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2010 HD Road King Review

I am 64 and have been riding Harleys for near 35 years. I have bought new ones and used ones and worked on them as well.

I am not impressed with my new 2010 Road King. I am less impressed with the HD company's attitude on the issues with the bike.

1. Valve train is very noisy. These bikes as well ...as previous glide type bikes have hydraulic lifters and have always been basically quiet, but his one is louder than my Hot Rod solid lifetr, big cammed Shovel Head. They claim it is "accumulated crankcase tolerance stack up". Basically to me it means they have allowed too much tolerance and when too many parts make it into the assembly of the valve train that are at the outer limits of the tolerance range, the whole assembly gets very loud. Loud noises means, loose assembly, loose assembly means parts wear faster, much faster!

2. The new style rear brakes, when applied firmly, gives off a vibration to the pedal that feels like you are riding on pavement that has been ground in preperation for new asphalt. Why does a new bikes brakes feel worse than previous model brakes when the previous models worked fine?

3. Bike pulls to the left when you let go of the handle bars. (yes, on flat level roads)That means something is out of alignment i.e. forks, triple trees, frame, rear wheel etc. They can't find the problem in specific so they claim all the new Road Kings do this! So that makes it OK I guess if they all do it!!

4. When I took the bike in for the second servicing at near 7K miles, I told them the forks wobbled when handle bars were released at 38-42 MPH. They did nothing to try to fix that. You can feel the wobbling in your hands at other sppeds as well as the pulling to the left which makes the riders arms tire easily from constantly fighting the pull and the wobble (though mild) at all speeds.
At $19,000 for a new bike I should be in love with it. Everything that is wrong with it seems to be in tolerance as far as they are concearned. I have bought new bikes and never had these issues. It seems that if there is a manufacturing problem, they just increase the tolerance range which then makes everything within tolerances and OK by them. Anyone else that can add to this or support these issues out there?

4. The ride is not as smooth as my 2001 Road King was. It is much harsher on small bumps as well as vibrations to the floor boars.

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2010 Road King

I purchased a 2010 Road king a year ago and have logged alittle over 5k miles.I went fron a Electra Glide Standard to the Road King which was a big change.96 from 88,6 speed from 5 speed and a larger rear tire.I miss the fairing and tach but the cruise control and 6 gal tank help to make up the diff...ence.It is not as comfortable on the long haul but handles much better.I had to change the handle bars out to make it a touring bike becuse the stock bars don't fit the configuration of seat and reach.Over all I am pleased with the bike. Read Full Review

noisey lifters

ye si agree it is very noisey and at different speeds , pointed it out to dealer and mechanic said normal engine noise ,. i been workin on cars / motorcycles all my life im 53 now so to me its not normal noise period . very annoying when you hear it and wonder if its gonna hold together when on a ...trip going to sturgis south dakota next week will see, my 2008 standard touring had little noise at first then went to synthetic oil it stoped tried that on new one didnt make no difference. I challenge harley davidson to fix this problem so we can hear the sound you made so bad to the bone and not lifters please mike from mt vernon IN Read Full Review

Valve train noise complaints

I see a lot of people complaining about the valve train noise on new Big Twins and dealers tell them it is normal. At my shop we switched over to using conventional oil instead of synthetic oil and it made a huge difference in noise and less heat was noticed. Same goes for primary and trans as wel...l. Try it, the dealer just wants to sell synthetic oil thats why they tell you its normal. Read Full Review

My opinion 2010 HD Touring

Far from riding a trembling HD with carburetors: it rides 100% like a Japanese bike.



Excellent 6th speed, accurate, not tough on gasoline compared to my 2006 Electra glide classic, easy to ride etc...



Muffler sound disappointing, electronic and alarm system in control (not you), seat too hard....

BOTTOM LINE: too much of a Japanese ride for me... my disappointment. Read Full Review