An odd subject for a Head-to-Head roadtest, as these are the two most similar bikes in any of the Harley ranges bar one. Putting the XLH883 vs the XLH883 Hugger would be plain foolish, and we have no intention of doing that, but despite all outward appearances, the two 'Kings provide the opportunity to raise the fuel injection debate.

Laying out the pitch, there are three fundamental differences between the two models: bags, fuel system and price. Colour changes, seats, bars, whitewalls etc are worthy of mention, but the main battleground is on the former three.

The biggest visual clues are the saddlebags: leather or plastic. It is the most subjective of the differences and I'm firmly in the plastic pannier camp. Why? Because they are convenient, lockable and form a part of the overall style and shape of the bike, which is the shape and style of my old Shovelhead Electra.

I do like leather bags, and it would be churlish of me to rubbish them because they do look well, but they are less weatherproof, less secure and more fussy to get in and out of than their plastic alternatives.

You want further explanation? Okay.

Waterproof: leather is lovely when dry, but when wet can be a pain in the backside, doesn't hold out all the elements over a protracted period of time and takes longer to dry out than to get wet. Don't try to dry it quicker than is natural or else you'll embark on another set of problems. Slant-bags have a weather seal between bag and lid that is held in compression with the final closing operation. The material is waterproof and to dry them off when wet requires a dry cloth.

Secure: it doesn't take an enterprising thief to realise that the buckles provide no deterrent to a quick look inside - even if they don't spot the quick-release clips inside - while the lockable slant-bags with their cylindrical locks are largely unpickable. It is worth noting too, that an awful lot of roadtesters still don't see the quick-release clips after a week's association with the bike and the first thing I do when picking up a leather bagged bagger is to refasten the buckles into their original positions on their straps because they look saggy and tired when fastened anywhere else. Okay, the locks and their brackets possibly would hold up to a crowbar levering them open, but that would be a lot more obvious and would still only elicit a view inside. I know where I'd be more inclined to leave my camera. They only need locking when away from the bike, too, making them even more easily accessible when on the road - well, stopping for short breaks: you know what I mean.

Fussy: even the quick release clips can be problematic after a cold wet journey, and if you want to quickly get all your now-damp stuff out of the bag you need one hand to hold the lid open while the other furtles around dragging out your bits and pieces. The lift and separate action of the slant-bag lids keep them tethered and out of the way: even offering a small platform on which to rest things you don't need right now while furtling deeper.

If the same argument was to be had for a Softail, the leather bags would win every time because they suit the forties/fifties lines of the frame, in the same way that the slant-bags are the epitome of the naivety of sixties space-age, Flash Gordon-inspired sleekness that was inflicted on the Electra. It also complements perfectly the 1960 and later headlamp nacelle that was ditched with the first FLT tourers and reborn with the first Road Kings. The leather bags better suit the Hydra Glide tins, and the lines of the hardtail. Still, all very subjective.

Fuel systems are more subjective than they have any right to be, too. There are those for whom a carb is the only sensible means of metering the petrol/air mix destined for the furnace. A massive array of aftermarket alternatives will get over the coughing and spluttering of the strangled standard fitting and everyone has the ability to unbolt the stocker and replace it with their preferred option. Only thing is, there are as many disparate views as to what the best carb is as there are carbs themselves.

What people fail to realise,a lot of the time, is that the characteristics of any of these carburettors can be mapped into the chip of a fuel injection system. The only serious downside of this is that there are few people out there who actually know why a certain carb works well in terms of its fuel delivery at all points in the rev range, and fewer still who can map that to a chip that will accept such input. That will change over time as injection system become a necessary evil to overcome the dictates of international departments of transport. By the time you've finished - with the will and the knowledge to do so - you can modify the advance curve of the ignition system, and the fuel delivery map of an injection system to make your Road King torquey ands frugal for the long haul, and remap it to boost horsepower and to hell with economy for the weekend run-out with your mates. The third part of the performance equation would be cams but we can't dynamically change them yet, but the first two components can dramatically alter the character of the engine. That know-how is coming through slowly, and to give you an indication of this, Steve Mullen - whose 100bhp Evo lives in the tech section - is developing an injection system for his Dyna. Why? Because Harley don't do an injected Dyna, and because Steve wants to play.

But that's beyond the present day isn't it?

No. Not if you want to play. Injection systems have been used on cars for decades now and the knowledge is there: just needs the application of that knowledge.

