In the absence of the Standard Electra, the Road Kings carry the mantle of the lightweight heavyweights while rising through the ranks of the Softails, we have a distinctly heavyweight lightweight. Arguably, we also have a heavyweight Dyna in the T-Sport, but the reality is that the new Dyna is anything but a contender for that title, so we're not looking at that here.

The Road King has been with us for six years now and it has made a lot of friends very quickly, although it is little more than the Electra Glide Sport that it replaced with a nostalgic makeover - represented largely by a return to the 1960-on DuoGlide headlamp nacelle and big-clock tank console. The upgrade to the Twin Cam 88 was painless and was a genuine improvement. It is the more basic of two models, and was specifically chosen for this comparison because it is the carb-equipped, hard panniered version and therefore gives further contrast with a fuel-injected Heritage Softail Classic.

The Heritage Softail Classic is a wholly different animal. As a Softail, it was passed over for the Twin Cam until the 88B's launch in 2000, at which point it became a more sensible proposition as a long-haul tourer. The leather bags have been toned down since the excesses of the Evo-powered model, with conchos replaced by studs, but it remains more reminiscent of the fifties than the sixties.

At first sight, these models are closer than they proved to be. The Road King Classic would have been visually closer but the same would undoubtedly have been true because the difference lie in the engines and the frames and the differences are marked.

Visually, I'd say the Heritage is the looker of the pair, but it is a close run thing: Hydra Glide tins versus Duo Glide aluminium headlamps, each flanked by spotlamps, atop sturdy, heavyweight forks. Big mudguards wrapped round sixteen-inch, high profile tyres on spoked wheels. Fake fatbobs, each holding the big speedo, with the Heritage preferring the shortened dash to the full length chromed casting of the Road King. The lower seat of the Heritage, nestling in the hardtail-like angle formed between the chassis and the steeply rising rear mudguard contrasts with the flatter seat sitting on the near horizontal frame rails of the Road King, with the pillion having little more than a couple of inches additional height where the mudguard clears the top of the frame. Both mudguards are massively-proportioned but astonishingly almost hidden from view by panniers that evoke the historical point of reference for each bike. Both engines are externally very similar, but breathe very differently with the Road King running a silencer down each side of the rear wheel rather than the staggered duals of the Heritage. Both bikes styles are steeped in the heritage of the Harley-Davidson motor company and, as such, preference must be subjective but the practicalities are a different matter.

These two bikes meet at the junction between making a tourer more practical for everyday street use, and the desire to make a streetbike more practical for distance work and they bring with them their baggage.

The Softail frame made two impressions very quickly when it was launched: style and engine feedback. Style has already been covered as subjective and so, to some extent, is feedback, but there are issues. The Softail was introduced at a time when the last four-speeds were drawing breath and opinion was divided between solid mount and rubber mounted engines. The FXR/5-speed chassis allowed the insulation of the rider from the vibrations of the engine, and this was a "good" thing ... except that it also divorced the rider from the feedback that they had long associated with an old-fashioned long-stroke V-Twin, which was a "bad" thing. The FXR was supplemented by the Softail and a return to solid mounted engines and long-stroke engine feedback, and it became the natural successor to the four-speed almost overnight. Prospective owners tested bikes at dealers - often FXRs - and then bought their own - often Softails. There was a dilemma: the FXR did the right thing for comfort, but didn't conform to a lot of peoples idea of a Harley, the Softail looked right but was sometimes deemed too crude. The Dyna resolved that and gave an old-fashioned seventies style with rubber mounts for the street market, while the Softail continued on, meeting the demands placed upon it by the nostalgia and custom market.

Then came the Twin Cam.

The Twin Cam changed the rules insofar as the engine was proportionally a shorter stroke engine, revved more highly than the Evo, generated its higher power output higher in the rev range than the Evo and the nature of the vibration changed (see Tech / Developments / Twin Cam 88). The solid mount Softail needed to address this before it could run the new engine and the choices were two: rubber mounts or balance shafts. Balance shafts worked and so we have the Twin Cam 88B. The net result of this is that we can have a Twin Cam Softail that is both rideable and which also might be a better long-haul tourer, so while the Heritage Classic has been with us for seven years, it might give the Road King a run for its money.

