2006 Road King vs Royal Star Photo Gallery

We took the Road King and Royal Star on a journey up and down the state of Oregon to find out which machine is the better cruising tourer.

The floorboards on the King, like all the other components, seemed smallish in comparison to the Star.

Classic styling cues on the King include the front fender.

With the King you know what you are getting, a classic American V-Twin cruiser that can pack on the miles.

There's nothing fancy about the King's controls, with an analog speedo and digital odometer resting on top of the fuel tank.

The bags on the King were narrower than those on the Star.

The King's saddlebags seemed to open in reverse.

Our passenger found the King to be the least comfortable of the two.

The best feature of the Star in regard to its touring capability is its cruise control that allows a more relaxing ride.

Another view of the Star's wild speedo.

The Star's bigger floorboards came in handy on the road.

A retro-looking speedometer figures prominently on the Stars control panel.

If you so choose, the Star's saddlebags are removable. The luggage was also easier to open on the Star.

The Yamaha's V-Four mill put out more horsepower and torque on the dyno.

Rubber-mounted handlebars help reduce vibration.

To remove the Star's windshield and passenger backrest all you need is your two little hands.

The Star can strip down in no time flat from tourer to boulevard cruiser.

A passenger backrest comes standard on the Star.

There is something to that Harley mystique.

The pugilistic nature of picking favorites is inherent when it comes to a bike shootout. Sometimes it just comes down to a matter of personal taste.

Quothe the raven...

Big wheel keep on turnin'... The Star went a size over on everthing.

BC: Do you expect me to talk?
Ken: No Mr. Chamberlain. I expect you to die.

Donny B is a sport rider by heart, so he had a difficult time choosing between the two lumbering beasts. He went with the one sporting the most personality - Harley-Davidson's iconic Road King.

When it came time to pick a definitive winner, it all came down to a matter of taste. Do you prefer the overall refinement of the Star or the personality of the King?

Out of the five test riders who went on our 731-mile journey, three chose the King while two sided with the Star.

When it comes down to it, choosing a winner between these two was a matter of taste.

The Star's V-Four was more refined, which some riders enjoyed, while Twin-loving riders like Ken here found it not as much to his liking.

The King's thunderous torque was more than enough to pull through the corners.

The Twin and V-Four are apples and oranges, and this is evident on the dyno where the Star displays a broader and stouter power curve.

In torque output the Star outmuscles the King, but some of those extra 7 lb-ft get sucked up by the Yamaha's almost 100-extra pounds.

Like everything else on the Yamaha, the windscreen is giant-sized. Note the standard-equipment passenger backrest that, like the windshield, removes without tools.

The King was a bit quicker turner but not quite as stable.

The Road King exhibits the familiar Harley clunk during shifting, a characteristic the 2007 model's Cruise Drive transmission improves.

We were all in unanimous agreement that the sound of the King's pipes was the better of the two.

Once we wrapped our heads around the fact that these aren't apex-shredding sportbikes and embraced the more laid-back cruising approach, the King and Star showed us what they are all about.

On our journey home, the miles clicked away in relative comfort on the roomy Star, with its smooth V-4 engine loafing along below.

If you want to go see the sites on a cruiser, you can't wrong with the Road King and Royal Star.

The Road King proves to be nimbler at lower speeds than the whale-like Royal Star, but sketchy handling at higher speeds unnerved some of our testers.

Part of our testing jaunt took us to the Oregon coast where we hoped to shine a light on the differences between the King and Star.

The Royal Star's windshield wasn't as problemlatic as the one adorning the King, although if the wind was just so there was some buffeting to the helmet.

A meandering route across our home state provided all kinds of roads for us to test out the versatility of these two cruiser's total touring package.

One of our big gripes about the King was its windshield, which was right in our line of site.

With its long wheelbase, the Royal Star was a very stable ride indeed.

Despite its jumbo proportions, the Royal Star proved to be more stable in corners than the Harley, aided by its stiffer frame and big tires.

The Yamaha Royal Star Tour Deluxe weighs in at an astronomical 816 lbs with its 5.3-gallon tank empty.

The fact that the Road King seems compact by comparison is more a testament to the Star's gargantuan size. All by itself, the King is an imposing figure.

The Royal Star and Road King have many similarities, but the King makes its rider feel more upright in the saddle.

Would the Road King or Royal Star be a good fit as an urban commuter? Not bloodly likely!

Like everything else on the Yamaha, the windscreen is giant-sized. Note the standard-equipment passenger backrest that, like the windshield, removes without tools.

The riding position of the Road King is more upright compared to the Star. Storage capacity in the King's saddlebags is limited, so a multi-day trip will require few clothes or accessory luggage.

BC couldn't understand why anyone would pick the Road King over the Royal Star, as he believes the Yamaha is a better overall package.

Our route took us through all kinds of road conditions: freeway, mountain twisties, liesurely highways, and even downtown rush-hour traffic.

The massive Royal Star Tour Deluxe measures 6 inches longer and 3.5 inches wider than its Harley rival. It tips the scales at an incredible tank-full weight of 850 pounds.

The massive bulk of the Star and King make it difficult to reenact your favorite episode of Chips (you know the one, where Ponch and John save motorists from a wrecked school bus which is about to explode. The very same bus owned by the strung-out hippie who didn't fix the brakes like they told him!

Stomping down on the rubber-covered right pedal helped slow down the King, as the strong and controllable rear brake makes up for a lacking front.