Harley-Davidson Road King Custom
HARLEY-DAVIDSON Road King Custom
Scores high grades but fails the bar exam
PAUL DEAN
EARTH TO WILLIE G, EARTH TO WILLIE G: What, exactly, were you thinking with the goofy handlebar? You and your styling team crafted what essentially is a terrific motorcycle here, a sleek, seductive machine with the potential to be as practical and enjoyable as just about anything on the road. Why, then, did you encumber it with a handlebar that's little more than an ergonomic penalty box? Bad calL Willie bad call.
For those of you who don't already know, the gentleman in question is Willie G. Davidson, grandson of one of the company's founders and longtime head of H-D's styling department. And the motorcycle under discussion is Harley's only new Twin Cam model for 2004, the Road King Custom. It is, as its name suggests, a variation of the standard Road King, a model that has remained one of H-D's more popular offerings since its introduction in 1994. This latest spinoff incorporates a long list of revisions, mostly cos metic, intended to give it that intangible but highly sought-after "custom" look without seriously compromising its ability to serve as a fully func tional road machine.
A tall order, to be sure But with the exception of the handlebar-which we'll get to in a few nun utes-Willie G & Co. have succeeded quite nicely.
Being a standard Road King at heart, the Custom is built on the same time-proven touring platform that serves as a foundation for all H-D FL models. It uses the same rubber-mounting sys tem for its Twin Cam 88 engine, as well as the unconventional front-end geometry that locates the steering head out ahead of the fork's tripleclamps rather than behind; this is Harley's unique method, introduced some 24 years ago, of allow ing a heavy, fat-front-tired motorcycle to steer more lightly. The Custom also retains a lot of other FL-signature bits, including the large, chromed headlight and surrounding nacelle, the full-length chromed fork-tube covers and the 2-into-2 "true-dual" exhaust system.
But whereas H-D's stylists frequently build new models by dressing up existing ones, they've creat ed the Custom by dressing a Road King down. It uses the same bodywork as a standard RK, but almost entirely without ornamentation. The front fender is buck-naked, devoid of any chrome, lights or edge trim, and the sole decoration on the rear fender is a small H-D badge below the requisite taillight/tumsignal combo. The sides of the gas tank are adorned only with nickel-plated Harley-Davidson nameplates, and even those are simply glued on for easy removal, should the owner so choose. The Custom is available in seven colors, all solids, with nary a two-tone in the mix. And although the 16-inch wheels are a new design with a stylish cast-and-chromed five-spoke pattern, they’re surrounded by blackwall tires instead of the usual whitewalls.
CYCLE WORLD TEST
Simplicity and style even extend to the Custom’s leather-covered hard saddlebags.
They have a graceful, flowing shape that mimics the contour of the rear fender, and the only exterior trim pieces are a small, easily detached side reflector and a tiny “Road King” badge on each side. The seat is equally shapely and trim, closely resembling the Badlander saddles sold by H-D’s Parts & Accessories division. As previously noted, the Custom is not equipped with a windshield, and is fitted instead with a small, chrome-plated metal “flyscreen” above the headlight. While they were at it, the designers whacked a full inch off the rear suspension travel, leaving the Custom with just 2 inches of wheel up-and-down but lowering it far enough to yield the shortest seat height (27.8 in.) in the entire FL family.
All these changes successfully weave the visual voodoo intended by Willie G and his styling cohorts, giving the bike a tasteful, ultra-clean appearance and a low, sleek profile. The Custom falls a few degrees short of minimalism, but it unquestionably is one tidy, uncluttered bagger with loads of curb appeal.
It works nicely, too-except for that freakin’ handlebar, which The Motor Company likes to call a “Beach Bar.” It sweeps back toward the rider in a long, wide arc, ultimately positioning the handgrips almost parallel to one another and quite far to the rear. So, instead of the rider’s forearms being more-or-less perpendicular to the grips-which is the ergonomically correct relationship-they’re almost on the same plane, with the grips aiming rearward much like the handles on a wheelbarrow.
As a result, the simple act of hanging onto the handlebar requires a severe and unnatural outward bend in your wrists and a less-than-firm hold on the grips. What’s more, while the grips are quite a distance apart side to side, they’re located so far rearward that they cause a sharp bend in your elbows and force your forearms to constantly hold your torso upright in the wind. Since the Custom does not have a windshield, your hands and forearms must work progressively harder as speeds increase and the windblast grows ever stronger. At any speed much above 45 or 50 mph, you can’t relax your squeeze on the grips, even for a moment, or your hands will slip off of them.
Thankfully, handlebars are cheap and easy to replace. Swapping the stock bar for another with a more sensible shape-one of many available in the aftermarket or even a bar from a standard Road King-would make this problem go away pronto.
