Drove a Road King today

[ringadingh]

I ride with two pals that have Ultra's and I find them powered very close to my Nomad. We shift at almost the same time and accelerate about the same as well, Actually after riding the Ultras I like the lighter feel to them compared to my Nomad, the seating position is slightly more upright but still very comfortable. My neighbour has an 06 Road King and his bike is nice but he paid $39,000 for it when he bought it, it has tons of extras on it and to me its not worth what he paid when compared to the Nomad, but he's a true HD guy that wouldn't even considor another brand.

[blowndodge]

Yea, I think CJ mounted a 2 liter beer bottle to his handlebars for the vacumm canister

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Blowndodge "Darksider"

Yea, I think CJ mounted a 2 liter beer bottle to his handlebars for the vacumm canister

BD, doggone it...it was a forty! Get your facts straight.

[skeeter]

bunch of tightwads. ;)

[billz410]

I used the left-side crash bar as a vacuum canister, and it works well. But, I can't take credit for the idea- it came off of Gadget's site. :)

I can appreciate just about all viewpoints on the HD thing. My dad rode HD's back in the '50's; I have a few pictures of some of his rides. Those must have been the days.....

My brother and his boy have two Harleys each- so I guess they're really living large. I just have a tough time with the price.

Sometimes I think that a lot of us have done/are doing a LOT of work to the Nomad to get it the way we want it- some things that maybe you wouldn't have to do on an HD... risers, crappy seats, obnoxious pinging. But, no matter what you ride or how much you spend, there'll always be something you want done different- that is a fault not exclusive to the Nomad!

I likely wouldn't have purchased a Nomad if it weren't for this site.

[ringadingh]

I Think if I had bought my bike new and installed all the accessories that are on it that it wouldn't be to far off the price of an HD Ultra here in Canada.

[glwilson]

Hey... no doubt the Nomad is a GREAT bike for the price -- NO DOUBT. I loved my nomad a lot and wished I wouldn't have traded it in for no more than I got for it.

Just as a reminder... the HD dealer that took my bike parked it right next to the new Road Kings on the showroom floor. He did this after he told me they sell the metrics on the wholesale market. When I saw my Nomad on the floor I asked him why it was there.

He said, this is a nice bike. I rode it and felt that someone will want to have this bike and soon. It is a LOT of bike for the money. I, personally, liked the bike and you have kept it in great shape.

The bike sold almost immediately off the floor for $6,400. It was an '04 1500FI with few miles on it for an '04.

So... I am not here to defend HD's. I was just speaking my personal experience with both bikes. No one needs to be defensive about the Nomad for any reason, or to anyone about owning one -- trust me. It is a great bike.

The Nomad served me well. I have a lot of great memories from riding it, and I remain an avid-enthusiast.

[steve0913]

I did alot of bike shopping before I bought my 07 Nomad, for a tall person,and I'm 6'4" the Nomad is the most comfortable stock bike on the market, I test road the Road King and the Ultra Classic and for a tall person you are going to have to spend some bucks to stretch them out to be comfortable, the Goldwing is comfortable but I'm not that old yet.

[nomadwest]

I rode two Road Kings in 2007 before I bought my Nomad, a new one (96 Ci) and a used 05 (88 Ci). The motor does smooth out once you get rolling and felt about the same as my Nomad. 2 cons about the King. I felt like I was sitting to high. On top of the bike rather than in it like the Nad. Second, the handling totally sucked compared to the Nad. I cant believe how nimble and well balanced my Nomad is for such a big boy. I have never ridden an ultra tho and would guess the new Voyager would be a good comparison and at $17k compared to the $24k for the Ultra it seems like a no brainer.

[dogdoc]

Ring you should have went with the Ultra for the money, LOL. the ultra is the ULTRA if you ever ride one. Kinda like the wing, wow.

[rnothog]

MSRP for cruise control on a Road King is $295. ABS is the big ticket item at $845.

[ringadingh]

Originally Posted by Doc (Lonewolf)

Ring you should have went with the Ultra for the money, LOL. the ultra is the ULTRA if you ever ride one. Kinda like the wing, wow.

One day when the time comes I just might do that. They are one of my favorites.

[ponch]

A friend of mine did that 3 years ago. It works.

Originally Posted by cactusjack

No, that wasn't me. My vacuum reservoir is located under my radiator in front of the voltage regulator.

[ringadingh]

Thats how I ended up doing my resevoir after a couple other ideas first, I got it off of Gadgets sight, it works for me.

[jamiep24]

Rode with some Southern Cruiser friends yesterday. One had an '09 Ultra Classic and he said when he came to a stop that rear cylinder would shut off and that SOB would shake like crazy, but would go away when he took off. Also, he's about 6 foot tall and he looks kinda funny riding in front of me, like he's sitting at a desk. On my Nomad I'm stretched out and look a lot more comfortable, that's what cruisers supposed to do, stretch ya out some, and make it look like you're cruisin instead of sitting on a toilet. Jamie