What can you tell me about the handling differences among the Softail line? ie.ground clearance, lean angle, geometry etc.

I am very interested in the Slim (today), but the softails in general.

Road a Slim on Saturday, and scraping floorboards came very fast. Not sure if this would get in the way, need to be adapted to, can be changed with forward controls etc.

Any information you can give would be great. If you need to ask me questions to help with your answer, please fire away.

Thanks

 

Have a blackline and when i got the slim i scraped the boards too, and i dont scrape the Blackline. I wanted to switch to forwards at first but comfortable boards grow on u. Compared to the Blackline the Slim has a softer more laidback ride for me probably due to its short fat profile font tire and wide semi beach bars. For me was the stock setup is less conducive to hard turns ins, floorboards work well for it, just have to adapt to it. my 2 cents for u.

 

I have a Slim and I scrape the boards often. It can be a little concerning and it does make me a little nervous. I've really considered trying to do some suspension modifications to maybe help with this. I have no idea if this is true but I've read on the forum that the Slim is tuned for a 160lb rider which seems pretty ridiculous. I'm sure others can chime in and set the record straight. I think if you were able to reset the static sag in the suspension that could help. Other's say the Progressive 422 seems to help. If I do the swap I'm going to do it all at once and probably powder coat the front forks while everything is apart.

I'm really on the fence about trading the softail for a dyna. I think i'd enjoy the riding position of mid-controls for the type of riding I like to do. I don't expect my Harley to be a speed demon but it seems you can set up the suspension on the dyne for a more "sporty" feel. Lots of videos of guys getting wild on dyna's. For whatever reason I don't seem to see that on the softail. I imagine it's due to the ground clearance and rear suspension design.

 

I have the Slim - it's my first Harley, so for the first few trips I also scraped the boards, but I have become used to riding it in a more chilled out manner and haven't scraped since.

Oh, and I LOVE the floorboards - you can really move about and get comfy when you want to.

It might seem odd to suggest riding a bike in a way that suits the bike rather than you, but it kinda works... I can still wring the throttle down the straights

 

I love the Slim and scrape now and then but no big deal. The bike is short and squatey but love it. best bike I have had in the last 4 bikes

 

All of the current model softails will scrape pegs / floorboards way too soon due to the soft dual-rate fork springs. As it is, the front of bike drops an inch or more just with you sitting on it. When braking lightly the front drops more, and when cornering, gravity plus braking drops front even more- reducing your ground clearance and bike scrapes sooner than it should as bike front can be sitting 3"-4" lower in those conditions. that is not optimal.

The fix is to put in some single rate quality springs and either run heavier fork oil or upgrade the dampers as well. touring bikes can get monotube drop in cartridges.

Anyway, this not overly expensive upgrade will give you back a lot of cornering clearance and braking / handling stability. the softail will never be a cornering champ like some dyna or sporty models, but it is 300% better with proper suspension up front. JMHO-

 

look into upgrading front suspension with single rate springs (1.0kg RaceTech) and either race tech or ricor dampers. the difference will amaze you. I seriously almost sold the Breakout before I did this upgrade. scrape scrape scrape everywhere and hitting a bump in a corner was "religious". ;p

I weigh in at about 200 w/ gear, with wife on back another 130. the upgraded fronts have not let me down yet, and I ride this bike very aggressive.

the progressive 422 rears are mediocre at best (I have them on my bike at present). the rear is not so much the issue it's the front. anyway best bet for rears is going to be shotgun shock, albeit at a much heftier price tag. but all your improvement will come from the front spring / damper upgrade.

btw I also have a dyna-framed chopper w/ forward controls. it does and will always handle better but the entire bike is tricked out with Works shocks in back and custom 50mm inverted forks up front. My Breakout is not far behind now though. At least I'm back to "never selling it" and love the bike.

 

Dog hit the nail on the head. My breakout scrapes all the time. For now I have changed my riding style when entering corners on the bike and it has helped but I will be replacing the front springs soon. I did ride a slim recently during a demo event and was quite impressed. I did drag the floorboards pretty quickly (much sooner than my streetglide but nowhere near as soon as my breakout) but like Dog mentioned, if you stiffen up the front you wont get as much dive when entering the corner and problem solved.

 

+1 on that- and just as a side note, single rate springs are not necessarily stiffer, progressive rate or dual rate springs can be 1kg at the second stage or end of progression- with single rate springs the rate is constant and there is no "sloppy beginning" soft rate, which is what gives us too much sag / brake dive / washiness on bumps. the stock HD dampers are very under-damped as well for such a heavy bike with rider. so at min use heavier fork oil or optimally, drop the extra $120 on a pair of Ricor drop-in dampers. love those things, they are literally drop-in.

Adjustable monotube cartridges (ohlins etc) would be the hands down ultimate, but we non-touring HD bike owners don't get ANY love from the suspension mfrs. boo.

 

I had a 2008 Sportster Nightster than a 2010 Dyna Street Bob and now I am VERY Pround owner of a Softail Slim S and couldn't be happier in Life.
I am very happy to have chosen the Slim in all aspects.
I Find it suits me like a glove. By the way I am just 5ft7 hihihi