The Road King on the other hand is a lightweight Electra-derivation and uses the touring chassis that evolved from the FLT, and which was the first rubber-mounted production Harley, predating the FXR by a year. In the context of a touring motorcycle it was an obvious evolution. The new frame brought with it a massively reduced rake of 26-degrees, and a healthy touring trail of 156mm - more even than the 34-degree raked out Custom Softails. This makes it stable, but it defies mathematics. Tight rakes are good for manoeuvrability and long trails are good for straightline stability. Combining the two has lead to the strangest headstock to be seen on a Harley because it means that the fork legs are actually behind the steering head - a very obvious thing to spot on the original ones but now neatly concealed and only visible from the pilot's seat by turning the handlbars, at which point the switch that you thought was the top of the headstock moves in the opposite direction to the forks. Very disconcerting at first, but you should get used to it. I didn't, and I don't like it - because I'm irrational sometimes - but I can't deny that it works, and works very well. At the back end of the frame, the untidy bits are hidden behind fibreglass covers. The oil tank and battery used to live down there on the timing side, with the battery intruding greatly into the space that should have belonged to the right hand pannier, and these were hidden behind ... er ... cosmetically challenged covers. I can't recall what lived on the left hand side and can find no visual references to stir my memory, and it's not important here anyway, so we'll move on. Touring chassis are treated to air shocks and forks, and the Road Kings are no exception, which give a firm yet pliant ride when set up correctly, which is lucky on a machine that has the potential to rattle its fibreglass so much.

In an attempt to tailor the Road King for the street, Harley-Davidson have made few compromises, but the one they had to make, they've done well. In losing the tourpac, they've rationalised the lines of the deep, soft and incredibly comfortable saddle and put a good-looking seat on that complements the lines of the topless tourer. It was never going to be as comfy as the original, but it's not as big an issue as it could have been.

Riding the two bikes brought one most obvious thing to the fore. The 88B is a masterpiece in the transformation it brings to the comfort of the Softail, but while using balance shafts in an engine does retain some engine feedback for the rider, I would argue that the feedback of the shorter stroke engine isn't an especially pleasant experience. It's harsher, higher pitched and more intrusive - partly because the engine is turning over faster to bring the increased power to bear. I understand the desire for low thumping heartbeat of a low-revving power delivery, and share it in all but long-distance environments, but this isn't what I was expecting. It was exacerbated by a noise which is akin to an overhead cam engine running with no oil: it was a rushing, scraping sound and it prevented me from feeling comfortable with the bike until I took the screen off, when the wind noise supplanted it and gave me the opportunity to get the engine spinning properly and use the power as it was designed to be used. I put this down entirely to the solid mounted engine, and its transmission of the mechanical noises beyond the range of rubber-mounts - which was borne out by swinging my leg over the Road King, which was a silent. Back to the Heritage: rushing noise. Back to the Road King: silence. Even just sitting on the bike with the engine ticking over is different between the two, and entirely down to the engine noise. I'd hate to think what noise it would make it if was truly running out of oil, and it's a sound I hope never to hear, but I've sat on lonely motorways with nothing but the night for company and a hundred miles still to go, and the noises that you start to hear drive you mad. A slight ticking that you just about pick up, becomes a hammering within ten minutes but, when distracted for a minute by conditions, or another noise, becomes as unobtrusive as before. I could use that as an excuse to fit yet louder pipes, or a stereo, but I enjoy the night and the ride too much for that sort of distraction.

I would dearly love to know whether a rubber-mount Softail was ever produced to test alongside the 88B but I suspect not. Common sense would suggest that the solid mounts and balance shafts would deliver the goods, but I can't help thinking that rubber would have been a better solution: time will tell, but I have to confess to wanting to throw a retrospective leg over an Evo Heritage Classic to qualify the improvements, and the vibration pitch changes between the two.

Aside from the noise, the seat which so naturally fills the hole between the chassis and mudguard, is at first wonderfully comfortable but increasingly buzzy through the pillion squab in the small of your back as you explore the engine's potential. It's not the vibration per se, but the pitch that makes it intrusive, and while it never became unpleasant, it did get marked down for it.

The Road King, on the other hand, was the developed, sophisticated cruiser that the offspring of an Electra Glide should be. Dial in a good cruising speed and hold it: there is feedback enough from the engine getting through the rubber-mounts to tell you that you are riding a big V-twin from across the water, but it never gets in the way. Roll the throttle on from medium revs and there is no way you could be riding anything else. You are aware that the engine is spinning faster than it used to, but it is only when you ride the tacho-equipped Electra that you are aware just how much harder faster than you'd expect.

