Harley's ...

Don't tell anyone please, but I have recently got to looking at Hardley abletoo's ...

Two catch my eye, firstly the Softail Slim and secondly the Street Bob.

Any pros / cons over Soft tail vs dyna chassis?

Both share the same 1690 motor which has a lot of appeal.

The dyna is a lot cheaper than the slim on the second hand market here in UK. I'm assuming the dyna would be lighter? And handle better? The slim appears to have close to zero ground clearance and the dyna looks a bit less 'form over function' compared to the slim and a bit more focused on riding rather than posing. Am I right?

Any qualified feedback greatly received.

Any abuse creatively countered ...

Nigel, no one is at their best during the Holidays.
It's a stressful time and we all say and do things that are totally out of character.

Call me, I'm here for you. Together we can get through this.
The urge to have big weight/big torque/big noise/ and room for a big mama on the back will pass.

Glen

A lot of my old friends have gone the same ways by buying Harlies and they quickly forget where they started from, they become one sided but they always get a big wake up call when one of their long term riding mates run circles around them on a bike that is half their weight with half the size of the motor out put and don't they get pissed off when it happens, then when a ride is oganized they always come up with excuses to not go with anyone else unless they are riding a Harley as well.

3 years ago I brought a brand new Triumph Thruxton, my mates wonder why I didn't buy a Harley (the Triumph is half the price of a new Harley), they said a Harley be better on the higways and more comfortable when doing long distant riding, well in those 3 years I have clocked up more miles than my Harley riding mates, have done heaps of long distant travels fully packed up, have done 2 x15 hour straight runs only stopping for fuel and food when needed, riding in all sorts of weather and where are my Harley friends, o its a bit overcast today I better leave the Harey in the shed or they are oginizing a short full days outing with more stops than goes, they like to talk to each other how great their Harlies are, but some wake up to themselfs and pull their old rides out of the shed to enjoy some real twisty road riding again.

So please get over you crazy sickness before its to late.

Ashley

Not sure if that's feedback or abuse ... But thanks anyway!

Truth is, I do get these surges of interest from time to time, but it does usually subside fairly quickly.

I'm sure it will pass.

Will you change your name to Slow Edward?

jaydee

jaydee75 said:

Will you change your name to Slow Edward?

jaydee

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Ha! Now, that is funny!

BTW, back in the bad old days .... the dark ages of the 60's, we used to say "How can you tell if a Harley guy is close to getting his machine started?" Answer: If he was stripped down to his underwear!

Another one: "How can you tell if a Harley guy is broke down on the side of the road, or if he just stopped to have a cigarette? Answer: If he is fettling with his main switch, he did not stop for a cigarette!

Slick

H-D = hound dog as it marks it's spot and likes to ride in the back of pickup trucks.

In defence of Harley and Harley riders, I do encounter a lot of them when on tour and many do big mileages.

I recently chatted with a longtime Harley rider. He had two 88 cubic inch Harley from the mid 90s, both purchased new. One had 125,000 kms on the odometer and the other had 180,000 kms. The 180,000 kms bike had undergone a top end only rebuild at about 80,000 kms and no major engine work since. The owner said it was now pretty tired and in need of a complete rebuild. Still, pretty decent durability and reliability from an air cooled engine.
The 125,000 kms bike had received no major work and was still running fine, very low oil consumption.

It might be an idea to try renting a newish Harley for a day or so. I suspect that you will want back on the Norton in the worst way.
Your idea to switch out the Commando Corbin for a two up seat and Interstate tank might be the best compromise.

Glen

To my mind Harley make a good bike these days, for it's intended use, but the rental idea sounds a good one - does your riding style match the bike.
A for instance - a group of us went to the Cemetery Circuit Boxing Day races again this year. On the way down we were passed by a couple of Harley's on the straight section of road around National Park. Shortly after is the Parapara's, a decent stretch of winding hill country road. My 48hp Tenere on semi knobbly tires very quickly re-caught and overtook them as soon as the corners arrived, and i am not known as a fast rider.

In all fairness to HD's these days, worntorn and ntst8 are 100% correct.

But, I can't resist getting one more dig in ....

