Chilly's advice on pickin the right model HD

Advice on pickin' an HD:

There are not a lot of resources available to help the newbie figure out the functional differences between the different Harley lines ... The Harley web site talks of lifestyle, open roads and feelings. Pure marketing crap. Then you get the time-tested advice to "Figure out what kind of riding you want to do and go from there." How do you go from there without any guidelines? Here's my attempt to distill some.

How do you envision using this bike? Hopping from bar to bar on Friday night? Blasting around curvy mountain roads? Commuting to work? Riding long distances with a rider and luggage? A little of all these?

You may need two bikes ...

You need to consider the compromises you'll be making when selecting a bike to fit your needs. A bike slammed to the ground shirley looks cool, but if you're an aggressive rider, you'll likely be dragging parts in turns. A long rake might look cool, and offer more stability on straight-aways, but how important is negotiating twistys and low-speed handling in parking lots to you? How do you feel about hidden shocks vs exposed? How will your skeleton and mass fit on the bike, and how'll you feel after more than an hour in the saddle? Forward controls vs. mid controls; drag bars vs. pull-backs vs. ape-hangers, seat selection, seat height ... Lots to talk about. Make google, and/or a *knowledgeable*, patient salesperson your friend!

Harley groups bikes into four lines - Touring, Softails, Dynas and Sportsters. Within each line you can get into a basic, no-frills "Standard" and customize it to fulfill your own vision, or you can shell out a few more clams and get a little chrome and a black engine with polished fins. A few more bucks and you can get Willy Davidson's vision of a semi-custom Harley. Each model within each line has different wheelbase, rake and trail, and each bike is going to fit your body differently. Dig into the specs on the HD web site to get an idea of which bike best meets your fit and handling requirements.

Dirt track racing is where the sportsters were bred. Don't let comments like "Half a Harley, or questions about yer pink frillys get to you. They have great power to weight ratios. They are top-heavy compared to thier big twin brothers. There is a lowered version for the vertically challenged.

Looking at that Fat Boy? You like that traditional hard-tail Harley look? Softails achieve that look with a hidden rear suspension, and HD offers a lot of models within this line. You got yer Standard (least expensive, customize it the way you want it), yer Fat Boy, yer Deuce, Heritage, Springer etc. The Heritage Softail Classic gives you the softail look, with some of the outfitting of a bagger. Softails are damned nice looking bikes. They're perfect for posing in your well-creased chaps in front of the bar on Friday night, or for short Saturday rides with yer local HOG chapter. But they compromise handling for looks. That suspension ain't the best for aggressive riding in the twisties, and the guy who coined the term "Softail" never rode one any distance!

You want a fast bike that handles the twisties? Dynas are probably closest to sport bike handling. When the predecessors to the Dynas (FXRs) first came out, the faithful screamed about those exposed rear shocks - looked too Jap-like. The faithful know better. Sportsters on steroids, they handle great, and can certainly be set up for light touring. Within the Dyna line you have the Standard, Nightrider, Lowrider (good for the vertically challenged), the Sport, and the Wide Glide ... The Lowrider is is really setup for those with short legs. Izzat you? It may scrape parts whilst negotiating sharp turns. The Dyna Sport is probably the ying to the Lowrider's yang. It sits higher for greater cornering clearance, has less rake for more responsive handling (perhaps at the expense of some straight line stability). Over the years, some "Sport" models had dual disk front brakes.

Thinking of touring? Or just want a comfortable, well-handling machine that rides two-up well? Harley baggers are known for exceptional comfort and handling, and come in just about any configuration from the relatively minimalist Road King, to the well-appointed Ultra Classic. The Road King might just be the perfect bike for commuting, bar-hopping and touring. The 'Glides sport the famous bat-wing fairing, and come in several flavors. The Electra Glide Standard is no frills w/ no radio, no tour pak, and no comms. It sports little chrome and has a silver powder-coated engine. The EG Classic adds more chrome, a black engine with polished fins, a radio/cd player and a tour pak. The EG Ultra adds lower fairings for year-round comfort, it has cruise control, an upgraded stereo with rear speakers, an intercom, a CB, with all audio going to the helmet. A lot of the Ultra's functionality can be added to the others, but installing that Stereo/CB/intercom is a big job. Then there's the Road Glides ... Nobody really knows anything about them except their fairing is frame mounted so their headlights point differently from the others ...

Take a long look at the standards in each family. You might just save a bunch of bucks by not buying the MoCo's vision of what a custom bike oughta look like. If you don't like the way it looks, the motor company, a brazillion after market companies, and yer local indy shop are all ready to help you mold it into your personal ideal. Take a walk around the accys section of the dealer, look through the catalog. Their ain't a part on any of these bikes that you can't swap out with something that looks different. You can tweak your fit with different seats, suspension lowering kits, different foot controls, different handlebars ... And everyone of them can have their performance upgraded in an almost infinite number of combinations of carburation, pipes, breathers, head work, bore and stroke yielding different HP and torque curves.

Finally, is this your first bike? Some say buy a cheap Jap bike you won't mind dumping too much. Others suggest the Sportster as an entry-level bike - though it is top-heavy compared to the other lines. A few suggest getting the bike you want and to learn to ride it. Everyone says get your butt to a motorcycle safety foundation course.

Good luck!

--
Chilly
NoVA BS#226
03 FXSTDI (Il Duce)
www.chilly-willy.net