I know, I know, apples and oranges.

But, here's the deal. I'm getting ready to get another HD and I'm really unsure as to what to I want. With my wifes back problems and my bad knees and shoulder (not bad enough to not ride) I wont be doing long distances like I used to. I would say that a typical "long" day would be 300 miles or so, with most rides in the sub 200 mile range with 80% of it solo. There would be exceptions, but probably not to many. ALL my past HD's have been FL's so I know how they ride, but have no real experience with a Dyna except for a few short rides on a friends FXR and it was a blast. I'm looking at the Dyna because of the rubber mounted engine like the FL's is and they are a little lighter than a tourer is. I have to say that the more I look at the Wide Glide, the more I like it.

Anyone have both? Or gone from one to the other?

 

I love the Dyna and especially the Wide Glide. Whenever I am ready for another Harley it will probably the Wide Glide. Great bike, and I don't do long trips, just a lot of fun to ride. I don't think you'll be disappointed..

 

I usually do 500 mile legs in my trips- typical is a ride through WA, ID, MT, WY, and home again north of Seattle.
My Dyna is the best riding machine for me- I can ride all day the way it's set up.

 

And then there's the Switchback. It's not as stylish as the Wide Glide but, it is certainly well suited to two up touring. Smaller and lighter than the FLs it's a great compramise.

 

Well, if it were me, and I limited myself to those two families of bikes, I'd go with the Touring line....a Road King. Good all around bike & will be much more comfortable for the wife.

 

Prior ride was a Dyna, an '06 FXDBI.

You can set them up to be comfy. I'm 6'5" and ~210 lbs. Wife is around 5'4" and 135. The seat was a 2-up seat, had a sissy bar on the back, I had highway pegs mounted on the downtubes of the frame and standard mid controls on her...used my heels for shifting and breaking. So my 36" inseam legs had lots of stretching out position...very comfy.

I had stripped the bike down from the "street bob" style she came from the factory with, made it look old school superglide style....14" mini ape bars went by by and lower superglide bars went on.

We put a lot of miles on her..the two of us...very comfy for 2-up riding.

Much of what your comfort is based on will be your choice of seat, position of footpegs for her and controls for you, and the bars. All of those are easily changeable/swappable.

 

See my sig line.
All my rides have been completed on a Dyna Super Glide. It will do what you asking with no issues at all.

If you have bad knees I suggest you stick with mid-pegs though. Forward pegs over a lot of miles puts pressure on knees. I add mid-pegs back on my bike before a long run to keep my knees from hurting.

300 miles is no step at all for the bike.

 

For me...if I wasn't going to ride more than 200-300 miles, I wouldn't get a touring bike, which is odd, since when we go on our long rides, it's usually 400 miles and I sure don't have a touring bike. Why? I rode one once and it just felt too big and bulky.

 

Rode SuperGlides for years bought three new ones back in the 70's. Back then wanted lean and mean, these days with huge aftermarket engines available and the convertability of the Road Kings we now own one or two hot rod sleepers.

 

Had a dyna, street glide now, wouldn't have anything but a touring frame again!