The Road King has been updated in the US for MY2016 and will be making a comeback to the Indian market in the following weeks as Harley’s entry-level touring offering.
Harley-Davidson recently spruced up its lineup for the 2016 model year introducing updates for the Street 750, Sportster series as well as the Heritage Softail Classic in the country. In addition to the updates, the American cruiser maker has made a major announcement that it will be bringing the iconic Road King in India for the second time with the launched scheduled over the next few weeks. As it is with Harley’s higher spec range, the Road King will be brought down via the CBU route in order to compete with the heavyweights.
An icon in Harley-Davidson’s range, the Road King personifies all things the company stands for with loads of chrome, enlarged proportions and the old school styling ensuring that the cruiser lives up to its name. The bike gets induced in chrome used all across the fenders, forks, 2-into-1 exhaust and the engine among other bits. The Road King can be easily identified by badging on the front fender while the large 22-litre fuel tank sculpted in the traditional design ensures a longer travel range.
Not a slouch by any means, the Harley Road King draws power from a 1689cc Twin-Cam 103 air-cooled engine that is seen across most tourers from the manufacturer and churns out 142 Nm of torque, paired to a 6-speed transmission. The luxury cruiser rides on 17-inch front and 16-inch rear cast aluminium wheels wrapped in the extremely cool 130/80 white walled tyres. Keeping the modern bits in place, the Road King gets LED headlamps, air-adjustable suspension as well as optional cruise control and ABS. The instrument cluster gets all the modern bits including gear indicator and distance to empty function.
The Harley-Davidson Road King will be carrying a price tag of around Rs. 23 lakhs (ex-showroom) in the country and needs to fend off competition coming from compatriot Indian Chief Dark Horse. The cruiser will also lock horns with the Moto Guzzi California 1400, Suzuki Intruder and the likes in the segment.