I'm going to make the first of many pleas here: don't worry, you'll get used to them and you never know if someone's listening. Will someone at Harley-Davidson please look into possibility of incorporating a rev counter into a standard speedo. Aftermarket suppliers can do it, at the expense of a second, smaller dial, but it can't be beyond the wit of an inspired designer to work out how to switch modes on an electronic speedo between mph and rpm if the law allows. It'd be nice to do it that way because we don't always need a tacho and you don't generally ride a Harley by its engine revs, but it's sometime nice to know what's going on below. I'm sure if the law dictates that the road speed should always be visible, that the LCD readout for the mileage and trip could be switched to show the speed while in tacho mode. That'd be cute, a tacho without the extra clutter, and without messing up a perfectly functional, simple speedometer, with a button either on the right-hand side of the console to mirror the total/trip counter, or on the bars. I'll shut up now.

Back to the plot.

The other thing that differentiates the two bikes is the behaviour on the road which is dependent on both front and rear ends.

While looking similar, the front ends are really quite different: the 32 degree rake of the Heritage requires longer forks to maintain the same ground clearance when compared to the 'King, but that doesn't reflect in the lean angles which the Heritage shares with the FatBoy, and the 'King shares with the Glide. Neither, to be honest, are great shakes, and familiarity with either will get you shuffling round corners at indecent pace once you know the bike's habits, but one thing that is for certain is that you'll gradually grind down your footboards, because both bikes touch them down with ease. The alternative is to give them more ground clearance, but the Road King's seat height is quite high enough already, thankyouverymuch, for while the paltry dimension of 27-inches doesn't sound much, it doesn't account for the width of the seat. The angle on the forks is, I suspect, the reason why the spotlamps on the Heritage were set far too high for a dipped headlamp setting, rendering them worse than useless: on my old Electra, you could set how they came on, but I understand that US federal laws mean that spotlamps must come on with the dip, and the harness is wired accordingly: obviously it is only a matter of loosening two nuts to adjust them. Finally, at the front end, the screen on the Road King was about an inch lower than the Heritage, which was still at least an inch too high for me: I would strongly argue that screens that you can clearly see over are a must in this country with the weather we endure, but alternatives are available with either 4-inches shorter or 2-inches taller.

At the back end, the beauty of the Softail does endow it with restricted suspension movement which is less of an issue for a custom than a tourer, and the correspondingly harsher ride amounts to another compromise in the long-haul stakes - not that true hard-tails aren't ridden thousands of miles a year, because they are, but it's comfort we're talking about here. The Road King's chassis is designed for the job and the fairly well hidden compromises that it makes in the beauty stakes are for you to judge, but the air suspension, front and rear, make for an easier, more relaxing ride.

If there is anything bad to say about the Road King in this comparison, it would be that the bars are too low. Low enough, in fact, to prevent feet-up low-speed manoeuvring without a clash of knee and bar-end - and the first time you discover it, you can only hope you have space to accommodate your new forced line. On a bike with a screen, there is no reason to put low bars on, because you're not going to get dragged off the back by wind pressure.

And that about sums it up. If you want a fifties-style retro custom bike that you'll occasionally do serious mileage on, the Heritage Custom Softail is unassailable: it looks right and it goes well, and it is anticipated that the screen would be fitted for longer runs so you wouldn't be treated to the unnatural noises from the solid-mount engine, but if it is a mile-eater that you want to occasionally pose on, the Road Kings are the kiddies. Fashion will dictate which of the two suits your aspiration, but the standard one here gives you the simplicity of a carburettor with the security of lockable luggage, while the Classic give you fuel injection and older styling more on a par with the Heritage, but your quick-release pannier buckles are not secure.

Second Opinion
Words: Rich King

Jumping off the 2001 Heritage Softail, which I'd lived with for a week and ridden down with Andy on pillion to HDUK's Northamptonshire headquarters from South Cheshire and then, climbing straight onto the Road King, was an extremely interesting experience. The seating position of the 'Glide felt much more forward, seemingly up above the motor, while the Road King's steeper 26 degree rake - off the very similar FL front end - to the 32 degrees of rake on the Heritage helped lend an almost arcane, classic bike sort of feel to the 'King. However the steeper rake and better leverage on the bars made the steering feel noticeably lighter. Surprised and impressed by the ability of the Heritage to cover miles too, I hadn't expected the difference between the two machines to be quite so marked so for the first few minutes I actually didn't feel anything like as comfortable as I had on the soft-tour Softail. I even began to question my own previous experiences on Road Kings or, conceivably, was this Road King, a 2001 model all that different from previous Road Kings? I was, well, disappointed and pretty shocked. To start with at least.

