Biker7,
I'll try and answer your questions. My short list is not very short, since I like almost all types of motorcycles and am not brand hostile like some. My history of ownership runs from old Brit,German,and Japanese. I prefer European styled sit up straight, riding aggressivly but not stupid on public roads ,I wear most of the gear most of the time. I am considered by most to be a competent very smooth rider. The RK just sort of came on my radar while I was having a tire mounted on my T100, I rode it and made a very sweet deal hoping my only other cruiser experiences were just the bike and not the riding position. I was wrong !
The RK foot position is not really what I would call a feet forward thing. Yes the foot boards are not directly under my butt like I prefer,but I can stand up and move around when I see a bunch of bumps or a rail road crossing . The Thunderbirds pegs were way out front and high for my 28" inseam. This automatically rotates my hips so they are in an unatural position and sets me up for pain.
On the RK I can actually hustle the bike through the twisties and have no problem keeping up with the guys I ride with ,and they do ride quickly at times. I do not think the Thunderbird would be able to do as well even though it has a higher center of gravity than the RK. The RKC is about 2" lower than a standard RK . I'm not sure what the ground clearance of the Thunderbird is, and yes I do drag my foot boards on the RK occasionally. That just tells me to slow down a little and or change my line , then it's fine. I can make the back end of the RK wiggle around if I push it real hard, The T Bird was doing it at much less lean angles and at less speed.
As for the comparing of the ergonomics between the two bikes. They are not as close as I had thought. They are both cruiser style and I would need to spend some length of time with the T Bird getting it to fit me as well as the RKC out of the box does.
The object of the test was to see if the T Bird did not cause me low back pain. My RKC does after 100 miles, the T Bird did it in 25. Results = no T bird in my future.
By the way my RKC is available if anyone is interested at a very reasonable price and in excellent condition. I am down sizing and will be keeping the T100 I may consider an older airhead BMW as a second bike if I find the right one.
