I am 66, dont tour anymore.I owned a 1200 low, and ultra.I loved the ultra, it was a red firemen bike.Anyhow I am looking for another bike, which raises my questions,and i dont want the ultra, too heavy for me now.
1.Is it true dynas have been counterbalanced since 1999?
2.Are some softtails counterbalanced?
3.There are twin cam A and twin cam B engines, and the B is counterbalanced?
4.Which models have the B engine?
5.I am wanting a bike no more than 650 pounds.I think that rules out the fatboy.
5.I want a bike for 8-10,000.I have found hundreds.What is considered high mileage? Anything above 35,000?
6.My ultra had 79,000 on it, but was starting to break a lot.I really dont care about a batwing or sound system.Should I look for a 6 speed?

That's about it.Thanks for anyone's input.

 

1- Dynas are rubber mounted, not counter balanced
2- Softails since 2000 are counter balanced
3- B engine is the designation for counter balanced
4- Softails
5- Not sure, check Harley website they list weights
5- Anything under 20,000 miles should be good
6- If you are not touring, 6 speed may not be needed. Sixth is really for 70 MPH and up, not sure how you ride.

Good luck

 

I did a lot of riding and touring on a 2010 Softail. For one-up riding it works quite well and the very low seat height makes for an easy (relatively speaking) bike to handle when stopped. I would agree with Architect on most of his points except for 6th gear. I am usually in 6th at 50 MPH and above with no problems. Carrying 6th above 60 MPH is really revving the engine much higher than necessary, and dropping into 6th at 50 MPH doesn't lug the engine at all.

 

Your first 4 ?'s are answered...about counter balance.

Regarding weight..650 lbs...that's REALLY going to put a damper on your choices. May way to rethink that. Even the Dynas are low 700 lb's starting.

8-10k should buy you a bike with low miles if you want to keep it below 35k miles. IMO it's more about the condition the bike is in, how it was ridden, and how it was cared for/maintained...than just a pure mileage count.

6spd vs 5spd ...ain't no biggie to me. I had a 6 spd before, I have a 4 spd now. I still hit the highways fine.

 

The Dynas are not B engines, which are counterbalanced. Just from reading, the rep is that B engines have a smoother idle but are rougher at speed.
A Superglide is 645 lbs. Fatboy is 725 lbs.
If you don't tour, a 5 speed is fine up unto 75 mph.
I don't know what to say about mileage. On an 88 you should change or upgrade the cam chain tensioners by 30k. Try to find a bike where that was already done.
You can find all this info on Google. Just put the year and model in, with specs. Like "2008 Harley Davidson Superglide Specs".

 

thanks guys.That's the information I wanted.I bought the 04 ultra, ran perfect,was high mileage-69,000, in 2007.I decided to have the tensioners checked.They were shot.$900 right off the bat.I found no dealer back then,2007, that could tell me if the tensioners were good or not.For $150 they would take the cover off and check.Then of course they would need replacing if found in bad shape.I want to avoid that.650 pounds was just an idea.I have owned an ultra,3 goldwings,3 ventures,1 valkyrie, and royal star tour deluxe.For me seat height is the most important.But the touring ultras are around 850 pounds,just too heavy.I ride fun rides on my days off, about 100 miles.I sometimes ride to arkansas or oklahoma, that would be 400-600 miles in a day.So mostly short rides.I have found a ton of fatboys,superglides,heritage bikes for less than $8,000. When I own a bike, the oil gets changed a lot.No way to tell when buying used. Thanks for the information.I appreciate it.If i buy one, I will post a picture here.

 

I can't find any new Dynas under 650....seem to be close to ~680 lbs "dry". But I'd count "wet"...so fill the tranny 'n engine 'n primary with oil, and then put some gas in the tank.

Harleys tend to have a low center of gravity, save for the Sportsters. My wifes sportster is in the upper 500 lb range...but it's top heavy. It "feels" heavier balancing it standing still than my ~800 lb Shovelhead. She even thinks so.

Softails feel even lighter...because they're even lower.

 

I have decided based on the information here, to buy a softail.

 

I like those....I am slowly searching for one....hoping to pickup an older Evo powered Heritage or Springer myself.

 

Softail sounds like an excellent choice for you...but I wouldn't buy one older than an 07...then you get a counterbalanced EFI motor. The EVO powered ones were not counterbalanced and for effortless riding I'd take the later EFI
I think the Fat Boy and Deluxe models look great; my brother is looking at a new Slim S to get the 110 motor without a CVO price tag