After the luxury of the Heritage Softail's fuel injection, the return to that single CV carb on this FLHR reminded me that 'real' motorcycles need to get thoroughly warmed through before they operate efficiently. The normally aspirated FLHR Road King from cold acted sluggish and chuffed and farted back through the air-cleaner until it was good and ready thank you. Not really a bad thing when you consider there's an awful lot of cold and barely lubricated metal whirring around under the tank - a factor all too easy to forget with the auto-'choked', ride away engine management of the injector. Blimey, there's a nice long term project if anyone wants one: will two otherwise identical Twin Cams, ridden in the same conditions and stuff, over say 50,000 miles, show more or less internal wear if one is fitted with an injector and one a carb?

Another immediately noticable engine difference between the Softail and the Road King was the vibration, especially the low rev vibration. Whereas the solid mounted Softail's 88B balanced shaft reduced vibration massively (and quite eerily) from tickover and throughout the rev range, the Road King's plain old 88 bounced about merrily at tickover on its proven rubbermounts, shaking the whole motorcycle. A blip on the throttle was all it took to smooth the 'King, but at no point did you ever forget you were riding an American motorcycle. The vibes were never annoying, never intrusive and, if anything, the extra feedback made the riding experience MORE rather than less enjoyable. A quick glance at the (Euro) specifications is interesting when comparing the differences between any stock 88 and 88B, the balanced Twin Cam does seem to concede 4 or 5NM of torque (depending on carb or injection) against the earlier motor. On the road, this equates to the sensation that, despite the slight weight difference (the Road King is 10 kilos heavier than the Heritage Softail), the Road King did seem more responsive, gruntier if you like, in most conditions. I say 'seem' because we didn't do any timed quarters, or race them against each other around the GP circuit at Donington Park or anything ('though it would've been mighty good) and I'm quite willing to concede, if pushed, that the Road King's vibes just made it feel faster.

Behind the screen though, the Road King was a lot quieter, mechanically, than behind the screen of the Heritage Softail. The Road King sounded fine, while the dry-sounding, whirring, clacking and crunching offered by the Heritage was most off-putting and only went away when the screen was removed. I have absolutely no incontrovertible explanation as to why the Road King wearing it's screen should sound so clockwork comfortable, while the Heritage, similarly attired, should sound like someone's forgot to put any oil in it ...

... and no, they hadn't forgotten, there was plenty. We checked.

As for pillion comfort of the pair, cue Mandie, who had no complaints or problems on the back of the Road King, rating its comfort way above that offered by the Heritage Softail, despite the Road King's lack of a backrest, which the Heritage had, and because of which I expected it to win hands down. She appreciated the passenger foot boards on the 'King, and snuggled up behind me with hands unusually on my waist, she was quite happy with the seat. Once I'd got over the initial re-familiarisation period, I was supremely comfortable on the Road King too - though I would still rate the Road King Classic 1340 I'd ridden before slightly above it - I'd have to ride the 88 Classic to get a definitive answer. The handlebars at first seemed a little low, at least compared to the Heritage and again, at first, I was clumsier than I'd remembered while I manoeuvred the beast under power in tight spaces, particularly U-turning on two lane roads. However, much of my previous Road King riding experience was abroad  - and U-turning left with wide low bars is a hell of a lot easier than U-turning right ... alright, except on a classic Indian p'haps with its left hand throttle. The clutch seemed lighter than the Softails, for some obscure reason - not that I was complaining - and the Road King's comfort and stability, allied to the light clutch and a crisper, more positive gearbox meant that any long distance trips I made, never got tiresome.

Significantly the ride was stiffer than the Heritage, and stiffer than I remember any of the other Road Kings I've ridden - it wasn't anything like bone-jarring, the handling was fine, so apart from a slightly shaken girlfriend on a particularly creative piece of council road maintenance and the odd thud from the padlock and chain in the right hand pannier, I never bothered to look at changing it. I was expecting a stiffer ride on the Heritage, but even with less room for the parallel and horizontally mounted rear shocks to move, it was perfectly comfortable as well as perfectly stable.

