hi just traded my 2003 softail for a 99 dyna low rider....do i need a stabilizer for this year?because i heard only 2003 models need a stabilizer..

 

I have been riding my 99 WG for 3 years without one. Never knew it needed one.

 

Not sure where 2003 all of a sudden need a stabilizer.. The frame is pretty much the same back to the EVO era and up tp the 06s.. One thing to note is that the wide glides and low riders had more rake in the frame than the other FXDs of that time so they tend to be more stable.. With the bike being 16 years old, I would make sure that the tires, wheels and suspension are in good condition. If you are looking into pushing the bike to it's limits, you want to upgrade the suspension, steel spoked wheels first then look into stabilizers.

 

My 97 Dyna has made it 18 years without a stabilizer. Feel free to put one on your bike though if you want to.

 

Whether you need a stabilizer or not depends on how you ride, not the year of Dyna.
If you are into 80+mph corners you may need the stabilizer.
I have experienced the dyna flop on my 99.

 

After installing Progressive Shocks, Drop-in Fork Kit, SuperBrace, etc., my Dyna FXDF still didn't have that solid feel in the corners and on the open road that I'd become accustomed to on my previous bike. (Eleven years of refinements). I was starting to think maybe I'd lost the mojo at age 66.

The local highways I ride on have cracked asphalt repaired with Tar Snakes, undulating surfaces due to decades of ground movement, sections of road ground down for weeks on end before they ever get around to repaving, fresh chip seal on primary highways, parallel/vetical metal grates on some of the bridges, and miles long stretches of highway where the DOT just paves over the individual parallel tire tracks rather than surface the entire roadbed edge-to-edge. Lots of challenges for the riders, you have to be "situationally-aware" in-town or on the open road. They are ALL equally bad.

I had my local mechanic install a True-Track kit and the bike finally has that solid confident feeling that my previous bike had regardless of the poor road conditions. The bike now goes where you point it,...safely.

I've heard the statement "looks like a solution in search of a problem" ad-nauseum on this forum. I don't care what anybody says. You just don't know how much better your bike can handle until YOU take the plunge. This is something that should be installed on EVERY rubber mounted Harley.

Go to the True-Track website and READ the material regarding the product R&D. I'm a believer.

 

When I started pushing my '05 Sportster past it's limits in the mountains and getting wobble I traded it in for a bike with a better chassis, suspension, and tires for fast riding ('05 Triumph Tiger 955). Now I'm back on a Harley ('05 FXDL) but simply don't push it to the level that I need a stabilizer. As FXDXL said, if you're into 80mph cornering you may want one (after you've upgraded the suspension and braced the front end.) I also suspect that many of the people who extoll the virtues of the stabilizer haven't spend enough upgrading their suspension first.

 

I have a DX.. Suspension on it is good.. FWIW the Sputhe brace didn't do much except change the frequency of the wobble.. Going to a 180/55x 18 in the rear and alloy hoops made the difference.. I've removed the rear stabilizer as it don't make any difference but make the bike vibrate more.. Motor makes 125 hp and would dance on up hill sweepers at 90-100 mph.. Been rock steady since.

 

Stabilizing the front mount seemed most effective in my case. I used the vibra technics mount. After doing the front mount, I noticed a night and day difference in the handling. I had bought a rear at the same time, so naturally I did the rear too. But not til a week or two or didn't with the front mount only. Adding the rear stabilizer didn't seem to make much if any improvement after doing the front mount.