Well said.

 

Comparing factory 103" and 110" motors in the touring bikes, they run differently. The power increase isn't huge, but it's there. The 110" pulls harder from idle and has better roll on power to pass in top gear.

I own a 2014 CVO Road King (stock 110") and a 2011 Ultra Limited (103" with 255 cams, exhaust, AC, decent dyno tune). I crashed the 2011 Ultra on a trip and the frame is cracked. While the bike is apart, I'm having the motor built into a factory 110" like a CVO motor (255 cams, 9.3:1 compression, stock CVO exhaust). Obviously, I really like the way the factory 110" runs - I could have gone in a different direction and bought a 120R or S&S 124" low compression instead, since we're basically building a whole bike this winter.

It's very easy to get close to CVO pricing by modifying an UltraClassic. I've done it on my 2011, and I did it on my 2006 Ultra too. On the 2011, I did the motor work Garmin GPS, LED lights, front and rear suspension upgrades, XM radio, bluetooth module, heated hammock seat, tour pack and saddlebag liners, and a few other odds and ends. On the 2006, I did a 95" kit with cams and exhaust, GPS, satellite radio, XM radio, bluetooth module, custom seat, and a bunch of chrome. By the time I was done with each bike, I was within a few thousand of a CVO.

 

And you still had an Ultra Classic. This is my point. Thanks for sharing.

 

The stock Road Glide CVO of 12 and 13 was the most potent stock 110 that HD ever fielded. 122 ft. lbs. of torque at the crank.

The Maple/black custom paint was one of the best looking scheme's that HD did.

It also has a boat load of items from the HD that would add up to a big bite to put on a standard machine. Every thing from the Agitator rims, hand grips mirrors, painted inner fairing, fancy bike cover, upgraded shocks, floor boards, windsplitter windshield, flush gas tank lids with the left one having led lights for the fuel level, gold key, fancy bike cover, I-Pod nano wired into the system, saddle bag liners, and on and on.

All of which factor into the higher resale of the bike which does not happen on standard production bikes.

I did not pay much for mine. I just handed the dealer the title and keys to my 09 Vette and he did the same with the 12 CVO. We were both happy. The Vette was for his wife and not to resale.

 

The difference between a Ultra Limited and CVO Limited are: Bigger motor, XM module, Heated seats, Lighted controls, highway pegs and Power locks on the bags. The rest is cosmetic. You can add the XM Module for $400, the Lighted controls for $250, Highway pegs for $200 and heated seat upgrade for $900. All plus labor if needed. Sure not saying that the CVO is not worth the price, it is! The biggest difference are the cosmetic features, it is not at all like the difference between a 2006 Ultra and CVO. The Motor Company has pulled the bikes closer together. I think they wanted a fully functioning premium touring bike that was priced competitive with other makes. Example: they included GPS, heated grips, tour pack rack, Hydraulic Clutch, and on and on..The CVO is for the buyer that can afford the price and wants all the goodies. Again, fabulous looking bikes. I had a 2007 CVO Ultra and traded for a 14 Limited. Would have bought the CVO if budget allowed.

 

If you can, get the 110 CVO Limited. No one will ever fault you for having the king of the hill bike.

No one has ever said, "I have everything and don't like it". The CVO's are HD's everything bike. The best of the best. Who doesn't want that?

I was so close to buying a 2012 Skunk, but I was worried about the 110 engine. I bought a 2012 RGC with ABS, security and the 103. Nothing wrong with a $22,000 motorcycle, but I now kick myself every time I see a Skunk. I still break out in a sweat every time I pass one.

Get the CVO. Oh, and the auto-locking feature on the saddlebags and tourpak is way cool.

 

I just traded my CVO convertible in on the street glide special and I believe I got most of the premium that I paid back on the trade in value but for me it's wayyyyy to much dam chrome to deal with and as much as like the look when it was all cleaned and shiny it was a real pain in the a$$ cleaning that much chrome especially the wheels never again and that 110 ran really hot like 270+ deg on a hot day.

 

A couple of months ago I bought a Vivid Black 13 RG Custom. I now have just $3,000.00 shy of a price of a CVO in it and still have more to go plus paint. Big misstake in my opinion. What gripes me is I own a CVO SG and know first hand the advantages of just buying one from the start. If there is a draw back to a CVO in my mind it would be running into the same bike on occasion but then again how many Vivid Black RG and SG are there.

 

According to the dyno charts in SE book a stock 110 makes about 100 ft lbs and 80 hp. A stock 103 makes about 81 ft. lbs. and 64hp. I think a '14 103 makes more like 90/70 with he new cam and Water bikes a little more with extra compression. It is pretty easy to pull 110+ Tq and 100+hp out of a 103 (stage 1 + heads & cams). So if power is all ya are looking at in a CVO it is a total waste of money.

 

True but when you get done with paint you'll have a 1 of a kind bike. 1 of 1 is way different from 1 of 800. May not mean anything to anyone else but it will to you as long as you own it.

It doesn't really matter either way. It all boils down to what you want and can afford. You can't really justify it by what you'd spend to make a regular bike close in nature to a CVO. Most guys that I know that have CVO's have spent way more money than I have doing further upgrades. Your gonna spend extra cash with either bike. It's just a matter of how deep your pockets are.