Interestingly, I didn't ground the footboards spectacularly on the Road King, something that seemed to happen with monotonous regularity with both the recent floorboarded Softails that I've had out: namely the Fat Boy and the Heritage. Surprisingly, the ground clearance is exactly the same with all three bikes (12.99cm to satisfy any real anoraks) and if you're prepared to concede that the wheelbase difference, a paltry 2.5cm surprisingly in the Softails favour, wouldn't make that much difference, only the lean angles are different. But whereas the Fat Boy loses out to lean by at least a full degree on either side, the Heritage actually offers nearly 2 degrees more lean, at least on the right, than the Road King. Mmm. Perhaps this says more about how well the new Softail frame handles than I've previously realised and I've been stuffing the Softails into those tempting roundabouts a little bit faster than I've done with the King?

In conclusion - because I've got to stop sometime - the Road King ended up being as good as I expected it to be after a shaky start, while the Heritage Softail was infinitely BETTER than I expected it to be ... which came as a real shock to be honest. Forced to choose between the pair though, it comes down to aesthetics and practicality - and I'd plump for the Road King. Just because I prefer a long distance, practical bike I can sometimes pose on, to a posy bike I can use as practical transport over a long distance.

Specifications        

Make & Model	Harley-Davidson FLSTCI Heritage Softail Classic	Harley Davidson FLHR Road King
Engine:	Twin Cam 88B (balanced). Air-cooled 45° V-twin.	Twin Cam 88. Air-cooled 45° V-twin.
Displacement:	1449cc (88 ci)	1449cc (88ci)
Compression Ratio:	8.81	8.8:1
Bore & Stroke:	95.3 x 101.6	95.3 x 101.6
Torque:	106.0Nm @ 3500rpm (105@ @ 3000 on injection)	110Nm @ 3100rpm
Fuel System:	FLSTCI Sequential Port Electronic Fuel Injected (SPEFI) model tested. FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic also available with Keihin 40mm Carburettor	40mm Keihin Carburettor
Exhaust System:	Staggered shorty duals duals	Crossover Duals
Oil Capacity:	3.3 litres	3.8 litres
Fuel Capacity:	18.9 litres (includes reserve on carb version)	18.9 litres including reserve
Primary Drive:	Double-row (duplex) chain	Double-row (duplex) chain
Final Drive:	Kevlar belt	Kevlar belt
Overall Length:	2391mm	2440mm
Seat Height:	673mm	692mm
Ground clearance:	129.9mm	129.9mm
Rake/Trail:	32 degrees / 147.2mm	26 degrees / 156.3mm
Wheelbase:	1637mm	1611.6mm
Dry Weight:	335kg	345kg
Lean Angles:	28.7° left / 28.9° right	30° left / 31° right
Instruments:	Electronic speedo with odometer and resettable trip meter. Fuel gauge, low fuel light (SPEFI Model only) oil pressure light, engine diagnostic light.	Electronic speedo with odometer and resettable trip meter. Fuel gauge, oil pressure light, engine diagnostic light.
Colour Options:	Vivid black, jade sunglo pearl, real teal pearl, white pearl, luxury rich red pearl, suede green pearl, bronze pearl. Two Tone schemes: Luxury blue and diamond ice, real teal and birch white, luxury rich red and black, suede green and black, concord purple and diamond ice	Vivid black, real teal pearl, white pearl, luxury rich red pearl, concord purple pearl, bronze pearl. Two Tone schemes: Luxury blue and diamond ice, real teal and birch white, luxury rich red and black, suede green and black, concord purple and diamond ice
Price:	£13,095 single colour £13,295 two-tone (Carb models: £12795 single colour £12,995 two-tone) Prices include usual otr inc. PDI, full tank of fuel, 12-months tax, first service, 12 months membership of Harley Owners Group (HOG) including their European roadside recovery	£12,495 single colour £12,795 two-tone Prices include usual otr inc. PDI, full tank of fuel, 12-months tax, first service, 12 months membership of Harley Owners Group (HOG) including their European roadside recovery
Test bike kindly supplied by:	Harley-Davidson UK. Oxford Business Park, 6000 Garsington Road, Oxford, England OX4 2DQ Tel: 0870 850 1903 (UK)

