I've been Riding scoots for a spell of time. I purchased a 2006 Road King for the comfort and reliability. I have owned many of scoots before and all being Harley Davidson.

I am going to put in my $.02 on something that has been aggravating the hell out of me. My 06 has 20,000 miles on her. So far I have replaced so many parts (Not CHROME) but mechanical. My first item that I had to change was the comp sprocket. Reason why, someone at the factory didn't torque it down and she backed out and wore the hell out of the it. Causing the chain to eat a bit of the case and tear the ass out of my stator.

The second item started to whine around 2000 miles. It was the cam chain shoes. Didn't see that coming. I replaced them with factory shoes and got another 4000 miles out of them. Still replacing them as soon as they cry out of the nose cone.

Then there is the problem with the rear swing arm. Had to get a stabilizer to correct the problem of rear steer.

There was also this little problem with the valves. At about 10,000 miles I started to get a little tap sound out of the boxes. I opened her up top notice that the valve guides were worn and the seals. So I R/R those bastards.

After that little procedure I have a little leak blowing on the rear belt. Well I'll be damned, It seems that the Tranny seal wore out cause of the main shaft on the tranny not being true. So I tore down the Tranny replaced main shaft and counter shaft. R/R seal and replace clutch.

I ran it for a bout 5000 miles like that and now I'm back doing cam chain tensioners.

Just a bit of advice for potential 2009 buyers. I have had 16 HD's over the past several years, and have worked at 2 dealerships as a mechanic. I went from softails to the touring line in early 2000. My first bike from the Touring line was a Road King Classic. I had several and just loved them. Working for a dealer I had the option to trade annually with not much in the way off a loss, so that is why I always changed bikes annually. In 2006 I tried the Street Glide and 07 as well. I decided the ride wasn't worth the trade off do to it's lowered suspension and went back to a 2008 RK Classic in late May of that year. It drove as good as any HD RK I ever had. Then comes the 09 Road King, new chassis, exhaust, fat tire, I just had to have it. Sold the 08 and bought an 09 RK Classic. BIGGEST MISTAKE IN MY LIFE, that bike has a ride as rough as an FLHX and the suspension isn't lowered. It is Harley's version of the 1 ton. I called customer service and discussed it with them. I also have a person that works in an engineering position at HD and we discussed it. He told me during testing, prior to production, the test riders complained of a rough ride. HD's correction of the problem was to fix all the Screamin Eagle bikes, and leave the production bikes as is. They changed the springs to a lighter rate, and dampening rods. The customer service person told me if I didn't like the ride, I should buy a Screamin Eagle. One of their techs told me to quit complaining, "you know what's wrong, quit taking the time complaining and fix it".

I purchased a 2008 Road King last March and was once struck by the discomfort of the handlebars (too short, too far forward). This is my 4th Harley and the first time I have experienced any riding dismay. When I purchased the bike (this is my 4th Harley, so I am not unfamiliar with their product) I indicated to the salesman that the bars were not as comfortable as on the Ultra (my previous bike) he said "no problem, you can change them later if you care to". After riding a few weeks I decided to change them only to find out that Harley has not yet designed any optional bars for the 2008.

I am a Motor Officer in moderate sized city in California. My department currently rides 2007 Harley Davidson Roadkings FLHP equipped with ABS. I recently experienced a front wheel lock during a training excercise at nearly 30 MPH. The front wheel locked for approximately 30 feet with the brake lever released.

I know HD had problems with crossed ABS lines in 2005, but haven't heard of anything recent. Do you or anyone know of any other HD ABS related failures since?

My 02 roadking still runs strong at 90,000 miles and still no leaks