A local dealer had a demo day a couple weeks ago, and I went down and test rode some HD's for the fun of it.  I was just going to ride one, but it was a Friday morning and surprisingly less crowded than I expected so I rode three:  08 Softail Custom, 08 Dyna Lowrider, and 07 Night Rod Special.  It was definitely a different experience than the GS.  The main thing that jumped out at me was the stability of those bikes.  They are so heavy that the wind didn't really touch them, unlike my GS which gets thrown around by a slight breeze.  Anyway, here are my reviews if anyone is interested.

2008 Softail Custom:  very nice bike.  Ape hanger bars and forward controls were actually pretty comfy.  I'm pretty short so I thought that I would have a problem reaching the forward controls, but it was not a problem on this bike.  Really smooth for a big twin and the copper and black 105th Anniversary paint job is pretty cool.  I don't particularly like ape hangers, but they are kind of neccessity for the styling of the bike.  Second best of the ones I rode.

2008 Dyna Lowrider:  Also very nice.  It has a little vibration at idle that the softail didn't have, but it smoothed out when riding.  The kick stand is hard to get to.  It is behind the left engine side casing, which makes it difficult to get a toe on to put down.  The riding position was a lot better for me.  It has pull back bar risers and mid-mount foot controls (which everyone else was complaining about).  It also has highway pegs up front, which were more of a stretch for me then the softail custom's forward controls.  This was probably my favorite of the three.  Same kick ass paint job as the Custom.

2007 Nightrod Special:  This was my least favortie, though I think it looks the best.  Blacked out bike with orange accents....very cool looking.  Riding position was ridiculous for a 5' 7" guy like me.  Drag style bars and forward controls made it pretty uncomfortable for me as it felt like I was reaching for everything.  The powerband is totally different than the other two.  The engine revs a lot higher on the Nightrod and really goes around 6k, whereas the other bikes pulled pretty hard from 3k.  The riding style was more like the GS for me as far as keeping it in the powerband.  I scraped a peg on it in the first turn because the guy next to me was crowding a bit.  Also, the exhaust gets extremely hot on the right leg.  We had to sit around for a minute or so before taking off, and I could feel my leg burning through my jeans.  The regular Nightrod has mid-mounted foot controls with highway pegs, which would have suited me better.  If I were riding that version, this bike would have been #2 for me.

All in all, it was a very fun morning.  Riding them makes me want to buy one, but that will be a ways down the line.  I wish I would have rode the Softail Deluxe they had there, but the softail line was pretty long while the Dyna and VRSC lines were pretty short.

John

PS- Funny story.  Demo rides were in groups of ten with a lead and trail rider from the dealer.  During my Dyna demo I was riding next to a guy on a Nightster (very popular that day) who didn't look very comfortable.  He kept breaking the stagger pattern and riding centerlane.  Anyway, we come to a stop sign where he loses his balance after stopping and falls to his right (toward me).  His leg was trapped under the Nightster and his head hits the bike I'm on.  So three of us get off and pull the bike off of him.  The dealer sent a truck out to bring him back and another guy rode the Nighster back.  People were pissed because the Nightster was out of commission for over an hour and everyone in the sportster line wanted to ride it.  Good stuff.

yea sportsters always felt topheavy and flimsy to me

the softail is smoother because its engine is balanced. the dyna isnt.

aye the tc88 and the tc88b

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on August 04, 2007, 01:40:19 AM
aye the tc88 and the tc88b

Actually, as of last year they've been upgraded to Twin Cam 96, and 96B.  I didn't realize that Softail motors were rigid mounted.  Kind of nice to balance them, otherwise it could be kinda uncomfortable.

John

Quote from: DrtRydr23 on August 04, 2007, 03:09:03 PM

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on August 04, 2007, 01:40:19 AM
aye the tc88 and the tc88b

Actually, as of last year they've been upgraded to Twin Cam 96, and 96B.  I didn't realize that Softail motors were rigid mounted.  Kind of nice to balance them, otherwise it could be kinda uncomfortable.