Aside from that ergo faux pas, the Custom performs just as admirably as it looks. The fiiel-injected engine in our FLHRSI testbike (the FLHRS is the carbureted version) delivered quick, crisp response and marginally better acceleration than we’ve experienced with previous 88-inch Twin Cam FLs. Our seat-of-the-pants impressions were substantiated by the best dyno numbers (66.4 horsepower and 72.3 footpounds of torque) we’ve ever obtained from a bone-stock TC88. Full-throttle runs up through the gears delivered enough kick to produce a 14.22-second quarter-mile at 93 mph, which ain’t bad for a 709-pound, less-than-aerodynamic V-Twin touring cruiser. Even topgear acceleration is respectable, allowing the Custom to make quick work of most cruising-speed passes without the need to downshift.
All the while, that unmistakable H-D V-Twin thrum accompanies your rides with wonderful background music, at any speed and in any gear. The 88-inch Custom is equipped with the same freer-flowing mufflers used on Harley's limited-edition 103-inch Screamin' Eagle Road King and Electra Glide. These EPA-approved silencers are less-restrictive than the standard touring mufflers, which explains why the Custom makes a couple of extra ponies and emits a deeper, more audible exhaust rumble than the stifled wheeze of most other late-model H-D touring rigs.
It’s also a real smoothie, thanks to the rubber engine mounts. Though the big V-Twin noticeably jiggles around in the engine bay, particularly at idle, images in the mirrors remain crystal-clear at all engine speeds, and the rider sits in almost total isolation from any engine vibes. You can still feel the power pulses from the long-stroke motor, but those are the very heartbeat of this big V-Twin, palpitations that please, not vibrations that annoy.
Very little about the ride intrudes into the Custom’s overall program of gratification. The fork is nothing exceptional, technologically or otherwise, but it nonetheless soaks up just about any road imperfection with surprising effectiveness. And despite the bike’s abnormally short rear-wheel travel, the ride is acceptable, even if far from plush. Only when the wheels slam over a big, square-edged bump or pothole does the rear suspension deliver a memorable thump that can punt the rider up off the seat. Playing around with the pressure in the air-adjustable shocks helps reduce the incidence of bottoming, but hey, there’s only so much that 2 inches of wheel travel can do.
Surprisingly, the seat doesn’t compromise the ride, either, even though it’s neither as thick nor as wide as other FLseries saddles. It’s intelligently shaped and padded, so it supports the rider’s underside well enough to ward off premature numb-butt.
But the passenger segment is another story. It’s narrow and slopes toward the rear as it follows the arc of the rear fender, and it isn’t augmented by a backrest or grabrails. Consequently, a passenger tends to slide off the back of the seat, offering her/him no choice but to cling tenaciously to the rider-not necessarily a bad thing, except that the rider, thanks to the illogical location of the handgrips, is probably having enough trouble holding himself up!
As with the handlebar, however, the aftermarket offers lots of affordable, readily available answers to just about any seating questions. Even Harley’s own accessories catalog lists numerous seat and backrest options that could shift this problem into the past tense.
That list also includes windshields to fit the Custom, although the little flyscreen above the headlight actually does serve a useful purpose. At speed, it deflects air upward just enough to keep most of the blast from smacking into the bottom half of your torso. That might not keep your head and shoulders dry or warm, but it will marginally add to your comfort level when riding in inclement weather.
We also were pleasantly surprised by the bike’s handling. Considering that a full inch was chopped from the rear suspension, we expected the Custom to start dragging hardware the moment it leaned more than a few degrees; after all, none of the other FL models are what you would call the bank-angle masters of the universe. But even with its reduced ground clearance, the Custom is able to arc around comers at respectable lean angles before anything starts making sparks. Credit this banking ability to the Custom’s
stylish new footboards, which are considerably narrower than the traditional H-D planks, allowing the bike to lean over farther before they zing the tarmac.
So, even though the Custom is about as far from a backroad corner-carver as one might imagine, it still glides through the turns with sufficient grace to let a sport-minded rider have a little fun-not too much, mind you, but just enough to make the ride interesting. Yet in a straight line, the Custom still has all the rock-steady stability that riders have come to expect from FL Harleys for decades.
All things considered, then,
H-D’s styling gums have done a stellar job of transforming a staid, traditional model into a roadworthy custom. Yeah, they made one or two ergonomic mistakes in their quest for style; but when you’re comfortably cmising a scenic backroad in the long shadows of the afternoon sun, the big VTwin purring steadily down below and the warm light glinting off the Custom’s uncluttered, lustrous surfaces, none of that matters. Things like handlebars and seats are easily changed, but the kind of mechanical seduction that the Custom radiates is hard to come by at any price. And as much fun as it is to look at, it’s just as pleasurable to ride.
Okay, Willie, you’re off the hook. □
H-D
ROAD KING
SPECIFICATIONS
GENERAL
List price $17,845
