Which year is the best Wide Glide, 06-14?
I need to decide which to buy next. My 06 was the best bike I’ve ever had. I hadn’t thought about buying used until I read about the changes over the years. The ‘06 88 had plenty of power, and it didn’t care what gear it was in in the mountains, unlike other brands. The 6th gear was rather useless though, except for soft cruising because it started at 70 and had no power. It didn’t work for passing, or hill country like most overdrives. The Dunlop’s were fine though I’ve always been partial to Michelin. The single front brake was never a problem, but then I’ve never had to stop on a dime.
I’m forever sold on the mini apes, and will have them on whatever bike I ever have; the mirrors and turn signals are in the best location, and I never liked the arms down. I read plenty about people saying the opposite; to each is own. The same for the forward controls that took a little longer to get used to. Yeah, some people get a back ache.
The new easier clutch was constantly noticed and appreciated. Great idle rock and roll while zero vibration otherwise made it the perfect Harley. Ok maybe it also had a little unwanted vibration at 63. My first non-carburetor, and I didn’t miss it at all, since the reliability of the fuel injection was excellent.
Low seating, but not too low; it leaned well over before scraping. I like to lean, and I like to scrape; more lean than scrape though. I’ve read the newer ones are lower for shorter people and women which sounds negative for me. The seat is easy to change to something more comfortable. The speedo on the tank not so easy. Though the speedo is classic, I didn’t like taking my eyes off traffic to have to look down. To me this is the ONLY thing the Polaris-Victory-2-wheeled-ATV-water-ski-for-the-road, and-now-Indian-insult, had a better idea on.
The tail style doesn’t matter to me either; I like them all. The only problem I ever had? Too quiet in most circumstances to hear it speak Harley.
2007 - TC96 – heat complaints. Probably a very nice improvement in power over the very fine 88, and about the same gas mileage.
2008 - I’m told it’s even quieter. That sucks. It’s a lot of money to change that, and not even sure I can do it anymore thanks to Arnold the bike traitor. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a noise freak; I’m just not a no-noise freak.
2010 - 3-1/2″ shorter in length, 1-1/2″ lower in height, and suspension lowered by 1″ and now has 3.1″ of travel in the rear, resulting in almost 1″ in lost ground clearance for some people’s desire for a lower seat. Sounds like reduced leaning and scraping fun.
4.7 gal down from 5.1? No way. A helical-cut fifth gear for quieter operation, and other gear tweaking. A lower price. Every year’s colors are all good. The new style pipes are fine as long as they don’t scrape, and the idle vibrations are still there. Even quieter? No no no
2011 - It’s hard to keep the right leg away from the breather and the rear exhaust. This didn’t happen on the 06. 103 engine – more heat. I didn’t have a heat off the engine problem on the 06. Still a 4.7 Gal tank.
2012 - Side mounted license plate. Silly. Less of a tail light? No, no, no.
2013 - Lower price. ABS. Still short travel rear suspension, and still scrapes the same.
2014 - AIM did a bizarre review article in the 310 issue. They started off describing the history of features leading up to the present, without mentioning that all of the described features were on previous years. Then on the last paragraph they said the only thing changed this year was that ABS comes with it, extending emergency stopping by a minimum of ONLY 2 feet. Higher price.

 

The old wide glides Mine is a 02 but with the bugs I'm working out of it I couldn't vote for it right now....,plus it wasn't listed.

I agree about the mini apes...I love them. I just like the look of the old WG over the new. Never had a FI bike so don't know what I'm missing. I wanted a carb so I could fix it when needed. So far the carbed 88 has been good for me. But ever since 1999 I drooled over owning a WG some day. Ended up with a new 2003 sporty and finally last month got my 02 WG. 12 years old and has a few bugs I'm working out but other than that I love it. I sat on some 2014 WG and felt like a totally different motorcycle.

 

2003. All you post-carb types...

 

 

Not a fan of apes, mini or otherwise, but I just love my 2011 set up as a solo.
There's been a few more mods since the photo, need to take a few new photos!

 

You skipped the best year for wide glides. 1999. I agree with your assessment of the 88. Mine doesn't much care what gear she is in either. So long as we are riding.

 

I vote for mine : 2010 (the reborn)

 

Thanks. I like the 2013 too. I almost bought one when it came out, but decided to save a little longer. I can change the bars, and pipes.

 

I'm very disappointed in the 2012.

 

I like the old style wide glides. I voted 2008 because it was the last year of the old style. Not real keen on the color scheme but not that much to paint.