Wildcard: Electra Glide Ultra Classic Semi-tourers such as the Heritage Softail Classic and the Road King should always be measured against the real thing, if only to pick up on what you lose - or indeed, gain. Strangely, both these bikes represent the Harley-Davidson world before the Electra Glide: the Heritage is the HydraGlide, the Road King is the DuoGlide. Rather than being cut-down versions of the big 'un, the Electra is the natural evolution of the others towards greater sophistication and luxury and it is this that makes it the car drivers' favourite motorcycle ... the bloody thing's even got a cigarette lighter for chrissakes, but no ashtray! So what is luxurious about any motorcycle? In this case, the most comfortable seat you'll found outside your sitting room: deep, soft and up to miles of pain-free riding. It can be this thick because the mass of the tourpac and the rear-mounted speakers take the eye away from the shape of the motorcycle itself. The same seat on either of the others would look too big and cumbersome - check out the Electra Glide standard (no longer available in the UK) to see what I mean. It has a screen that contains a dashboard that my brother compared to his BeeEm car, giving you information relating to battery charging, oil pressure, fuel levels, ambient air temperature as well as engine and road speed. It has an in-built stereo system that senses road speed and adjusts its volume accordingly and while it is only a radio/cassette unit, it does have a takeoff to afford the owner opportunity to fit a CD multi-changer in the tourpac. The radio/cassette also serves as a clock whether on or off, and is controlled by handlebar-mounted switches governing volume, radio band, and a self-seeking station tuner - all of which are duplicated for the passenger's entertainment at the right and left-hand side of their armchair. It has a cruise control that isn't the crude thumbwheel that applies friction to the twistgrip to counter the return spring, but an electronic gizmo with links to the injection system which will keep the bike at a given speed up-hill, and down-dale until cancelled by the application of the brakes or pulling in the clutch - in which event you can resume the pre-set setting at the push of a button. It has a bigger fairing that covers the extremes of the handlebars to keep your hands warmer and dryer than the police screen allows, and with a shorter blade that you can actually look over, although you obviously can't see much that happens round the front wheel as the fairing is fibreglass. This is backed up by fairing lowers that keep the worst of the weather off your legs, and any gaps between the two are reasonably well covered by the clear wind deflectors built off the bottom of the screen. The pillion gets a backrest to keep them more comfortable than they would be on any other bike, and a good many cars if we're being honest here, and that backrest is built into the top of a cavernous tourpac that will swallow two full-face helmets with ease. This is the mounting point for twin aerials that support the stereo and the CB that we can't use in the UK, and which make a hell of a noise on every garage door you're likely to find. But at what cost? Financially, twenty-four hundred quid more than an injected Heritage, three grand more than the standard Road King, but that is only a part of the story. The primary wonderfulness of the Electra is the screen which is great in Winter, but a little warm in the summer and cannot be removed without massive, and I do mean massive, modifications. Come summer - especially a warm summer, if you can remember those - that screen, with the static air behind it will make you sweat. The stereo through its speakers is great up to about fifty five, beyond which speech is inaudible to the rider and music out-booms a ten year old Golf GTi with a boot full of bass. The weight of the electrickery in the fairing takes its toll not only on weight, but also on weight distribution which, when combined with a tourpac loaded within its stated maximum weight, makes it a handful for anyone much below six-foot. In fact you get more than 100lbs more than the Heritage and more than eighty pounds more than the Road King - and the vast majority of it is way up above where you want it. The fairing lowers are weird. In weather when you should be glad of them keeping your legs dry, they actually make it rain upside-down inside the fairing! If you wear a full face helmet it means that the visor that you need to keep slightly open to keep it clear - because the lack of air behind the fairing prevents the most advanced helmet's venting systems from working effectively - gets a coating of rain on the inside! In decent weather they prevent the warm air from getting away so give you a second reason for breaking into a sweat - and indeed in heavy traffic. The backrest requires the dexterity of a Russian Gymnast to clear for both rider and pillion until familiar with the mounting technique. But ... Its niggling shortcomings are a small price to pay for the supreme mile eater that is the Electra Glide. Electra owners looking to save a few bob would miss the sumptuous splendour of the decadent King of the Highway. Potential Electra owners might find short-term solace in either of the Road Kings while their bank balances prepare for the sort of hit that is normally associated with a mid range family saloon - or a house in some parts of the country - but they would probably not look quite so kindly on the Heritage which is getting closer than any Softail has been before, but not close enough.