2005 Harley-Davidson FLHRCI Road King Classic: Long Ride the King!

Road King touring platform gets boulevard style

by Lance Oliver

Road King. It’s a tough name to live up to.

Since 1994, Harley-Davidson’s touring lineup has included the Road King in addition to the long-running Electra Glide series. The King is actually reminiscent of Electra Glides of the past, with a simple handlebar-mounted windshield and saddlebags, rather than the bigger batwing fairing and greater luggage-carrying capacity of most modern Electra Glides.

So what’s it take to be the King? It seems to me that, at least in this country, it means the comfort to chew up long miles on your way to distant destinations, the capability to carry essentials on those journeys, and the handling to take on the roads in the majestic purple mountains after you’ve crossed the fruited plain.

In riding Harley’s 2005 Road King Classic for this month’s touring feature on Big Bend National Park in Texas (see “The Uninhabited Land,” page 26), I got to know it in all those areas, covering 3,200 miles across four states and three time zones, on arrow-straight interstates and twisting two-lanes.

I was aboard a Road King Classic, one of three versions in the ’05 model line. The Classic features spoked wheels, whitewall tires, a windshield, and leather-covered, hard saddlebags. There’s also a base model, with a windshield and hard, lockable saddlebags, and a Custom, with no windshield, leather saddlebags and wide, low “beach” handlebars.

The Classic is a stylish package, but you get the go as well as the glow, with a number of touring-oriented features. The newest is a nifty electronic cruise-control system that works almost flawlessly with the fuel-injected Twin Cam 88 engine.

Using the cruise is simple. There’s an on-off switch on the left handlebar and a set-resume/accelerate switch on the right. Of course, the system shuts off instantly with either a tug on the front brake lever or a push on the rear brake pedal.

The only reason I call it “almost” flawless is because at times it was hard to set the desired speed as precisely as I’d like. But once set, the system worked perfectly and made highway miles fly by without a care or hand cramp.

The fuel injection, standard on the Classic, also proved seamless, from sea level in LA, where I picked up the bike, to 8,000 feet in the mountains of New Mexico. Cold starts are a one-touch affair and the Road King is immediately ready for stumble-free running.

The 88-cubic-inch (1,450cc) Twin Cam engine uses Harley’s vibration-isolation system that is remarkably effective in separating you from the shaking inherent in a 45-degree V-twin. Really, the only thing more I could ask from the engine would be some additional horses. Passing requires abandonment of the overdrive fifth gear, especially if you try to take advantage of rare overtaking opportunities on mountain two-lanes.

A little more power in the braking department would also suit my tastes. The dual front and single rear discs will haul the Road King down from speed in a respectable distance, but only with a determined pull on the lever.

Thousands of satisfied Harley owners will probably tell me the brakes are fine and I need to work on my grip strength. But in these days of one- and two-finger stoppies, it’s hard to convince yourself that you can mash the lever with your entire hand without locking the front wheel.

On the other hand, Harley is at the forefront of the cruiser world when it comes to another performance-related commodity: cornering clearance.

Unlike some of the competition from Japan and the United States, the Road King gives you enough unobstructed lean angle to take sweepers at a brisk pace or, more critically, swerve to avoid road hazards. By the time you touch any Road King parts to the asphalt, you’ve probably already realized that you need to slow down anyway.

Given the touring mission of the Road King line, it’s not surprising that there’s a lack of feedback from the front end in corners. But that’s a fair trade-off for the soft, comfortable ride when you’re just thumping down the interstate over expansion joints.

Likewise, the windshield provides excellent protection on the interstate, but, like most handlebar-mounted shields, it can be a bit of a handful when you lean into a corner and a crosswind grabs it. If you know you’ll be riding backroads—or cruising the boulevard—you can quickly detach the shield without tools and leave it at home.

The King’s wind protection and cruise control enhance the bike’s long-distance capabilities. Meanwhile, the seat is something of a mixed bag. It’s wide and comfortable, but also deeply dished, which means you’re locked into one position. You don’t suffer from the extreme, feet-forward position of many cruisers, but you do end up with all your weight on your tailbone.

So does the Road King live up to its name?

In part, it depends on which road you want to rule.

The soft suspension and handlebar-mounted windshield mean the Road King Classic isn’t the most agile corner-carver, even in the cruiser world. And if you’re purely into interstate travel, stepping up to the Electra Glide adds considerably more comfort and secure storage.

But if you want to cross the open desert, handle some curvy backroads competently, and still have stylish, ’60s looks to parade on the boulevard, then the Road King Classic makes a lot of sense.—Lance Oliver

SPEC SHEET

Engine
Air-cooled
overhead-valve
1,450cc V-twin

Carburetion
Fuel injection

Transmission
Five-speed
belt final drive

Seat Height
26.9 inches

Dry Weight
710 pounds (claimed)

Price
$17,345-
$17,895

2005 FLHRCI Road King Classic