I posted the following in the Softail Forums and mostly got the response that I wouldn't like going from a softail to a touring bike.

I have been drooling over the street glide since before I bought my fatboy. I couldn't afford the FLHX at the time and got an awesome deal on the Fatboy so I jumped on it. Ever since then I guess I have slowly been working towards turning the Fatboy into a bagger, but I still catch myself drooling over the street glide every time I'm at the dealer.

What are the pro's and cons between the touring bikes vs. the softail? I've put almost 10K on my fatboy so I've got some seat time on it, but none on a touring bike.

I know there are a lot of you that have both, that have had a softail and went to a bagger, and some that think baggers just don't get it done. Mostly I'm just looking for some opinions on the goods and bads of the touring bike before I get rid of the fatty and pick up one.

Thanks

I'm really curious to hear from some current bagger owners that have switched from the Softail and get some feedback.
The Fatboy is my first Harley and really the only "cruiser" that I have any experience on.
I'm really just about ready to pull the trigger on a 2010 Scarlet FLHX but I want to be as informed as I can.

Thanks

 

Imho,can't beat a street glide or road glide.I have a softail also and feel bad for it,because i always choose to ride the glide.

 

So, what do you LIKE about the Street Glide?
Before my Ultra Classic, I had a Fat Boy that I toured some on. I had removable/lockable
bags, I had a Road King style removable windshield. I had a small generic tour pack.
I had a solo seat, so don't know about touring two up on it.
Now i see they make removable 'street glide' style fairings, that have a stereo and four speakers for softails.
So...what do you LIKE?
I know I liked my softail engine better than my electra glides. But you can turn your bike into something else. Depends on what you want.

chuck the mensh

 

The biggest con to the touring bikes is constantly wipeing off the drool from the softail owners!! LOL!

 

Had an 05 Heritage and wanted to go to an 09 Streetglide--so I did and sold the Heritage myself but it took awhile to unload it.
I have owned 11 Harleys over the years and the Streetglide is the best by far. The ride, taking curves, 6 speed, more gas, comfort, handles great, radio, great looks etc.. Go far it-you'll be glad you did.

 

I went from a 89 springer softail to a 2002 Heritage, 2009 Heritage and now I am on a 2010 EGC. At this point I can never see myself buying anything else not in the touring family, but that is just me. The only thing that bothered me when I first got the electra glide was the rubber mounted engine. It took me a long time to get used to it jumping around at idle. Now I don't even pay it any attention an the smooth ride a speed more than makes up for it.

 

My first harley was an 05 heritage. I really wanted the fatboy, but wanted the bags, windshield and passenger backrest. I figured it was better just to get the heritage.

I loved the bike. I planned to keep it for as long as I could keep her going. I went on several trips of 500 miles or so a day. I couldn't imagine why I would want to trade.

Then a friend of mine bought a sg. I didn't even give it a good look. We were out riding with our women as passengers one day and he absolutely insisted that we trade bikes for awhile. I resisted, but he insisted.

After about 20 miles, my wife and I knew we would be moving up to a touring model sooner or later. After making the trade, I see now that I put more miles on the SG in the first two years than I did the heritage in three years. 500 mile days have become 800 mile days. I like the extra comfort, better handling and the softails do seem smoother to me at idle, but at highway speeds the touring bikes are much smoother. I am very happy I made the trade up.

All that being said............ in order to make the SG great for two up touring, I had to add a taller windshield, buy a sundowner seat, put on a detachable passenger backrest and add ohlin's shocks. The SG seemed perfect for my comfort when it was stock, but I did spend more to make it wife friendly than I did the heritage.

My only regret about trading up to the touring family is that I didn't just go ahead and get the Ultra because that's where we are headed in the future now.

Dennis

 

Same. My 99 softail generally sits while the 09 SG gets ridden. In fact, I'm probably going to try and sell the 99 to help pay for the 09. No regrets..

 

Thanks for the input.
I have heard that the rubber mounted motor was a huge difference in the long hauls. My Fatboy seems smooth to me, but my hands do tend to fall asleep and I just can't seem to get real comfortable on it. I have added the RK bags so the storage is there and I have been looking at the fairings, but I started questioning "why would I want to turn this softail into a street glide when I could just buy one?"
I think the 96" motor, the six speed, and the extra gallon of gas are really factoring in too, but the biggest thing about the street glide is the "look".
I have never seen a Harley I liked so much and I was drooling for one back when I was still killing my back on an R1 everyday.

 

Also, my father in law is one of those self proclaimed "real bikers" that believes that nothing new is good and everything old is better. He has a 92 Heritage and an 03 EG standard and believe it or not an 04 V rod. (he claimed it was for riding back and forth to work)

In the 4 years that I have been married to his daughter, I've never even heard the heritage or the V Rod start up. He is actually talking about getting rid of the Heritage since the only thing that ever sees the seat is dust.