I will throw my $0.02 in as a new CVO owner, and let me start by saying that in my opinion this is a never ending argument, and there is no right or wrong answer, as it all depends on the person.
When I was looking for a shark, I would not have even considered a CVO, but my wife brought up the idea. Why, because I happen to like a lot of things about the CVO, and this will be key later on in the discussion.
I like the CVO stretch bags and rear fascia, I like the agitator wheels, I like the rumble collection accessories, I liked already having a painted inner fairing, the lower suspension with hydraulic rear shocks, the carbon fiber accents, the iPod integration and another iPod, the upgraded stereo, and I fell in love with the paint scheme on the skunk.
The best I could do locally for a new non CVO RGC, was $23,000 out the door. The CVO cost me $11K more than that.
My wife sat me down and drew a line down the middle of a blank sheet of paper and atop each column put RGC on one side and CVO on the other. She asked me to list what the cost was of the modifications I would like to do to the non CVO bike, regardless of how long it would take to get done, a wish list if you will. The costs did not include labor.
Here's where the previous comes into play. I started with the CVO stretched bags, the rear fascia, the upgraded stereo, painted inner fairing, ipod integration, agitator contrast wheels, and suspension, and when I did factor in labor or prep/paint costs, guess what I had eaten up a lot of that difference, if not most of it, and I still had a stock 103, regular paint, etc.
Being that I would spend the money on certain things hd and not aftermarket the CVO was a better deal. Throw on top of that the cost of my bike being cheaper than usual cvo's due to lack of tour pack and gps, etc, and it was a no brainer. My bike cost less than the same year CVO softail convertible, go figure.
So I put enough money down to trade in my ultra and keep my payments the same as they were, and at first I had some doubts and regrets, but now I do not. It's a great bike, and I have done some things to make it mine and I am enjoying it very much now that I have made it comfortable for me.
I did not take into consideration bars, seat, exhaust, tuner, because that would get done to either bike anyways so it's a wash to me.
If you like most of what's on the bike they are a deal and do hold value well.
so like I said at the beginning, no wrong or right, just what's right for the person making the decision.
I just finished with the thunder max, the Drago's duals, the wild 1 bars, harley goodies FB ext, custom dynamics brake modulator, and Tuesday/wednesday the stock RGC seat will be back from MCC. I added a rider backrest, sissy bar/pad for the old lady, and a stealth rack and Nelson Riggs bag for trips.
I have no desire to have a tour pack and the added weight of it, I ride solo 90% of the time, so I'm pretty much done here before long. Anything going forward is pretty much dicking around with the bike as I have addressed what I felt were the needs of the bike. Considering I would have bought all of that for the non CVO bike anyways, in my situation I'm good.
Doesn't matter CVO or not, all that matters is that when you put the bitch in gear and twist the throttle, you're grinning from ear to ear and you're free of all the BS from day to day life.
FM