2018 Harley “Big Twin” common frame, no more Dyna.

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Lighter, stiffer, Milwaukee Eight powered. Rigid mount and rear mono shock. Increased lean angle.

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Street Bob

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Fat Bob

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Slim

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Heritage
 
What is up with that headlight on the Fat Bob? Terrible. And the the exhaust cans look a little too metric sport-bike style. But I get what they're aiming for with the fat bob, the entire look appears to be to attract riders who otherwise would not consider a Harley Davidson-- it's everything we've discussed in the "saturated motorcycle market" and "motorcycles aren't selling... to younger buyers." threads. I guess HD is doing what they have to and have chosen the Fat Bob as the model to try that with.

That Heritage is looking awesome though.
 
The Heritage is about the only one of the new Softail line that doesn’t have something that Aesthetically I would have to change immediately.

The Fat Bob looks good for what it is but I’d take my ~$18,000 to the Ducati dealer if I was in for that sort of thing. The headlight works on that style IMO, the gold head shields less so...

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Being I am partial to large but non fairing bikes, I also like the Heritage, liked it before and liking the more updated look, look forward to seeing it in the showroom.

AS far as the blacked out look of all the new bikes, (this may sound old) Im not a big fan of it nor is my wife, I like chrome, few reasons, but big one for me is chrome is a lot more easy to clean, will never chip, water spot ya da ya da etc.
Black will age and bike will look older in time. Wonder if it will affect resale, like on metrics. I see some of these "denim" bikes now and they look years old in just a short time.
Even though I say I am not a big fan of it, Im not saying never would I own one.

Fat Bob, hey, I think Harley has to experiment and think outside the box to she what works and doesnt, I like the look, maybe the headlight doesnt match the rest of the bike, meaning the shape ok but looks out of proportion to the rest of the bike, needs to be larger, shape ok.
 
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The fat bobs exhaust, headlight and tiny front fender are terrible. The lower half of the Heritage windshield looks awful blacked out. Chrome forks and air cleaner to match the windshield bracket would look nice on the Heritage. I'm liking the Slim.
 
Originally Posted By: gman2304
I'm liking the Slim.


I'm liking the Slim as well. Until Indian came out with the Scout, the only cruiser I would have considered was the V-Rod.

Old Sparks must be getting old...
 
I'll miss the Dyna and IMO the best big bike Harley makes. I just hope they don't screw up the Sportster. That being said, it would be nice if they offered the Sportster with a bigger frame for tall riders.
 
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Originally Posted By: Silverado12
...That being said, it would be nice if they offered the Sportster with a bigger frame for tall riders.


oh you mean a dyna...
 
No surprise.

The Motor Company has always pandered to the inseam challenged crowd. The softail is Harley speak for lack of rear suspension and I suspect that this will be more of the same.

Don't get me wrong, I love some of the things that Harley does. Enough love to be the current owner of my third Harley.

But.

Why do they all have to be low-n-slow? Why can't they put the V-rod engine in a full sized bagger?

I give up, rant over.
 
As an independent shop owner I am sooo glad that HD killed the Dyna and got rid of the shovelhead frame on the softail, both of these bikes are hard and time consuming to work on so I have to say thank you, finally HD has moved into the 20th century at least with it`s technology
 
Originally Posted By: EdV
As an independent shop owner I am sooo glad that HD killed the Dyna and got rid of the shovelhead frame on the softail, both of these bikes are hard and time consuming to work on so I have to say thank you, finally HD has moved into the 20th century at least with it`s technology
. Why is the Dyna so hard to work on? It's pretty much a naked bike with very little plastic or fiberglass pieces to remove. No bags, covers etc. One bolt holds the seat on and when removed a lot of electrical and diagnostics components are right in front of you. If you think a Dyna is hard to work on, you would really be slinging wrenches if an Electraglide came into your shop.
 
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I've never ridden a Harley, but I want one. Dealer said I could test ride whatever I liked
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So,

According to Laidlaw (Laidlaw Harley Davidson on you tube) the torque peak on the Fat Bob is 500 RPM higher (3500) than the other softails, which he believes may indicate different cams.
 
I have a 2002 Softail Deuce with all the chrome and a 2007 Ultra Classic. Since i like nothing Harley has put out the last 5+ years I will keep these bikes. I would possibly go for a new bagger but every other bike I don't care for. They just have to make most models look old school and with the big tires front and rear. All the matte paint and so forth I just don't like. I miss the old Softail Custom of the 90's, the Dyna Lowriders and such - nice easy to ride, work on and customize to your own liking. I've gone in the Harley dealer a few times and each time NOTHING perks my interest. Then the prices are sky high. I used to be a diehard Harley fan and defend their honor against metric bikes but if you notice the metrics have chrome and cruiser styling that Harley is starting to abandon. Basically - screw them now.
 
We do many more dressers than Dyna`s and softails that is why ( say they are hard to work on, to put one on a lift you have to use blocking on the lift because they have a steel fin on the right hand side of the frame for one thing and the wiring is run inside of the frame making wiring issues a pain, removing the battery is a pain as it has to be lowered from its riding place before you can remove it.
 
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