Thinking of triking a 2009 Police Road King

[CRBandit]

I have a 2009 FLHP Police Road King and am giving lots of thought to triking it. I'd like some input from others that have been here before me as to whether I'd be happy with a Road King Trike or if I'd be better of triking an Ultra. I would also appreciate any information people may provide on the various manufacturers of trike kits. I have been looking heavily at the Roadsmith, since I am here in MN and they would be considered a local manufacturer and I'd be able to have the factory do the conversion versus having a dealer somewhere do it. What other manufacturer's should I look at? I've heard that Motor Trike does a nice job with their stuff but I don't have a dealer really close. I like to hear any pro's and con's for the various kits and to hear if anyone has a Roadsmith, if they are happy with it.

I hope to read a bunch of comments soon. Thanks.

CR Bandit

[Nana]

Mine is a personal (not a technical) opinion..... I think the Road King would make a fantastic trike! Go for it!

[John Luciano]

We have at least one member riding a converted Police HD. Not sure but I think DFT has a dealer near you. The Trike shop/ Road Smith is a great TRike I have only recently seen one up close. The people that were riding it had nothing but great things to say about it. Unfortunately it was on a 2008 gold wing so I don't know how the HD would be .

[Gorilla]

CR Bandit Look at my album. My trike started out as a 2007 Police Road King. As you can see it is very much modified. I rode it 2 18 months as a 2 wheeler before I converted it. The Road King is a great base to trike from. I used a Champion Trike conversion. My only problem is that I raked the front. My Road King has antilock brakes and that means there are multiple brake lines running on the side of the frame at the neck. The raking caused the forks to hit the block nut that holds the brake lines in place. This means I have limited turning radius to the right but full turning to the left. Not a big issue you just have to remember the limit is there. I will be re-doing the brakes and doing away with the antilock system to resolve the issue. The rake is far more important. I rode for 40 years without antilock on my 2 wheelers so I think I will adapt okay. Most kits have trouble with the antilock so I hope the 09 you are looking at does not have them. If it does make sure you discuss this with the people you get to do the conversion. One of our members had a real issue with the antilock brakes on his Ultra when it was being converted. I forget if they resolved it or just eliminated them.

Asked me any question you might have

[myth]

i have an 07 roadking trike california sidecar is the kit. i love it! the road king makes a great trike! i would recomend a kit that has independent rear suspension only a personal preference but i think it handles great. but i thik you will love the ride and the look of the road king trike. good luck

[ultratrike]

I just finished a 2007 ultra on 11/29/08 but I have not rode it yet. My brother and nephew has for 20 miles and they both like it. I have to put on the trees in the spring but as it sets my brother wants to ride it more in the spring as he is thinking of triking his .My nephew put it on in about 20 hours and said it was real easy to line up everything.I had to edit as I forgot to the kit was a ROADSMITH.

[Gorilla]

ultratrike we need pictures please

[trikerman]

I have a road king trike and the pictures are in the garage, it's a great trike also had front end raked with a kit from a Dutch firm EML engineering and they have dealers in the USA. google EML engineering and click on the Harley Davidson trikes.

John.

[Nauga Mok]

I too am looking realy hard at the Roadsmith conersion for my '06 Ultra. There's really not that much mechanical difference between Ultras & Road Kings, just the extra stuff they hang on the Ultras. I wish I could try out a Roadsmith, but the nearest dealer is 450 miles away. I was also looking at CSC, but budget dictates that I do the conversion myself & CSC doesn't alow that -- Roadsmith does. Then too, I'm setting here with a broken ankle from my last confrontation with wet pavement at a stop sign on the Ultra -- 'Pest sez; "If you're going to keep riding, you better turn that d$#% thing into a trike!" So here I am, like you, picking brain on those who have trikes to see what everybody likes & don't like. Why am I looking so hard at Roadsmith? I like the longer wheel base because that means a better ride & a tad slower handling. It has outboaed brakes instead of a single brake on the diff -- don't like that idea at all & thats why I backed away from Mystery Design & DFT. It may work fine, but after being a mechanic all my life, I have problems with that design. OH --YEAH -- I'm new here too!

NM

[Nana]

Hey there, Nauga Mok. Welcome to TrikeTalk!!!!! I hate to hear about your broken ankle, but I have a feeling you are going to love that trike when it is done!

Every one of the brands out there are well built, while they all have their own individual look and mechanical differences. There is no right or wrong --- just the problem of finding the one that fits your own wants and needs best. It sounds as though you have excellent reasons for singling out Roadsmith for your kit. And as you are an experienced mechanic you should have no trouble at all with the build, so distance from a trike shop isn't an issue. Let us know what the final decision is, and keep us up on the progress .

Again....WELCOME ABOARD!

[Gorilla]

NM welcome aboard.
I built a Champion conversion on my Road King/Road Glide.

You are correct the only difference is the options and fairings. The basics are the same in all the same year touring models.

The Champion conversion you can build yourself and it has disk outboard brakes on each wheel. I have not comparied the wheel base but I like the ride just fine.

[Greydog]

NM welcome aboard.
I built a Champion conversion on my Road King/Road Glide.

You are correct the only difference is the options and fairings. The basics are the same in all the same year touring models.

The Champion conversion you can build yourself and it has disk outboard brakes on each wheel. I have not comparied the wheel base but I like the ride just fine.

Thumbs up on the Champion. It's a fine kit and you can now get it with independent suspension. I have the solid axle and like it just fine. I lost the ABS function but the two rear disc brakes seem to be just as good. I do think my rear brakes need bleeding as they feel mushy and will firm up if I pump the pedal. Gotta wait for warm weather to take it back to my builder and get it checked out tho'.

