I have one of those friends..75..Couple years ago we were out, him, my son with my granddaughter on and his girlfriend were doing that on the 45 mph Colonel Parkway which is Federal. Leaves me just scratching my head why. Later on, I turned a hard 90 degree turn posted at 25 on Quinns Island. (doing 25) The same girl behind me somehow managed to go down in that turn and I spent the rest of the day with her in the emergency room while the son went for a trailer to get the bike. (A local took her to the ER and kept the bike till we got it later)

Since then, him and I have been a lot of places. He has wrecked twice in front of me low speed but doing idiot things way too fast going off the road.

 

For me it all boils down to the engine. I owned one soft tail with the counter balanced "b" engine and hated it. Just too smooth and un-Harleylike at idle, then vibrated at speed. Shortest time I ever owned any motorcycle, only about 2 months, I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Give me a dyna every time, and I'm gonna be 66 in June.

 

A Fatboy motor will be smoother at idle, than a Dyna. Softails can get a bit buzzy at higher rpm's, a Dyna will be smoother at higher rpm's. A Dyna will turn in faster, be more manuverable, and lighter feeling. A Fatboy will be slower handling, but a little more stable when putting along. Two riders pull into a parking lot, one on a Dyna, one on a Fatboy. The Fatboy will get the looks.

 

Go to a dealership, test ride or rent them both. Then come back and let us know what you found out and which one you're getting.

 

I own both a Softail Custom and a Dyna Low Rider. I love them both but I have a little more fun riding my Dyna. It handles better and has more get up and go. At higher speeds the rubber mounted Dyna is smoother. Like you, I actually like the vibration at idle, then feeling the motor smooth out as I roll the throttle.

I don't have any problems scraping pegs on my Softail but keep in mind that the Softail Custom (which they stopped making) has as good or better lean angles than Dyna's, and much much better lean angles than any of the newer Softails.

Seats are usually a little wider on the Softails but an aftermarket seat can fix that. You'll most likely be giving up some comfort with a narrower seat though. Is getting flat footed the reason you prefer a more narrow seat?

If you think you like the Fatboy take one out for a long test ride and make sure you take it on the interstate too. Get a good feel for it and compare it to how a Dyna rides.

 

'BullShit'. Then you ain't been riding hard enough. The Rockers don't handle for ****. WTH, your bike has a 21x3.5 & 18x8.5 with 36° rake & it handles good! The Breakout is worst & I've ridden both. I've also owned a FatBoy & dragged the hell out of the floorboards. It was stock height. Hell, I drag both floorboards, RH F/B mount, header pipe & kickstand on my 2011 FLTRX. Maybe I one of those 'non-riders you mention. .

 

I like Softails & Fat Boys in particular, but if you go with a late model FB, be prepared to go through rear tires quickly.

 

I really appreciate all the comments. I've only owned Dyna's... 2 Super Glides and one Fat Bob and a Road King. Of course all the same frame. When I was trading I rode a Fat Boy and even then I missed the feel of the Dyna ... although I would agree they just look better. I'm in total agreement on the plus side of Dyna's. All of your comments have helped me confirm that I'm staying with a Dyna ... I've even picked out a Fat Bob which is a bike I've already owned and would have saved a ton of money had I stayed with any of the Dyna's I've owned. I traded 4 times in 3 years and took a bath every time. Plus I always spent a ton on upgrades that is totally lost money when you trade. But lesson learned I guess. Thanks again to you all!

 

I had a 2001 dyna superglide with an 88 TC and traded up in 2013 to a new fatboy. Here is my opinion based on my experience.

My dyna motor was rubber mounted and the fatboy has a balanced motor. So sitting at a stop light, the dyna vibrated more than the fatboy does. You say that you like that, so you may consider that in your decision. Driving 70 mph down the road, the dyna would smooth out, as you well know.

The dyna sat higher, and you can do corners and twisties faster without scraping floorboards. However the soft tail HAS floorboards, which are much more comfy on long rides IMHO. Personally, i dont plan on going from floorboards back to pegs anytime soon. Also I enjoy placing both feet flat and firmly on the ground when stopped.

I can vouch, my experience is that you do sit "on" a dyna and sit "in" a soft tail. I personally like this but you may or may not.

The sound of my dyna was more badass than my fatboy soft tail.

I live in the backwoods and have to drive miles of gravel roads from my house to hit pavement and the wider tires handle gravel better. Most people generally don't contend with this so it may or may not be relevant.

Most of this has already been mentioned in this thread and many others on this forum. Hopefully this will help with your decision.

I will tell you this though, I think you should go test drive or rent a fatboy for yourself and see how it feels. I love both the dyna and the soft tail and have no regrets with either purchase. Both are amazing bikes. But MY experience is when I test ride bikes I will know shortly into the ride if this is "the one" or not. Just a gut feeling, and its always steered me right.

Good luck.

Post edit: I missed your last post, lol - sorry. It sounds like you've made your decision, so enjoy!

 

Now see I don't think you read what I actually said. My bike was not built for all out handling, nor did I day it was. I simply replied to someone else's misinformed opinion that softails couldn't hit the corners at or above the posted limit, which is simple not true. I at no point said a dyna wouldn't or couldn't outperform a softail. And I too have owned a fat boy, and ridden many others, and they can indeed hit twisties up to a point (at or above the posted speed) without dragging hard parts is all I was saying.