Hi everyone... I'm new and had a few questions I hope you guys will help me out with (Please be gentle...). I have done a search by the way. I used to have a Sportster waaayyyy back in the 70s and it was a basket case when I got it. I didn't pay too much attention to the whys and wherefores back then. Anyway, I'm planning on buying a bike this year and a couple of things have come up. I'm sure I'll be buying used. I have been looking at a Soft-Tail. The current models come with the Twin-Cam 88B motor. I was told to avoid the Twin Cam, and wondered what the biggest issue is with this motor. I understand some of the comments I read in the search, but I would like to get some opinions straight up.

Is there a Soft-Tail model that doesn't use the Twin Cam?

Is there any reason to avoid the Soft-Tail?

What is considered "High" milage now-a-days for a used bike?

(Dumb question alert!) Is there a Sportster model with a Soft-Tail frame?

Be nice now... I'm new...lol!

Mike

 

I believe all the models except the vrod use the twin cam now. they are pretty reliable engines I bought my roadglide with over 50k on it and I'm not worried one bit about it. So,

1, almost all Harleys use the twin cam, the Vrod doesn't and Im not sure about the sportsters.

2, no reason I can see to avoid a soft tail

3, you can find alot of used bikes with between 10 and 20k on them

4, all sportsters us a soft tail frame, well not a "Soft Tail" frame but there are no rigid mount sportsers.

 

Just had a friend who has an 03 Ultra that he had put 167,000 miles on it, he just had to have the motor reman'd, with no real big issues before. Turned out to be an HD warranty issue, he spent $50 for the reman'd motor. I have a 2000 Wide Glide with 26,000 on it runs great, no probs, just take care of it. For this area (IN) they say about an average mileage per season is inbetween 3,000-4,000.

 

Twin Cam (Twinkie) is available in two versions. The Softail uses the "B" version, with counterbalancers to help smooth the motor vibes. All other Big Twin bikes (Dyna, and various dressers) use the "regular" TC motor, as they are rubber mounted and don't need the counterbalancers.

There is no reason to avoid the TC motor. There were some bearing issues with some of the early models, and the chain drive cam system needs to be looked at for wear on the tensioners. Later models have a less-than-desirable left side case bearing, but for a stock or mildly modified motor, it's pretty much a non-issue.

12k miles a year is probably about or a little above average. I bought my Evo Softail with 40k miles on it; it now has about 120k miles on it, and runs fine.

Sportsters don't come from the MoCo with a Softail frame. You can build one up with an aftermarket frame, though.

 

Thanks for the replies you guys!

I knew the Sporster came stock with a swing arm, but I wasn't sure if there were any factory made with the soft-tail, in a different year maybe. I'm interested in the soft-tail because it looks like a rigid (which I wouldn't mind at all. It's my wife with the soft ***...lol).

Does anyone know if it handles like one?

This was in a thread about an 06 soft-tail and it's partially where my concerns over the TC comes from.

Can anyone tell me what year the soft-tails started using TCs? Is the Evo a more reliable motor?

As far as milage goes, I know in a car 100K+ is the mark for a lot of miles. Is there such a mark for a Bike? What I've been looking at (for the moment) is a 97 Soft-tail Custom with 13,500 miles (the only drawback is it's green!).

 

I bought my Night Train (2002 FXSTB) from a friend over a year ago and it had 20k miles on it. I have since put another 10k on it and it has never had a problem. Just keep up with the maintenance!

The softails started using the Twin cam motor in 2000. The 97 you are looking at has the Evo motor. Evos are good motors as well but the twin cams provide more torque.