Ride each through a car wash a couple times, this should
help decide which is best for riding in $hitty weather

Best bet is to test ride each bike and hope for a rainy day to help
with your decision...

 

I don't have any experience with a RG but as far as the SG goes I'll throw a few things out. On a recent trip had to ride through rain for the first 6 hours. Sucked. I have a 10" windshield on it which offers good wind protection. As far as rain goes, I almost think you'd be better off with a shorter windshield. Once the windshield beaded up with rain it was difficult to see through it so I had to sit up real tall to look over it for visibility. Also, when I hunched down (looking through shield) my glasses seemed to fog up. A few guys I rode with had helmets with detachable visors which kept their glasses pretty clean. I will probably get a helmet like that for my next trip in case of rain. I'll probably also put on a shorter windshield too and do a test run in the rain to see if it is any better.

+1 on the previous comment about adding lowers. I have them and they worked great. A lot of people wear the gaiter boot covers that HD makes which seemed to work really well. I didn't have them and my feet stayed pretty dry throughout the rain.

If you don't already have a good rainsuit, make sure to get one.

 

Can only spell it out from experiences. Bought the 03 RK in 06, tried it all, windshields of varied heights, diffenernt slip stream designs, put on the fork baffle, the fork tube side deflectors and lowers both soft and hard. Added a DCC fairing and thought I had the rain and weather issues whipped. Still had to ride in the no helmet states with my ball cap on reversed and a face shield for my helmet for rain or worse.

Got talked into test riding a buds' RGU, sold me in good weather, bought ours on a whim and first thing headed for Colorado. First few hundred miles realized I did not need to reverse my ball cap, stays on just fine bill forward, up to and including 75mph(I am 6'2" with the stock seat and shield), in the rain which we managed to find pretty often my face would get a little wet but the windstream kept the larger amount off me, i presume due to the fixed fairing. The most impressive is the lack of turbulence wiggle in the forks coming up on and around trucks, the stock shield of the RK had it, the added deflectors made it worse, the batwing made it madder still.

Me, I am not looking to go back anytime in my future, ride is too nice to give it back. I did opt to a Windvest shield for the ride since, it made the wind reduction better yet and the rain seems to float over me for the most part.

 

I ride in the rain regularly, both days last weekend. One of the prime reasons for getting rid of my fugly was I could not "tuck in" behind the windshield, none of the 5 or so I tried in the two years I owned it. I run a windshield I can just see over when riding in normal conditions and hard unvented lowers during the rainy cool season. I also use heated grips. With the bike configured this way I am good for up too 2 hours at a time, even in 40F degree temps. Only you will be able to figure out what works for you, so do your homework and ride as many different configured bikes as you can.

 

I'll throw this out there seeing as we're talking fairings - there's some talk about fixed vs fork mounted. I've put a lot of miles on batwings and I've never experienced anything but rock solid stability. It is a motorcycle so you will have to play the wind on any bike and I find the batwing to be no better or worse than any faired bike I've ridden. I have to wonder if something is wrong with the bikes when someone complains about the instability. I just haven't experienced it in a wide variety of conditions including massive cross winds and truck blasts.

As far as placement - the batwing is closer to the rider and envelopes the rider in an air bubble. I've ridden one RG and liked it. I felt there was a little more breeze, but overall it was excellent. The dealer (RIP Russ) I bought my bike from, was an old school, been everywhere, on every bike, guy. He just bought the RGU. I was between that bike and mine. He said they were pretty similar once you're out on the highway. He said, if pressed, the one difference is that the passenger gets a little better protection from the batwing because it places that air bubble farther back. That's his opinion, albeit a knowledgeable one. I ended up with the Ultra and have never looked back.

That said, I think the RG Classic is the best looking bike HD makes. If I stop doing the long distance thing I'll probably get one of those and add lowers. The SG looks great too so you have a pleasant decision to make. Either way you won't go wrong.

 

Batwing + fairing lowers is best combo for protection against the elements.

Sharknose + fairing lowers is best for handling in bad weather conditions since fairing is mounted to frame and doesn't allow wind to steer the bike by grabbing a fork mounted "sail" (like the batwing), for all intents and purposes.

I've owned both. First a SG, then the RG. This time when I went back to buy again I went back to the SG, but everyone has different likes/dislikes. I don't ride in bad weather, so I opted for the style I liked best, the SG.

All that said, my RG was the best handling touring bike I've ever ridden, hands down.

But this...

Truer words have never been spoken. That decision is a QUALITY problem to have. =)

 

Owning both a batwing and a fugly, I can say hands down the batwing is better for protection from the elements such as wind or rain.

The comments about lowers are true as well. The lowers will help dramatically with wind and rain protection.

The Road Glide handling will not be as affected as much by the elements; however YOU will feel the elements more. If it's going to be really cold or raining, I'll take my Ultra. If it's going to be windy, I'll take the Road Glide (I don't mind the wind).

Good luck.

 

Even though the "fixed fairing" may handle better during windy conditions and looks awesome (especially on the CVO S/E RG), I'm still in the "batwing" crowd for protection from the wind, rain, sleet or snow.

I had my 2000 Ultra until last week and I rode it in all kinds of weather and was very happy with it, the fork air baffle, and the lower fairings.
Two udpates that I dis to that bike was adding the Kuryakyn adjustable wind deflectors on the upper fairing, and a pair of Hogue air vents in the lower fairings.

The Kuryakyn adjustable wind deflectors worked great in hot weather and could direct air flow back to the rider and passenger when open and also provide wind deflection in cooler temperatures.

THe Hogue air vents for the lowers were great for cold or wet riding.

I just bought a 2013 CVO S/E Ultra and the newer bike's stock lowers are narrower than the older models, and have no fork air baffle so you get more wind riding these bikes as opposed to the older models.
I assume that this is done to provide more air flow for the newer engines that run much hotter than previous model years.

 

+1 Although I havent had the RG out in bad weather yet, Id have to agree the batwing should give you better protection.

 

If bad weather is the sole criteria, I would say an Electra Glide Ultra would be the way to go as it would provide the best overall protection from rain. The batwing/windshield combo does an excellent job and the lowers will be the best for keeping your legs and boots out of the weather.