Bringing it back to basics, if you have a Stage One kit fitted to your stock Road King, it requires a little more work than the same on the FLHRCI because the fuel system mods are a matter of chipping the injection system with a known, improved fuel mapping rather than replacing the whole carb with a flatslide Mikuni. It doesn't mean it'll be cheaper, just simpler. Be aware though, that the carb-powered Stage One kit delivers more power, because the EFI version will still be obliged to conform to emission laws in an easily measured way whereas carbs are always open to that final tinkering.

From stock, however, the EFI motor provides instant-on power from cold but it requires discipline and common sense to temper your enthusiasm for a quick getaway, as it disguises the need to get some heat into the massive engine. The stock carb drives you potty as it seems to take an age to get a clean pick-up for safe pulling off, but because all test bikes are not equipped with a Stage One conversion you have to live with it. In those cases, I always err on the side of caution and let the engine pick up cleanly before pulling off because I like the power to be there when it is needed: I have horrible visions of being broad-sided by a prat and having my demands for more power being met by a desultory ppphhhhtttt from the carb. I would always, on my own bikes, go the extra mile and get the asthmatic old windbag breathing more easily because it must be better for the engine as well as the rider. That isn't strictly speaking necessary with the injected motor, but by the time you've got the carb sorted, you will be pulling as much as 10bhp and 20ft/lbs torque more.

The other last thing that has a lot of influence on traditionalists is that a carb can be looked at, at the side of the road, problems diagnosed and sometimes repaired. Even that a carb that is starting to fail will still get you home, albeit with a hot engine or a pall of smoke behind you. A fuel injection chip gives nothing away however closely you inspect it, and if the power to the chip is gone, then so is your motive force. It's the same argument that has lead a brother of a friend to switch the Harleys that he runs for tourists on the East Coast of Australia back to chain drive because he can better repair that than a belt in the outback. Taken to its logical conclusion, however, it is an argument that would have you binning the electronic ignition and retro-fitting a kickstart.

And then there's price.

A thousand quid separates the two bikes, and this is entirely fuel system and bags. The engine finish, which often plays a part, is identical and in the black and chrome finish but I can't help wondering what impact the plain finish of the Electra Glide Standard would have on price - and indeed desirability. Better still, with a plain alloy headlamp nacelle, or even a gloss black finished one … sorry, I'm getting far too carried away. With the Electra Standard having been about £1500 less than the stock Road King when it was still available here, it is enticing to think what impression an £11k Road King would make, and it would surely be no more expensive to produce that the over-wired Electra. It would also make for a better base for building baggers, because for all its apparent simplicity, the Electra Glide Standard has issues: the tank is shared with the full dressers and therefore has no way of holding the big dial speedo, the headlamp nacelle costs a small fortune for something so simple, and the full wiring harness for the dresser is tucked away behind that simple shield on the fairing.

I suppose what I'm saying is that the price difference as it currently stands would not be enough, on its own, to ease the buying decision, and I am saying that a plain-Jane Road King for another thousand quid less might prove more alluring to the undecided.

And then there is the rest. The colours, the seats, the handlebars and the whitewalls.

Colours are very subjective, and both models share the same coachlines when going two-tone, which is not the best of Harley's lines to my mind. The variations, year-on-year, of the sixties Electras are more inspired, and more inspiring. Other than that, some schemes work for me while other don't and I could almost have my head swayed by the fact that the green of the FLHR here would put me off while the Red and Black of the Classic would draw me in. The fact that both schemes are available for both models, both this year and next, is of some significance insofar as the sheer elegance of the Classic owed much to my penchant for red, and the combination of the far less attractive green together with the leather bags would have swung my towards the FLHR in a much more convincing way.

Seating was exemplary on both bikes, and the only difference I could detect was that the seat on the classic was always hotter when left in the sun. I came to believe - but have yet to seek confirmation - that the seat was supplemented by a captive layer of gel just beneath the surface, and that this gel aided long distance comfort, while retaining the absorbed heat from the sun. If that was the case, Harley-Davidson would be the last people I can think of to keep it quiet so I may well be wrong. That aside, I could detect no discernable difference in levels of comfort between the two, and only wish I had the better lines of either on my Electra Glide Standard because they blend much better with the lines of the mudguard and bags.

The handlebars are very strange because they appear to be exactly the same, but that wouldn't explain why the ends of those fitted to the FLHR clouted my knee every time I did a full-lock, feet-up manoeuvre while the Classic's did not. I would probably fit older dresser bars to such a bike if I bought it: lower and more pulled back, like the handles of a wheelbarrow, but in the short-term I'd have to stand the bars up in their clamps by a fraction.

And lastly there are the whitewalls.

