Friday, May 17, 2013
Review Harley Davidson Road King – The King of the Road
Harley Davidson is an American motorcycle giant which specializes only on super heavy weight touring bikes. Harley Davidson entered India in 2012 and has been constantly bringing their complete portfolio to India. Harley offers 12 models currently in India and Road King is one of their most expensive model. Harley recently unveiled their all new 2013 version of the Road King. Today we are going with the Harley Davidson Road King to enjoy what a Harley is really made for which is long distance highway touring.
Here is my experience with Harley Davidson Road King. We decided to start our ride early in the morning so that traffic will be less and we could enjoy Road King more. When you ride a Harley, every thing must be in Harley’s way. So I put the Harley jacket, gloves, shoes and helmet. Finally I was ready to start my ride. When I sat on the bike, the first thing I noticed was the heavy weight. I had to lift the 368 Kg from the stand. It was one of the toughest thing I had to do in this ride. Finally I put the key into the slot. Harley are not like other bikes. before starting the bike, there are a couple of procedures. I completed everything and clicked the electric start button. Road King started with a big roar and earth shattering vibrations. I expected vibrations but these were little more. Sound from the big V-Twin engines coming through the dual exhaust was just amazing.
Slot it in to first gear and I was off. At first it was tough to control the beast because of the huge weight. After riding it for a couple of Kms, I got my comfort zone and Harley was coming towards me. Now riding the Harley was easy but the toughest part was about to start. We had to cross a few traffic signals before getting on to the highway. At each and every traffic signal, people came to take a snap of this rare master piece on the road. Myself and Harley were enjoying the exclusivity. Riding at city speeds is little tough but you wont mind it because you have become a superstar.
Finally we hit the high way and Harley was about to unleash its power from the big 1584 cc V-Twin engine. Harley and highway is a perfect combination. When you ride the bike, enjoy the road and sound coming from the exhaust. You wont feet anything happening in this world. The rider will go to another world. I was passing cars without any problem. When I looked at the speedometer, the needle was touching close to 125 Kmph. You wont feel it because of the weight. Even if you are going at 125 Kmph, you will feel it like 80 only. Gears are so perfectly matched for touring. Slot into 6th gear and enjoy the ride. In Road King, Harley offers Cruise control system. I was curious to check it out and as soon as I got a good stretch, I engaged the cruise control system and selected the speed. Then every thing was so easy and relaxed. I was totally enjoying the ride. I started the ride early in the morning and now its afternoon still I didnt feel any pain on my hands or back.
After the lunch, we decided to check the performance figures. Numbers were mind blowing with 0-100 coming in under 7 seconds and I got the chance to get upto 150 Kmph. Harley was ready to go higher but the roads in India are not suited for such high speed runs so I had to roll off the throttle. We continued our High way rush and I was totally falling in love with the Road king. Then we decided to give the ride a twist. We found another road which was full of twists which was good to check out the handling of Harley. I was little worried because of low slung foot pegs and heavy weight. But again Harley was awesome. We cannot compare it with other bikes handling. Road King is in a league of its own. It can handle well at reasonable good speeds. Road king made it pass the handling the section with ease. Thanks to the huge torque coming from the V-Twin engine, to be precise 13 Kgm of torque at just 3750 RPM. At any gear just roll the throttle and power was always present there. But I wont recommend anyone to take Harley to a race track.
Harley is best enjoyed in the long open high ways. Harley has given the Road King with ABS brakes which helps a lot on long rides especially in India. Because most of the time there wont be roads, we will be off-roading. Even if I braked very hard, Road king was so stable to stop. High speed and low speed braking stability is perfect. Harley has given excellent comfortable seats which are superb for the long rides. Finally the day with Road King was coming to an end. A day thoroughly enjoyed with the Road King. I was sad that I couldnt enjoy this every day. These are one of the best machines for touring. But only a few can afford it because on road Harley Davidson Road King come close to Rs. 27 Lakhs and if you have more money to spend, Harley will give you music system and lots of other gimmicks. The bike we have tested is owned by Mr Jinan Bashir. He is a great automobile enthusiast and Harley was one of his greatest wish. He has ordered extra features for Road King worth Rs. 3 Lakhs. If you have Rs. 27 Lakhs in your bank account then go and buy one of this monster machines and I am sure it’s a money well spent.
PICS TAKEN BY ABIN BABS ABRAHAM
