differences between a FXR and a early Road King Frame

[chopper]

What are they? i have a real hankering for a mid 90's road king no idea why but i just love the look of them. I was wondering what the big differences are between the FXR frame and the road king? i know they are similar but how similar.

What im thinking is that if its not to much of a arse ache that i transform the FXR over the winter into one, most parts are available via ebay and the like i think. Main additions would be a set of hard bags, different rear guard and maybe a front end change if i could get hold of one.

Evo Road kings seem to command a good amount of cash for high mileage bikes, whereas my FXR is pretty low mileage and has a very good engine (and a barely used fifth gear some may say) so would be more sensible to keep and transform.

or do i just sell it and look for a nice mid 90's road king or glide that i then make my own....

what do you think guys??

[Panhead Boris]

The hard bags and rear fender would be relatively straight forward.

The front end I would think is not really worth the cost / hassle. The 5 speed FL frame is very different, and the fork legs sit behind the neck....i.e. the yokes are angled rear-wards from the neck! Rake / trail etc are very different.

[Noddy]

Neil, they are totally different bikes with totally different frames.
With lots and lots of work you might make an FXR look a little like a RK. Best option if you want a RK, would be sell the FXR and buy a RK. Not much help I know but its the easy way to a RK in the long run.

[MORDUEMAN]

Road Kings have a complicated front fork arrangement, a swan neck under the nacelle, thus giving them great handling.
I would buy the Road King that you want and save all the hassel and cost, they are not called Road Kings for nothing

[joshj]

Ifancied doing somthing on these lines but the more i looked into it the more needed done.the cost was mounting up too. I think selling and another bike would be the way to go.

[Bigh555]

Originally Posted by chopper

What are they? i have a real hankering for a mid 90's road king no idea why but i just love the look of them. I was wondering what the big differences are between the FXR frame and the road king? i know they are similar but how similar.

What im thinking is that if its not to much of a arse ache that i transform the FXR over the winter into one, most parts are available via ebay and the like i think. Main additions would be a set of hard bags, different rear guard and maybe a front end change if i could get hold of one.

Evo Road kings seem to command a good amount of cash for high mileage bikes, whereas my FXR is pretty low mileage and has a very good engine (and a barely used fifth gear some may say) so would be more sensible to keep and transform.




or do i just sell it and look for a nice mid 90's road king or glide that i then make my own....

what do you think guys??

your fxr is a great bike, the best ever handling, some say. have you ridden a RK for any length of time, if you did and then went back to your fxr you would realise how much fun the fxr is, would be a great pity to wreck such an appreciating asset. After all anyone can go and buy a Rk, can ya get an FXR just like that? I have been running around for a few months on an Ultra whilst I had my fxr off the road doing transmission repair. My fxr is up & running now, which one do you think stays in the garage? I have to be careful cos I'm going everywhere way to fast cos of the good handling, its fun wit a capital F, Lol I think you will regret modding your bike, or selling it, had mine so long its like my brother, only it dont drink as much! Lol
Hope this helps
Paul

[Stuarty]

I got a FXR and often thought about changin for softail or something.

Cant seem to bring meself to sell it.....sad....innit!

[Realbark]

The FXRs are fun bikes. If its the look you're after there are lots of ways of altering the bike to look Roadking-ish without spending mega bucks and still keeping the fun element. You need to think about what you want, then how to achieve it without neccessarily hitting a catalogue/stealers. I can never get over the amount of people who just chuck money at a bike and still have nothing that you cant get off the shelf. Its not all about money IMHO but about what you are happy with and what you want but that still stands out.

[Bigh555]

Originally Posted by Stuarty

I got a FXR and often thought about changin for softail or something.

Cant seem to bring meself to sell it.....sad....innit!

Not sad at all, a descerning rider I would say.....anyone can have a billet barge........thats why people who know rate sportsters so much, it does what it says on the tin.....goes, stops n turns, just what a bike should do.......must dash off to polish me tassled fringe jacket, Lol

[chopper]

thanks for the input guys, its appreciated, poked around the web a bit yesterday afternoon and found this....



loads more photos of how he did it here

From FXR to BAGGER..... pictures, photos, and videos, from harley davidsons on webshots

its a lovely job but its not what i want, it just doesnt look right, I do love the fxr and it does handle great, to be honest no better that my old sorted softail but still very good. The problem is that i also have a jap bike that handles 1000 times better, the harley is used purely for cruising or rallying so thats what i think i need at the moment (hence the road king or glide thought) when my young kids get a bit older and i get a bit more time then more fun can be had.

I havent as yet ridden one, so thats the first thing i need to do, ideally though i want to ride a nice old EVO one not a shiny Twin Cam and they dont seem to pop up in dealers that often.

For now she will stay in the stable, off to belgium in the morning rallying on the old girl and have worked planned for it when i get back so will wait and see what happens.

Another idea binned