Motorcycle specifications Harley-Davidson1870 Road King Special FLHRXS 2023 The dark road

Feet flat, eyes in the wind, shins unconstrained and pistons in the belly, the rider of a Road King Special can travel with a sense of authenticity. The bike has taken a piece of the night with it. Was it to avoid a recurrence that it reduced the size of its crashbars? More likely to leave more room when you want to use the controls. Or to put the panards on, as the case may be.
Standing like a king can go to one's head. It's easy to understand why new badges have been fitted to the fuel tank, why a Daymaker LED headlight has been adopted, and why a Ventilator air filter has been fitted to the engine. The monarch asserts his status, but refuses to be an aristocrat.

For the Road King is perhaps the simplest, most obvious and most traditional way of looking at the journey to the West. Whether American or from any other horizon.
Some years, there's just one Road King in the range. For some time now, there have been three. The standard FLHR, for cruising with serenity and understated panache; the Classic, for asserting a certain period attitude; and this Special version. Also powered by the M8 block, but in a fuller version than the two siblings - the 114 ci. It boasts a more taciturn look, an expression somewhere between menace and the promise of a bottle of Kentucky Bourbon.

To create the Road King Special, MoCo used much the same recipe as for the former Fat Boy Special. Darkness, night to cover the metal. Hints of black are found in infinite places: on engine protection hoops, hand controls, mirrors, indicators, engine and air filter covers, exhaust silencers and bumper guards, and concluding from the bottom of the forks to the end of the Mini-Ape handlebars. The latter aims to put the rider in a more aggressive position, while preserving comfort.

Is she expecting to run into Big Foot? That would explain the larger shoes. The 16" wheels have been replaced by larger units, 19" at the front and 18" at the rear. The Prodigy rims, this intense black and the clearly stripped-down fork make the bow much more aggressive. While the rear sits back and tapers with its specific suitcases, spilling over the end of the exhausts. The lowered profile is not just a matter of design: the seat has been lowered by 10 mm.

To continue the intimidation, a strong engine is a must. And just in time, the Road King range has acquired the Milwaukee-Eight twin. Rich in valves, torque and presence, it has managed to overlook a few vibrations and preserve an old-fashioned look. On this model, black has almost completely invaded. Only the cooling fins, rocker rods and part of the cylinder heads have been tempted by chrome.
Since 2019, the Special has been even more special, with an additional 123 cm3 of displacement. The 1868 cm3 engine offers more than one mkg more than the previous 107.

2020 focuses on electronics, sensors and assistances. Equipped with the Reflex RDRS package, this Road King hides its game well. You'd think it was an old-fashioned cruiser, but in fact it's controlled by multi-stage traction control (Standard, Rain, Disconnected), torque-sensing anti-dribble, angle-sensitive ABS and coupled braking, hill-start assist and tire pressure monitoring. Silicon mastery that we wouldn't have dared imagine 5 years ago on a Milwaukee machine.

Both Road King and Touring, the Special also benefits from emulsion shocks and a double-valve fork. The range has sought to offer its riders greater comfort, and has made an effort on the suspension. The result is a cruiser that weighs in at over 350 kilos. Expect to enjoy the open road, bearing in mind that driving it requires a certain poise and anticipation. Don't try to play with it as if it were an 883.

M.B - Manufacturer's photos