I have a small collection of bikes and have not ridden Harley since the late 90's..

Living in AZ provides a lot of riding days so bikes to me were a way of life.. No passion for any one in particular but just bikes in general..

Have always owned "best in class" type bikes but the Vtwin just never worked its way into my toybox..

Last month I picked up an 03 softail at a pretty good price..

Since then, 1200 miles and some opinions.. (just my own)

Biggest complaint? (because I have gotten lazy) is the bike will start "in gear" with the clutch out... Looked like one of the jerky boys the day I figured this one out.. Glad it did not start..

While it does not do a single thing better than any of my other bikes, it does have some odd appeal to me and I think it relates to my days as a kid on mini bikes.. The sound..

I am going to bet more than one rider hear pulled the silly muffler off his briggs and hung that piece of galvanized water pipe on the thing for that blatt only a briggs could provide.

Mileage: right a 42mpg..
I do not ride it very hard, I have a bike for going fast and another one for going even faster.. (they run in the high teens)
The motor is jetted a tad on the lean side (48 pilot/185 main) but I will have that fixed this week..

Ride comfort: Acceptable but I find myself watching out for frost heaves in the road and potholes (now living in Indiana)..

Riding two up, it tends to get a bit "solid" feeling and my better half watches for the same things (bumps) and tends to get a bit light in the seat when she see them coming (110lb blonde)
Two hours in the seat and the "Gunfighter" tends to get a bit uncomfortable.

Forward controls took a few stops to get used too.. I probably looked like a waddling duck the first few lights while I tried to figure out where the pegs were..

General opinion of the bike is that while it does no one thing all that well, the visceral experience of the bike as a whole is hard to ignore..

My regular riding gear is a retired road race leather jacket, FF shoei and good short gloves and so the "pirate" costume is out..

The brakes are a bit of a rude awakening after having bikes designed to peel the stripes off a zebra..
This is probably the biggest issue I have with the bike..

It takes a lot more attention to following distance and corner entry. Probably the biggest reason I would not want this as a "First bike", not enough safety margin in stock brakes.

It is amazingly easy to ride outside of that one issue. Even a novice can get this off the stoplight without stalling or bogging the motor.. I have taken off in 3rd gear just to see it do it..

At the same time, gearing is pretty low.. 60mph+ in first gear is not at all unusual on my jap bikes..

Cornering.. 30º max lean takes a bit of adjusting coming off any of my other bikes but forces a "relaxed" riding style.. (do not mind that part at all).
I did have an "utoh" moment in a roundabout finding the limits of the hard parts hitting the ground.

Sound. Had straight $69 drag pipes.. Gone.. in come the VH Staggered pipes with "quiet" baffles.. Still a tad loud for me but just fine with earplugs and my lid on..
I think however, the sound of the bike is its biggest attribute.. I just reminds me that only one bike sounds like this and that just suits me fine..

I think the bike just makes me feel better... Something none of my other bikes do in the same way.. No moments of fear (reminding me I am alive) but hours of that feeling I associate with "comfort food"..

Like my cars and kids, I have a favorite.. This happens to be my favorite