I'm looking to purchase a Road King. I've been searching for about a month now for the "right" bike. I plan to customize in my own fashion (i.e. paint, wheels etc etc). I've ran across several decent mileage Road King police bikes for sale. The latest was a 2004 with 20k miles. Something to me just looks 'different' about the police models. What are the pros/cons of purchasing one. I've searched this forum and found nothing like it in 11 different pages.

 

the cons are potential hard service life, look for scrape marks on the floorboards, crash bars and bags, the clutch/ tranny may have been abused, rear brake and rotor too.
( look at police demo videos, constant clutch slipping and application of the rear brake- great for tricks, hard on bike)

electrical system can be "interesting" if the cop gear is just "cut off".

if the service records are available that can help figure out if the bike was loved or not- some PD's assign a ride for life, others are pool vehicles which are flogged- if they have a problem they are less likely to be serviced.

pros can be cost.

cop bikes can be a great platform for either, keeping as is and just riding, or as a platform for a complete custom.
trying to just have a "normal"- mild custom leads to expensive mission creep--- all of a sudden you realize you want the black and chrome motor, not silver plain motor etc.
all those doo-dads add up.

the cop bikes do not have special high performance motors- don't expect lightning speeds


but you can save a bundle.

my CHP 88 FXRP was a bargain, cost $4500 when there was a 2 year wait for new bikes, came with records, was regularly dealer serviced for it's service life, was stripped down and completely re-wired electrically and light custom mods.
And came with a HiPo motor. had it for 22 years.


Mike

 

Makes sense with all of the work recently done. He said he replaced the rotors since they were warped, as well as pads. The bike was painted as well too. He's asking $8,000.

 

I'd think you could do better on price--- it's just that a cop bike is more of a "mystery" than a privately owned bike.

a cheap cop bike can be a great platform for a custom, but that requires an owner who knows what they are doing "what fits what" for interchange and electrical knowledge--- otherwise it's a money pit for someone who has to drop broken bikes at a shop.

8 grand is alot of money, and if you have cash in hand, you have bargaining power.

many riders here says that of earlier versions the 2002 is a good year ( I don't have experience with twin cams before 2009-- I didn't think the advances were enough to get off my evo bagger).

I'd say keep looking- with each bike you look at, you learn a little more about what is good, what is bad and what features appeal to you, are a negative or hold no value.

Mike

 

I bought my 2007 police Road King with 2 miles on it, so it was not abused. PROS - The headlight nacelles are all painted black instead of chrome, no badging or pin stripes, and an air ride seat are the main visual differences on the police models. On my year you also got the 103 with compression releases and an oil cooler. It will walk away from my riding partners 96 stage 1 no problem. CONS - Having to adapt wiring for some add ons like cruise control. I changed out the seat, handlebars, and exhaust and love the bike!

 

$ 8000 for a 2004 is high, keep looking there are a lot of great buys out there.

There are 10 on Ebay for 8500 or less 2006 and older
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Motorcyc...&_udhi=8%2C500

 

I've been searching, I guess I'll continue searching. It didn't register in my mind 2 months ago when my city had a police auction. I saw the bikes there when I was driving by their site but it just didn't process.

 

I agree $8k is too high for a 2004 w/20,000 miles. The differences in the cop bike and civillian models are minor in my opinion. Buying a used bike whether police model or regular model is the same -- buyer beware.

 

What's considered "high" mileage for a Harley? Assuming that all maintenance/service records aren't available. How many miles per year should be considered average? I have only owned sport bikes and I've taken those Japanese motors to 70k+ on previous bikes.

 

Cop bikes usually have a larger charging system,different tires and air ride seat. 8000 is way too much for that bike. Jmo