When editing All American Heroes, some years ago, I was given a tour of the Avon Tyres plant in Wiltshire. This served two purposes: one I got a pair of Elans on the Shovel in place of the AM21s and had a much better bike for it, and secondly I got the truth about Whitewalls according to Avon … much of which I have forgotten. I remembered one specific detail when we picked up the Classic in the rain, and Rich remarked upon the strong desire of the tyres to let go on wet roundabouts. I was on the Softail Standard and had had no such difficulties, but resolved to regulate my speed from then on. A niggling thing at the back of my head started coming through, and it was related to the need to attach the white sidewalls to the black tyre, and it was a process related to galvanising. Worse than that, it was a process known to give the tyres a poorer grip. Avon had just introduced the Gangster Whites and former motorcycle Supremo, Alan, went to great lengths to explain how their process worked in a different way to provide better grip, and also to make the white walls themselves dirt-resistent. Yippee!

Mentioning this on returning the Classic to Wayside, I was disappointed to hear that there have been fitting issues relating to Gangster Whites on Softail models and have resolved to bringing the matter up with Alan's successor, Leo at Avon, at the NEC this year: watch this space - or possible tech, or maybe we'll just link the two - for full details when we have them.

Still, these tyres stepped out quite badly and it wasn't all down to diesel, otherwise the FXST would've suffered similarly.

And there you have it.

Unidentical twins.

Carb versus injection.

Plastic bags versus leather ones.

And not a lot else.

So how the hell have I managed to write 2,500 words on the differences.

This, as much as anything else, is the reason why we do head-to-heads. Two engine types in four frame types should be easy to pick between, but when two bikes with so much in common can be so different, it picks huge holes in simple roadtests.

And it gets better … Rich will probably have a wholly different view again.

No-one said it would be easy.

If we can be honest with ourselves for a few minutes, if we really, really were massively persuaded by an ability to travel long distance in comfort and extraordinary luggage carrying practicality, we'd buy a 2nd hand Volvo estate wouldn't we.

Well we would.

What the motorcycle looks like, and how cool you look on it ARE factors we all take into account when choosing a motorcycle. If they weren't, nobody would buy the damn things would they.

Well they wouldn't.

Personally, that's why I don't particularly warm to the Electra Glide Ultra Classic (or any fully-loaded tourer for that matter). The Ultra Electra doesn't look dreadful - far from it - but neither does it cut it as a proper motorbike, not really. In my, albeit massively biased opinion, the Ultra Electra is more of a 2 wheeled automobile. A bloody good one, yeah, but a 2-wheeled car all the same.

That's why I like the Road Kings so much. When there's serious miles to do, either one of these motorcycles is my ride of choice. Both Road Kings are able to combine the ability to transport their rider (and pillion and a hell of a lot of their stuff) in a very high state of comfort, a very long distance indeed and - very importantly - look damn good doing it.

But when push comes to shove, which one? Both of the 'Kings have distinct personalities: neither are rubbish and both have their unique good points.

The straight Road King FLHR, firstly has the advantage of being cheaper by a whole £1000, at a paltry £12,495 (single colour). And secondly has the advantage (at least in my book) of coming equipped with that single carb. Not that I like the standard Harley-Davidson carb, far from it. I don't like all the spluttering and coughing for what seems like ages before it's warmed through and I'm still nervous about the carb's ability to operate efficiently in your slightly more extreme conditions: icing up is not funny, big or clever and always happens at exactly the wrong time! But there you go, the huge advantage of buying a Harley with a carb is that there is a huge selection of aftermarket alternatives you can plump for, hardly any of which will relieve you of anything like the extra £1000 you'd spend on the injected Classic. In fact you could probably fully professionally Stage One the FLHR, including the new 'pipes, new carb and proper re-jet for that 'extra' grand. Interesting huh!

The trouble is though, unlike Andy, I'm not too enamoured with the standard solid panniers on the FLHR. Yeah they are lockable, and that is fairly good. Though personally I reckon the 'false' leather buckles on the Classic's soft set up are a pretty good deterrent too. By the time a potential thief has worked out there's those plastic clips actually holding the leatherette lids down on the Classic - he or she could probably have forced the locks on the solid panniers on the 'standard'. Don't know really, but to be honest, just from a purely aesthetic point of view I prefer the semi-solid leatherette covered Classic panniers. However I'm sure the solid panniers do look better in a single colour, preferably darker rather than light. They look sleeker, more in keeping with that lovely downward sweep off the rear mudguard that all Road Kings can boast at the backend.

