I've owned both. I will own batwings from now on. I feel like the batwing is less obnoxious. When you sit behind a batwing, you still feel like you're on a bike. Behind a fugly fairing, it feels like you're in a cockpit of a spaceship. I felt out of touch with the road. At high speed, the fugly is more stable. Everywhere else, I'd recommend the batwing. I've ridden both in the rain, the fugly will soak you, very little rain gets past the batwing. Wind buffeting, I'd give a slight advantage to the batwing. How it looks sitting in a crowd, the fugly is just too............. Fugly.

 

My bud who owns a bike shop and specializes in baggers said he is focusing more on RG's because most ppl are sporting SG's. Both are great bikes and have their own merits but at the end of the day you see less RG's hooked up so when they are done right they draw more attention. I thought about that long and hard when I picked. I liked both bikes equally well and being a tall rider really liked RG fairing because it was pushed outwards and and made bike "feel" larger.

In the end I went with a SG because I have always liked the SG and bought based on what I wanted not others opinions at the end of the day. /shrug

 

I think Shark vs. Bat is really a very personal thing. There's an initial love/hate thing when you look at either. Then you ride em both and hopefully the one you like the looks of is the one you like the ride of. In my case, thankfully, that worked out to be true.

If not, then you have to choose look vs. ride. I'd choose ride every time, because in the end, these > $20,000 machines are supposed to be ridden, not looked at sitting in a parking lot.

 

I have ridden both extensively. For me it ***** down to 2 major factors. If you like wind get a Road Glide, if you like riding more in a pocket and no wind buffeting, then get a Street Glide. The farther distance that the Road Glide fairing sits makes for dirtier air hitting you. You can play with windshields and change some things up but ultimately a Road Glide is just a windier ride than the Street Glide. That is the most complaints that you will hear with a Road Glide. Second, which has already been mentioned, is the fact that the Road Glide definitely feels like a more spacious and stretched out ride. Again due to the distance that the fairing is from the rider. A Street Glide fairing sits close to you and more in your face. Again, personal preference. Big guys will like the RG more for sure for this reason alone. Last thing I will say because it comes up a lot is how much better a Road Glide handles compared to a Street Glide. I pretty much call foul on this one. The only edge I might give to a Road Glide on handling is in sweeping curves at speed. But slow manuevers such as moving through parking lots and such I would take a SG anyday over the RG. After all, what fairing bike do you see cops riding all the time in their fancy manuever videos?? Batwing fairings. That's just not by coincidence. But in the end they are both fun to ride. Afterall, they are Harleys.

 

I just traded my Streetglide with 50K on it in on a Roadglide Ultra. I bought it for two reasons.

1. The same reason I bought my Streetglide at the time. It spoke to me. I was looking at Ultras and I personally liked the look of the Roadglide better.
2. When I rode it the ride was nicer for me. Smooth. The Ultra does have the fairing wind deflectors and lowers so I am sure that makes a big difference but I get zero buffeting and my wife is much more comfortable. We spent time riding the RG Ultra and the Limited.

I have about 1000 miles on it in the last three weeks and really love the bike. Only got rained on once but I don't think I got soaked any more or less than I did on the SG but there was some stop and go.

 

This is not the case for me. I have a Road Glide Custom without lowers and the only thing that got wet on me during a heavy rain going down the freeway was my pants from the knees down. When I bought my RGC, I went to the dealer to get a Street Glide. After test riding both bikes each for 1/2 a day there was no question to me what the better riding bike was. On the freeway the RG was so much more stable and the Batwing is way to claustrophobic and a dime a dozen.

 

Interesting conversation, though. Me, I think the Batwing has one (maybe two) "good angles." To me, at most angles, I don't like how it looks. The Shark, though... to me it looks good at ALL angles.

Neither of them look anywhere near as cool as a Road King though. But function won out over form for me, and I'm very happy in the Shark camp.

 

Owning both a batwing and shark, I can say the batwing has better wind protection and you sit closer to the controls. The shark stretches you out a bit and has a more open feel. I believe the shark cuts through the wind better and is less affected by head winds and road turbulence from trucks. The shark also feels better to me because of the frame mounted faring. It feels lighter on the road.

I'm not going to say one is better than the other, just different. FYI - If I am going on a long haul with my girlfriend we take my Ultra as it is more comfortable, hauls more and has better wind protection. If we are going out for a short ride we take the RGC becuase it looks cool, turns heads and I enjoy how it handles. If it's just me going for a ride, I take which ever bike is ready to go.

I will also say, if it's cold..like 50 or below, I take the Ultra because of the wind / cold protection of the lowers. With a Street Glide vs. RGC it wouldn't matter.

Good luck and post some pics when you have the new bike home.

 

I have ridden both and although I enjoyed the RG, I bought a SG. The RG fairing didn't feel right to me, it kept the wind off me but I just felt uncomfortable. I love my SG. Bottom line I'm glad I went with it. I'm much more comfortable behind the batwing & with a Long Ride Shield I feel a lot less buffeting than before. If it were me I'd go SG, but do what makes you happy.

 

I now have a Road Glide. Before I bought her I stopped by the Harley dealer every other day for 3 weeks. I liked the way the Street Glide looks. Everywhere I looked I saw a cool looking Street Glide. At first I did not care for the looks of the Road Glide, I thought they were awkward looking. The dealer convinced me to ride them both. The Road Glide was much more big & roomy, yet seemed lighter once it started moving, especially in tight areas like parking lots. I wound up buying the RG and the look have grown on me. When you go to Rallies and such there are so many black Street Glides I do not know how everyone knows their own. With a shark there are usually only one or two others. I like being different. No the look has grown on me and my next bike will be another RG.