An 06 wide glide has a 88A rubber mounted engine. Only softails use the 88B counter balanced. All dyna's and touring bikes use the rubber mounted twin cam.

 

well either way his bike does have rubber bushings on the risers(that make the bars shake) and the ride is a huge difference in comparison to a rigid mounted engine..

 

I have ridden several metric cruisers with multiple cylinders that are very smooth, gave me no trouble and could stand up if I wanted them to. Yet, if that's what I really valued, I would still be riding them. My riigid mounted Sportster has several windows of smooth riding through 75 mph. The rest is pretty good for backing the screws out and jiggling the fat off of me.

No one has answered me on the num nut idea of shock mounting the engine and then rigid mounting the pipes. The freely moving (except for the pipe restriction) engine will then tranfer vibratory motion into the frame.

Also, it is soooooo spooky to me to see those big engines jumping around in the frame. It just ain't right!

As for the Dyna's, that's so cooool. Except after 20,000 miles or so they could need repair. Think of all the moving counterbalance parts. I say this because Robin (the girl riding 20K miles on a Dyna Wide Glide for the Habitat for Humanity publicity) told me her bike came down with serious oil leaks and counterballance problems. Luckily, Harley fixed it after two trys, for free - as a contribution to her cause.

 

This would suck! I have wondered how long the rubber mounts will last. Maybe they will surprise us all. At least, just so they last long enough for me until I upgrade to my dyna or softtail.

Comparing Apples to Apples (Sporty with a Sporty), I have seen other earlier sportsters and they do shake more than the rubber mounted engines.

Don't get me wrong - my Sporty still shakes to give you that "harley shaking feeling" (if that's what you call it), but the rubber mounts still seem to take some of the shake out.

Personaly, I like the rumble and sound of the harley... not the shake!

 

I personally like the vibration and a whole lot of shakin going on.

 

I personally like the vibration and a whole lot of shakin going on.

 

I ride a 2000 1200C and it does not vibrate at all- in fact my friends 2004 dyna shakes me more than my sporty.

 

they might appear to shake more becase the engine is floating inside the frame and all you see is the engine bobbing back and forth,and the bars will shake a bit too but at higher speeds is where it counts its definitely dampins the vibration down some..to me it really doesnt matter all that much about the vibrating because im am just happy to be riding a harley..

 

When I was shopping for my bike in July I was going to buy a brand new 883. I was looking at some used bikes too in hopes of saving a few dollars by getting a bike that already had the options I wanted. The first dealer I went to told me to only buy an 04 or newer if I got used because of the rubber mounted engine, and that a rigid mount would shake so bad you would not be able to see out the mirrors.

The next dealer I went to had an 01 1200 with all of the options I wanted. I asked to test drive it, because I wanted to see how bad the vibration was. I test drove it, loved it, and bought it. I didn't think the vibration was anything to make a stink about at all, the ride was nice, especially while moving. Sure you can't set your beer on the seat while hte bike is idling, but big deal.

Nothing wrong with rubber mounting, I guess, if you find a bike that you like...buy it. Don't let a rigid mounted engine scare you away from a bike that you like. They made Harleys for 96 years without rubber mounted engines, they are still great bikes.

 

1980-08 Touring Models & 1982-99 FXR