The small, Honda like tank doesn't help.
The Standard and the Street Bob desperately need the fat tank.

And the fenders across the new Softail line all sit too high off the rear tire......very metric looking IMO.

I don't understand the turn into ugly Harley has been taking.

Metric cruisers have always been ridiculed for the poor job they did trying to look like a Harley.

Now, Harley is making bikes that look like a metric trying to look like a Harley.....

I don't get it.

 

not even close. Here’s the real crazy part you can buy a real nice low mileage TC Softail Standard for 5k and get a real Harley Motorcycle.

 

Evo’s are going for even less. You tune the damn things by adjusting the carburetor with a screwdriver costing a couple of dollars that you can use on multiple bikes even.

My current bike is a 1995 Heritage Softail Classic.

Oh, and Dickey, you are crazy for getting rid of that Evo Softail Custom. To me it is one of the most iconic looking bikes Harley ever built. I was looking to buy one when I came across a great deal on my Heritage that I couldn’t pass up so I went that way instead.

 

I'm curious about something.

Forget the styling considerations. When the MoCo went to the new softail frame, one of the primary benefits was incorporating what was essentially a sportbike style monoshock rear swingarm/suspension.

So, does it work? I've never ridden one of the new ones. Are they still "sloptails", or did the new design tighten them up?

 

The shock is a bit budget. By all accounts a good replacement shows the frame / swing arm is well designed. But, for some reason, they left a large gap around the shock so that everything gets thrown up from the road onto the electronics under the seat. 2 steps forward, one step back.

 

Everything I read says they ride and handle great. One of our Evo brethren bought one after crashing his bike. He says the major complaint is it feels sterile in comparison to his Evo.

I haven’t tried one myself. Oddly enough, shortly after the corona started, my own health problems damn near went away and I am ready to ride. The only problem is so much is closed or at significantly reduced capacity plus some complex things at my job regarding exposure, quarantine, and the nature of what I do at work, I reality have to stay home and go to work and limit being in public.

 

I liked it, simplicity isn’t for everyone

 

I rode the first one out here in north seattle last spring. It is very small in person and very uncomfortable and I'm only 5'9". It seemed like a honda to me although at idle there was a noticeable "harley" shake that I never noticed on the Low Rider, Fat bob, Heritage, or Sport Glide. So that's something. Brakes were good and it sure zips being light. The tank is too small to hug with your legs and the gauge is a joke from the 80s. But the seat is the most gawd awful thing ever designed. Just terrible. It's rounded outward so my butt was being pushed out of the seat instead of into it. Completely bass ackwards.

I just don't know about these newer frames. It's like they decided to remove all character, form, function and soul on purpose and it makes the new bikes do nothing for me.

 

No big twin is light. A Ducati is light.

Sheesh.

 

I rode one when looking for a supplement to my RKS, something for around town and shorter trips and lighter than my Road King to throw around. I was really impressed with how smooth and punchy the power band was, even completely stock. It would've given my SE110 twin cam a run for its money. Sure it sounds different than past motors but so did every other iteration of the v-twin, remember "see no evo, hear no evo, ride no evo" and now it's highly sought after. It's all subjective anyway.