It was "de rigueur" back in the old days to wave at a passing bike (we would, of course, stop and salute a passing Vincent Black Shadow, but that never happened to me). We gave a hearty wave to other Brits, but we reserved merely finger flicking for HD's .. that way the HD guy never knew if we were giving him a wave, or just beating out a tune on the grip.

Slick

All jokes aside, since the Evo motor Harlies came on line they became very reliable and they seem to do very long miles, yes I did own a Harley once in 1991 (Sportster 1200 first of the 5 speed and belt drive) it was a good bike handled not to bad after I put my Koni shocks on it went pretty good but after 3 years I woke up to myself, the worst thing that I ever did was to sell my 81 Triumph Thunderbird to buy the Harley, that was the biggest mistake of my life but didn't realized till it was to late.
If your after a cruiser then the Harley is what you need, but if you want to ride hard through the twisties then they are not what you want, I love riding through a pack of Harley riders in the twisties, even better when I past them on the inside of the corner and they don't know I am there untill I past them, scares the living shit out of them.

Anyway do what you have to do but hopefully you will come to your sinces hopefully before its to late and before you become oneside in your outlook.

Ashley

I ride with a guy who has a Dyna Wide Glide. He keeps up pretty good until the road gets twisty. Can't blame him there-I wouldn't want to stick that skinny, 21" tire into a turn either. Bike has over 60,000 miles with no major issues. He read the cam bearings go south, so he had them changed a couple thou ago. Someone tried to steal it a couple of years ago at Indy MotoGP and cracked the lower triple tree trying to break the fork lock. $600 to replace upper and lower trees (they come as a pair). Definitely not the machine's fault there, either.

Most of the guys I know who ride Harleys say they got into them BECAUSE they're slow. I guess I'm just not old enough for that psychology.

Think long and hard before buying a Hog. I have lots of mates who bought Harley's with rose tinted glasses and were so disappointed when they did.

Did you know that 90% of all Harley's ever made are still on the road. The other 10% got to their destination!

Happy 2016 to all.

I guess its fair to say that the forum consensus thus far is not quite in favour of the Harley ...

Think I'll 'snap out of it' soon ...

Eddie, do what makes you happy, there is room in most peoples garages and their lives for more than one bike. I bought a 1995 883 Sportster for very little money and it is not a bad bike. I leave it at my mate's place in California and ride it whenever I am there. I wouldn't sell one of my Nortons to buy one, but as a cheap and cheerful runaround with a bit of character it's great. It feels a little like a late 60s Brit bike in some respects.

dave M said:

Eddie, do what makes you happy, there is room in most peoples garages and their lives for more than one bike. I bought a 1995 883 Sportster for very little money and it is not a bad bike. I leave it at my mate's place in California and ride it whenever I am there. I wouldn't sell one of my Nortons to buy one, but as a cheap and cheerful runaround with a bit of character it's great. It feels a little like a late 60s Brit bike in some respects.

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Sportsters are the babies of the Harley range (light weights) so not realy classed as a hog and even genuine Harley riders don't think much of them, how many outlaw bikies ride Sportsters, their not cool enough.

Ashley

Ashley, you are of course correct, but this only makes a difference if someone wants to sign up for the whole one percenter, badass biker dude mythology - go the whole hog as it were. I observe that many of these chaps are actually lawyers and estate agents.

We all take the piss out of Harey riders - it's the law. In fact I have a number of copies of 'applications to take a corner on a Harley' which I regularly hand out to my V- twin mounted friends, but the smallest Sportster is still a 900cc motorcycle and they are quite good value for money, at least in the USA.

Happy new year.