I'm no great fan of white-wall tyres at the best of times, if you use them, the white goes all dirty and I've oft suspected they don't handle anything like as well as plain old black tyres. A suspicion re-enforced by Avon's new white-wall tyre's ad campaign in which they claim to have improved the white-walling process so that their tyres actually handle. Mmm, interesting again. However, like or no, I'd obviously have to say I much prefer the FLHR's discrete white near pinstripe over the blatant huge white rings on the Classic. But neither would see replacement on any Road King I owned unless I had no choice. If I had to choose between the two because there was no other option, then obviously I'd opt for the thin white line, for whichever model needed replacements. And rah, neeyarr poo to the Road King Classic purists.

If there are any.

The FLHRCI Road King Classic boasts, firstly and foremost, Harley's wonderfully efficient fuel injection. No doubt about it, the system is excellent - no coughing or farting, not even from cold and no extreme weather issues as far as I know. Okay there is the suspicion that injected motors lead a slightly rougher life, because the management system allows the bike to be ridden away without a hitch from cold, but nobody just jumps on a Harley, fires it up and rides away - do they? Unfortunately yes, some un-caring tossers do, don't they. We've all seen it. Harley shop staff should all be directed to only sell carbed models to tossers, that'd stop 'em - or even better, be legally entitled to shoot them as soon as they walk through the door. And still get their commission!

I've ridden an injected 1340 Road King Classic over, what I believe to be the highest summer time pass in the Alps - the GrossGlockner pass in Austria. So high we were well into the snow-line by the time we reached the summit and the motorcycle never even missed a beat in that extremely rare and freezing air. Respect is due if only for that.

However there's more, I've found the Road King Classic is, p'haps bizarrely, even more comfortable for both rider and pillion than even the other 'King. Although pillions do appreciate the FLHR's generous rear perch, after a while there is the odd complaint, unlike the 'Classic' of which I've never heard a peep! The Classic's rider seat too seems to suit me better. I was lucky enough to ride a FLHRCI 'Classic' before the FLHR and remembering thousands of numb-free miles travelled honestly expected the FLHR to be able to match that level of comfort. It didn't, not quite. The FLHR was still damn comfortable, but not as supremely comfortable as the Classic had been. Slightly disappointed, I did put that minor long-distance discomfort down to a perhaps understandable case of rose tinted specs - until I rode another Classic. Nope, sorry the Classic's seat is definitely better.

With both Road King models available in the £200 pound cheaper plain colour mode at £12,495 and £13,495 respectively, I still have to say that, despite the fact it isn't a carbed model, and has stupid bloody fat white-walls, given an open cheque book I'd plump for the FLHRCI Classic. I could live with that less easy to up-grade fuel injection (boy, could I!) and with its faultless comfort, those tyres would rapidly wear and be replaced by something much more sensible. And I could be perfectly happy with it more or less as is - once 'de-restricted' of course.

On a more restricted financial budget though, I would never throw the FLHR out of bed. The 'Standard' Road King is still a wonderfully well rounded motorcycle, and enough people are buying 'Kings and modifying them nowadays for there to be a good chance I could pick up those coveted semi-soft panniers and that wonderful seat the Classic boasts second-hand.

Which of course, if you or I are intending to modify a Road King as soon as we get our grubby paws on one, begs one more possible option doesn't it. Getting hold of a much cheaper Tourer, like the Electra Glide Standard (would have to be second-hand or import at the moment if you don't live in the 'States) and Road King-ing it. The Electra Glide base bike really would have to be significantly cheaper though … for instance, have you ever priced up one of those distinctive headlamp cowl set-ups Road Kings offer as standard?

Specifications        

Make & Model	Harley-Davidson FLHRCI Road King Classic	Harley Davidson FLHR Road King
Engine:	Rubber-mounted Twin Cam 88 Air-cooled 45° V-twin.	Rubber-mounted 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:	110.0Nm @ 3100rpm	110Nm @ 3100rpm
Fuel System:	Sequential Port Electronic Fuel Injected (SPEFI) model	40mm Keihin Carburettor
Exhaust System:	Crossover Duals	Crossover Duals
Oil Capacity:	3.8 litres	3.8 litres
Fuel Capacity:	18.9 litres	18.9 litres including reserve
Primary Drive:	Double-row (duplex) chain	Double-row (duplex) chain
Final Drive:	Kevlar belt	Kevlar belt
Overall Length:	2440mm	2440mm
Seat Height:	692mm	692mm
Ground clearance:	129.9mm	129.9mm
Rake/Trail:	26 degrees / 156.3mm	26 degrees / 156.3mm
Wheelbase:	1611.6mm	1611.6mm
Dry Weight:	345kg	345kg
Lean Angles:	30° left / 31° right	30° left / 31° right
Instruments:	Electronic speedo with odometer and resettable trip meter. Fuel gauge, low fuel light, 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, luxury rich red 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:	£13,495 single colour £13,795 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	£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)