Ridden: Harley-Davidson Road King

I once went to an open day at a Harley-Davidson dealership and it was, how shall I put it, an interesting half hour. I didn’t stay very long, partly because it was so packed you couldn’t move.

But also because it was full of very scary people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Harley-Davidson riders are thoroughly decent folk, it’s just that I find fanatics scary and Harley-Davidson riders are fanatical about their bikes.

There was even a tattooist at the open day to permanently mark any part of your body with the company logo. A chap was having one done on the top of his arm and I’m talking a proper tattoo – none of your wash-off transfers or henna rubbish. I’m not sure if a Harley-Davidson tattoo is a lifestyle statement, the ultimate expression of brand loyalty, or just plain scary. I have mixed feelings about Harleys. I can understand men of a certain age wanting to buy into the bad boy brand and I can also see the appeal of square metres of chromed crankcases. Having cut my teeth on BSAs and Triumphs, give me shiny metal over plastic any day.

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However, I’m always left a little disappointed by the performance and handling, although often the riding experience makes up for that. There is a real magic about certain Harleys – the Sportster is pure motorcycle: two wheels, an engine, handlebars and seat, it’s a wonderful back-to-basics ride. If I ever own a Harley though, it will be the subject of this week’s road test – the Road King. It’s cool and comfortable – a BMW R1200RT might be a far more accomplished tourer in every department, but on a warm sunny day and a sensible cruising speed, the Road King ‘experience’ is pretty much unbeatable.

For 2007, the bike looks much as it has always done, but that familiar look belies some major changes. For a start, the current 1450cc engine is replaced with a 1584cc unit with extended stroke (still an air-cooled V-twin of course) and it delivers a 13% increase in torque at slightly lower revs. It serves up a strong, user-friendly surge of power, helped by a new six-speed gearbox that closes the ratios in the five lower gears and leaves sixth as a high-speed cruise mode.

The gears are now helical cut, which means the teeth are cut at an angle rather than straight. It’s more expensive to engineer, but it makes for a quieter-running box. The revamp to the drive train also sees a maintenance-free self-adjusting primary drive chain and a substantially lighter clutch action. All positive stuff, although I’d have preferred a slightly lower sixth gear as the chosen ratio makes it almost useless below 70mph. I find the King’s comfortable cruising speed is 60-80mph and the sixth gear ratio forces a few unnecessary gear changes upon me when I’m coming up behind slower trucks on dual carriageways.

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Bad boy image or not, Harley isn’t exempt from EU regulations and it has been forced to mute exhaust and intake noise. No more Screaming Eagle carbs and exhausts, now there’s fuel injection and electronically controlled valves, one in the air intake and one in the exhaust manifold, controlled by the bike’s ECU and set to close and kill the noise at set throttle positions and revs in each gear. Not quite sure what the guy with the tattoo will make of that. It doesn’t bother me, the sound is still much better than a howling four and we do live on a pretty crowded island where a loud motorcycle isn’t music to everyone’s ears.

The engine is rubber mounted in the frame to reduce vibration, but with the piston of the second cylinder only a few inches away from your ‘wedding tackle’ at TDC the V-twin lump makes its presence felt. The noise and vibes do feel right. It has a big punch at low revs, which makes it easy to ride. It also looks good from the saddle with its wide, swept back bars and massive headlight cowl. The riding position is upright, with a soft seat and footboards rather than pegs, which allow you to shift your feet around a little more.

You could comfortably ride this to its full tank range between stops and the only bugbear I have is the wind turbulence created by the screen. If I’m riding a Road King, I always take the screen off and stick it in the garage, wind noise seems to hit me right on the head. If I owned one I’d go for the lower screen option. Hard but pliant panniers are practical and the top-loading design means you can really cram things in (although not a helmet).

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The bike is planted and stable at speed. Cornering is fine, but lean angle is restricted by the footboards, which touch down quite quickly. You can still maintain good corner speeds, but you need to modify your riding style, turn in earlier and take the smoothest line through the bend. Finally, a new self-arming alarm/immobiliser has replaced the old security system, which was hugely annoying and seemed to have a mind of its own. The new one couldn’t be easier. It operates on a proximity switch so as soon as you approach your bike with the key fob, it disarms and as soon as you switch off and walk away, it re-arms itself. Couldn’t be easier!