[Nauga Mok]

Thanks Nana! I stumbled in here while looking for reviews on the Roadsmith. This was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I do need to get over on the new member page & do a proper introduction yet -- maybe later tonight.

The Champion kit is a stock wheel base - 63" without rake kit. 'Course after watching OCC last night, they showed that wasn't an issue when they stretched that Mystery Design kit 5". Then I'd have to stretch the floor boards too if I ever got around to getting them. The thing that worries me about the Champion for my application is they say: "No off road or unimproved roads". One of my favorite camping spots in Southern UT is about 3 miles back in on an unimproved road that IS pretty rough. I've ridden it a few times with the Sporty & the Ultra -- not much fun! One NICE thing about Mystery Design -- they have a "life time" warrantee, but I think the Roadsmith 3 yr, 100,000 mile warrantee should work for me even if I ride the trike like I've ridden the Ultra. I was shooting for 20,000 this year 'till I blew out a knee & had to have that surgically repaired. Had just gotten back on the road when I broke the ankle, so I ended up with 19,346. Got CLOSE, huh? According to ya'll, I'll ride more! That WILL tick off the cat!! :yes:

NM

[Nana]

You wait NM, you will find yourself so stable and comfortable on the trike that you will never want to get off . Ask Greydog......he struggled with the decision, but now is wondering why! (well, Greydog and most everyone else )

[Gorilla]

I've ridden my champion (straight axle) off road a couple of times. The 2 wheelers that were with me were the ones that turned around. No issue from the champion.

[John Luciano]

I think what they mean is this is not an off road machine. I have ridden my DFT on a gravel road that a car ( cage ) would have had trouble on. I have driven up a steep grass bank , and have driven on a dirt road. Friend has a place in VT that was about 4 miles in on a dirt road . We yhee hawed that all the way in , what a blast , kicking up stones and gravel <LOL>

[Nauga Mok]

From what I've found on the web sites, Champion is the only one that recomends "no off road or unimproved roads" & only on the IRS. I read somewhere, they're having problems with bolts breaking in their IRS. Well --it IS a new design for them & just might have a few bugs yet. The DFT suspension looks to be bullet proof. Nearly every part in that rear end looks 10 times bigger than it needs to be. Mystery Design looks stout too. Roadsmith looks to me it's about right, but that design, they say, has had 14 years of refinement. What am I basing my opinion on? Only on 35 years of fixing suspensions on everything from bicycles to bulldozers. Yes, Cat does have a pretty complex suspension on their crawler tractors. If you want to see suspensions stress tested, work in a taxi fleet & you'll see stuff fail that NEVER fails on normal cars! Cars in taxi fleets are only allowed 4 years service here in 'Vegas, BUT, they average 100,000 miles/yr. Roadsmith sez 100,000 mile warantee -- I believe it should be no problem for them, DFT, Mystery Design or Champion's, Frankenstein, & Lehman rigid axel set ups. CSC is such a complex set up, I don't know -- it has all kinds of triangulation going for it, it might be as tough as any thing out there. There was another design, I don't remember who, but it looked pretty flimsy. Just my opinion -- I COULD be all wet, but I don't think so. Then too, I'm an old Operating engineer mechanic weldor who builds stuff 10 times stouter than it needs to be.

NM

[SantiagoChopper]

I have a 2009 FLHP Police Road King and am giving lots of thought to triking it. I'd like some input from others that have been here before me as to whether I'd be happy with a Road King Trike or if I'd be better of triking an Ultra. I would also appreciate any information people may provide on the various manufacturers of trike kits. I have been looking heavily at the Roadsmith, since I am here in MN and they would be considered a local manufacturer and I'd be able to have the factory do the conversion versus having a dealer somewhere do it. What other manufacturer's should I look at? I've heard that Motor Trike does a nice job with their stuff but I don't have a dealer really close. I like to hear any pro's and con's for the various kits and to hear if anyone has a Roadsmith, if they are happy with it.

I hope to read a bunch of comments soon. Thanks.

CR Bandit

Actually Our kit, Santiago Chopper, is perfect foe that type of conversion. The only thing is that we are in Florida. Probably would be easier for you to
order the parts and have a builder put it together over there. If you have any specific questions about triking your Roadking I would be more than glad to answer them.

[Nauga Mok]

For some reason, nearly all raked triple tree providers include some fork tube extension, except Harley's Triglide. Harley lengthens both tube & slider to affect their fork extension. Since I ordered a HD Triglide triple tree 'cuz the price was MUCH better than everyone else's, I was looking at using the ST tubes to make up for the extended fork assembly of the triglide. Trying to second guess the engineers that have figured out the stock FLHT fork is too short, I THINK they're trying to retain stock ride height. Since the Triglide triple tree has a 3* rake increase, going up to 6 or 7* with the ST tubes would again lower the front end back to where the stock FLHT tubes would put it with the 3* rake increase, so I wouldn't gain anything. Anyhow, that's how my feble mind's eye sees it.

Also, like CR was thinking about, I'm using the Roadsmith Conversion. You may build a great kit for a rigid axel, but I want the IRS & longer wheel base Roadsmith has for a better ride. I've had a rigid frame chopper & my days of getting my butt kicked by every bump in the road are LONG gone. 35 years ago the hard tail was fun & I put a LOT of miles on it, but now that I've passed the 60 mark a few years back, I'm lookng more for comfort than "how it sets". OK, a rigid axel trike is not the same as a rigid frame bike & DOES have rear suspension, but the IRS still has the better ride, & that's what I'm looking for.

NM

[Nauga Mok]

Drat! this should have gone in the "forks" thread. Sorry!
NM