening everyone. I am new to this forum however, crusty and old. Been riding for a long time. I am looking at purchasing a 1997 Road King with 23K miles.

I seek the collective wisdom of this forum to see if there are any issues with this model year that I should be aware of. Are there any items in particular that I should pay unusually close attention to?

My last scoot was a 1980 FLT that I spent two years rebuilding. When finished it look like a Road King except for the shovel instead of an evo.

Thanks to everyone for your assistance and insight.

 

There should be no real issues with a '97 Roadking. I had a '95 that I put 80,000 trouble free miles on. Wife had a '97 Lowrider(Same engine and trans.) that she had 47,000 miles on with no problems.

Regards,

Bill

 

Bill,

Thanks for the information. I couldn't remember any real issues, but it has been a while.

Regards,

Dave

 

About the only issues were the rear "Y" pipe splitting at the weld. Only other issues were weaping/leaking cylinder base gaskets which was very common. The head venting was usually a single vent that could be upgraded to a double vent for less oil in the air filter. That year was the first of the upgraded ECM's where they could reflash them without replacing the ECM first.And the morelli fuel injection too was upgraded to the delphi later on, but for what it was , it worked well.

 

Sounds like a nice low mileage bike. Might want to get a mechanic to give it a quick once over. I always did like a evo. Owned many with no problems. Go for it!

 

Thanks to all or your input. Hate to say it, but my deal fell through. Seller backed out on me. The search goes on for another sweet ride. Thanks again for all the valuable information.

 

I ride a 97 Road King with 62K miles on it...Still runs as good as any new bike I have seen. If it has been taken care of, go for it...You won't be disappointed.