ROAD KING

The Harley-Davidson Road King explained

The Harley-Davidson Road King is a vehicle built from 1981 to 2022. Most were assembled in the United States (100% of the cars in our records).

Data · NHTSA & EPA · 1981–2022 · 42 model years · Updated Sep 25, 2026 · 4.5 ★★★★★★★★★★ ForCar Score
Quick answer

The Harley-Davidson Road King is a vehicle built from 1981 to 2022. Most were assembled in the United States — 100% of those on record. Worth buying? It scores near the top of what we track at 4.5/5 — and the year you pick matters far more than the badge (best and worst years →).

1981–2022
Years
7
Recalls
—
Top MPG
—★
NHTSA
35
Complaints

What the Road King is

The Harley-Davidson Road King is a vehicle that Harley-Davidson built from 1981 to 2022 — 42 model years.

Where the Road King is built

A badge says where the company is registered; the VIN says where the car was bolted together. We counted the first three characters — the manufacturer identifier — across 21 Road Kings on record.

FIG.02·Where the Harley-Davidson Road King is built
Assembled inShareVIN starts withYears seen
the United States100%1HD1998-2004
ROWS 1·SOURCE NHTSA records, grouped by VIN manufacturer code

Check your own: the first three characters of a Harley-Davidson VIN decide which of these lines your Road King belongs to. What every character in a Road King VIN means →

Got the full 17 characters? A free VIN check on a Harley-Davidson Road King adds what the decoder can't see: open recalls, theft and total-loss records, and the safety ratings for that exact build.

Harley-Davidson Road King tire size, oil type & owner specs

The fitment Road King owners look up most — tires, wheels, oil and batteries. Exact wheel and tire sizes decode from your VIN or the driver's door-jamb placard; the universal items are listed below.

Wheels & tires
Wheel sizeby VIN
Tire sizeby VIN
Bolt patternby trim
Tire pressure32–36 PSI
Engine oil
Oil typeFull synthetic
Gradeon oil cap
Capacityby engine
Battery
Main battery12V · group by trim
Key-fob cellCR2032
Wiper blades
Front bladesby generation
Rear bladeif equipped
Fuses
Fuse boxeshood + dash
Diagramon box lid
Light bulbs
Headlightby trim
Tail / brakeby trim
Fogif equipped

Exact tire, wheel, oil grade, capacity and battery group are added per trim and model year — decode your VIN above for the factory fitment. Universal items shown as-is.

What engines does the Harley-Davidson Road King have? Power & range

Powertrain data warming… reload in a moment.

The Road King by the numbers

What the federal and market records say about the Harley-Davidson Road King. Each line opens the full breakdown by year.

FIG.05·Harley-Davidson Road King by the numbers
TopicRoad KingDetail
Recalls7 campaignsNHTSA, all years
Owner complaints35 filedWhat breaks and when
Reliability4.5 / 5Best and worst years
ROWS 3·SOURCE NHTSA, EPA, HLDI and market listings

Frequently asked questions

What kind of car is the Harley-Davidson Road King?

The Road King is a vehicle, built from 1981 to 2022.

Where is the Harley-Davidson Road King made?

Across 21 cars in our records the split is: the United States (100%). The first three characters of a VIN identify the plant's manufacturer and country — that is where these shares come from, not from a press release.

What is the Harley-Davidson Road King warranty?

New models carry 3 years / 36,000 miles basic cover and 5 years / 60,000 miles on the powertrain. Worth knowing: across our complaint records the typical car reaches the halfway point of its faults at five years, so most repairs land after the basic warranty ends.

Is the Road King reliable?

It scores 4.5/5 in our data. The honest answer depends on the year far more than the model — see the best and worst years, and when this car starts to break.

How do I check a specific Road King?

This page describes the model; it cannot tell you whether that car has an open recall or a branded title. Run its VIN against the records — free, and matched to the exact production run.

Data sourced from NHTSA (recalls, complaints, safety ratings) and EPA fueleconomy.gov (MPG). Best/worst-year analysis is ForCar's own aggregation of complaint volume. Last updated Sep 2026. — ForCar Editorial Reviewed by , founder of ForCar.
Found this useful?

Mark ForCar as a preferred source and our data shows up first in your Google results. One click, no account.

Prefer ForCar →