John

yea, i like the rigid mounted motor a lot
i havent ridden the HD tourers but i have ridden a softail and i think i would like the softail better.

think about it,  the softail has a rigid mounted balanced motor, and the tourers have a rubber mounted unbalanced motor.
its like they fixed it on the softail and covered it up on the tourers

gotta test ride a tourer to be sure though

aye i know my way around an hd, been involved in everything one can do to them. plus ive installed a supercharger on my sportie ( easy to do) ( and am hd certified for warranty work,) so if youve got any hd questions , fire away, btw my bad on the 88 and 88b, i was slightly intoxicated, adn that minor detail slipped my mind

traitor 

Quote from: jdanna on August 04, 2007, 09:28:49 PM

Quote from: DrtRydr23 on August 04, 2007, 03:09:03 PM

Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on August 04, 2007, 01:40:19 AM
aye the tc88 and the tc88b

Actually, as of last year they've been upgraded to Twin Cam 96, and 96B.  I didn't realize that Softail motors were rigid mounted.  Kind of nice to balance them, otherwise it could be kinda uncomfortable.

John

yea, i like the rigid mounted motor a lot
i havent ridden the HD tourers but i have ridden a softail and i think i would like the softail better.


think about it,  the softail has a rigid mounted balanced motor, and the tourers have a rubber mounted unbalanced motor.
its like they fixed it on the softail and covered it up on the tourers

gotta test ride a tourer to be sure though

Once you get going, you can't really tell the difference.  The only difference I noticed was that the softail had less vibration sitting stopped at idle.  I think the softails are the only harley model that uses rigid mounted balanced engines.  Every other model has rubber mounted motors.  I'm pretty sure that even the V Rod motors are rubber mounted.  I didn't ride any of the touring bikes, but they were probably the most popular one of the day.  The line for them was loooong.

John

Quote from: ben2go on August 05, 2007, 09:33:53 AM
traitor 

Well there's no reason to demo a GS, I can ride one whenever I want.

John

Quote from: DrtRydr23 on August 05, 2007, 04:29:40 PM

Quote from: ben2go on August 05, 2007, 09:33:53 AM
traitor 

Well there's no reason to demo a GS, I can ride one whenever I want.

John

I know.I'm just  given ya a hard time for riding something other than a GS.

Yes the V-rod does have a rubber mounted motor. I love mine, little or no vibration and very comfortable riding position. Worst part is i'm gonna need new pegs by next season.

Quote from: ben2go on August 05, 2007, 05:27:14 PM
I know.I'm just  given ya a hard time for riding something other than a GS.

I know, I was just playing along.

John

Quote from: Absolute Rescue on August 06, 2007, 01:41:00 PM
Yes the V-rod does have a rubber mounted motor. I love mine, little or no vibration and very comfortable riding position. Worst part is i'm gonna need new pegs by next season.

I hear you about the pegs.  I was scraping pegs right away on the Night Rod Special.  It kind of feels sporty, but still can't lean it as far as you want to.  I didn't ride the V-Rod they had there, but the guy that did told me that it was really hot on his right leg.  The Night Rod was on my leg as well.  Do you have problem with the exhaust getting hot on your leg?  I could feel it pretty easily through my jeans while sitting at idle.

John

I had a similar problem when I first bought it with the standard forward controls. I bought the reduced reach setup which brings the pegs back about 2 inches and allows me to comfortably ride without having my leg real close to the header. I was also looking into the Jet Coating, from what I hear you can hold your hand right on the pipe without being burnt....not that I would test it, but the heat would be reduced.

Quote from: Absolute Rescue on August 07, 2007, 10:20:06 AM
I had a similar problem when I first bought it with the standard forward controls. I bought the reduced reach setup which brings the pegs back about 2 inches and allows me to comfortably ride without having my leg real close to the header. I was also looking into the Jet Coating, from what I hear you can hold your hand right on the pipe without being burnt....not that I would test it, but the heat would be reduced.

I didn't know that they had reduced reach foot controls as an option for the V Rod line.  Makes me reconsider the Nightrod Special as a possible future purchase.

John

Yea it works pretty well, a little expensive but I got the dealer to throw them in with the sale, normally like $250-300. Took about 10 minutes for me to install.