Hi Eddie,
I have owned my 74 Commando Roadster since 1980. I bought a Harley in 1996, a Softail Custom FXSTC. This bike has the EVO motor, 80 ci, 1340 cc. Probably the best motor Harley ever made. The EVO is a 100k mile motor, I have 65k on mine with original pistons, 2nd set of rings and valve stem seals.
They made them from 1985 to 1999/2000, then they introduced the Twin Cam motor @ 88 ci. which is the base for which the 103ci motor you are inquiring about. In 2007 ?, they upped the CI to 96, now 103 CI, I don't remember when they did that, 3 years ago? Anyway as I stated, my bike is a Softail, which is a name they coined because the shocks are located under the chassis, so you don't see any shocks on the side. It kind of looks like an old hard tail. Now to answer your question in regards to suspension, Dyna VS Softail...I lowered my Softail 2" in the rear with a lowering kit, strictly for looks, and my preferred ride height. You can just roll a beer can under the frame at the lowest point. My ride isn't that great, but it looks "Cool".No, I don't go through the twisties trying to hang with a 412 lb. bike. Mine weighs 690 lbs. , my exhaust would be scraping on a right turn and I'd burn up my saddle bag on a left turn, but a 150 mile ride is no problem. Anyway I swore I would never buy another Softail again, my dislikes were that alternative shock selections are minimal and very pricey. Best bet for a Softail is an adjustable air ride system $1500, if you are lowering the bike. If you are keeping your bike with the stock ride height things are a lot better.
The Dyna has shocks on the side, easily changed, no special tools and you can get them in different lengths, gas, air, etc.. I have 12" Hagons on my Norton. The Dyna also has mid controls, compared to my Softail which has 3" extended forward controls. I think the ride is a bit nicer on a Dyna model and shock options are greater and less expensive. My Softail motor is also mounted directly to the frame as I believe Dyna's are rubber mounted. The ladies like the frame mount as opposed to the rubber mounted version....A little more vibration. As far as performance any stock Harley is a dog. The first thing I did to mine was replace the cam, carb, pipes, and ignition, so I had to spend another grand for parts. As my 80ci 1340cc sits now, on the dyno I'm at 80hp, and 82fp of torque. The stock 103ci/1690cc motor doesn't put out more than 64hp. Anyway, the reason I bought my Harley was it was not comfortable riding the woman on the back of the Norton. When we go on one bike, we take the Harley. Two bikes, she rides the Norton....She always says, "I'll whip the sh*t outta that Harley" when we're riding together, but I think she's just happy I let her ride the prized machine. Another reason I bought the Harley was when the "Old Lady" was on the back she always pushed me forward into the Café Racer position. If I was you I would buy a used EVO bike, my buddy just got a 1999 Fatboy with 11k miles for $5500, and it already had an aftermarket cam, Mikuni carb , pipes and some other upgrades. Aftermarket parts are abundant and inexpensive. You can also buy an aftermarket replacement motor for under $4000...127 ci 140hp/140fp torque http://www.ultimaproducts.com . Eddie...pull the trigger, but look into buying an EVO and upgrading it, or just build one yourself....unless you have lots of loot. P.S. I just rediscovered my Norton as I rebuilt the whole bike, better than new...I haven't let the woman near it yet, I'm having too much fun.

Adios,
Johnny Z

Johnny, thanks for the informed response, much appreciated.

My 'problem' with 1340 Evo motors is that I rode one in the 90's, I guess it was stock, and I was thoroughly underwhelmed by it! It pulled great from tick over, then just as I was thinking "hey, this could be fun" it totally ran out of breath! As I said, I think this was a stocker, and I'm sure a 1340 that's been tweaked by someone who knows what they're doing is a different proposition altogether.

I was hoping / assuming that the newer / bigger motors may be an improvement? But I did notice that the difference in torque and power between a 96 and 103 ci motor is negligible.

Someone 'in the know' once told me the the 103 layout is the best overall set up for these motors in terms of power, torque, reliability. But he was talking about tuned motors, not stockers.

I guess, given the architecture, Harley suffer more than most with emissions and some mild non emission conscious 'tweaking' could have a big effect.

Me thinks I'll wait till the weather picks up a tad here and blag a few rides on whatever is on the forecourt at my local Harley dealer.

In my experience.
103 is the limit for these air cooled engines.
110 makes a lot of heat and burns itself up.

also...... cam chain / tensioner setup is weak in the twin cams
and their crankshafts have been known to unbalance themselves (because they are just pressed together).


If I were to ever build another HD, it would be a late model (cone) FL shovelhead and add a 5 speed.