Ever ridden or owned a Slim?
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: sugar land, gulf coast, tx
Ever ridden or owned a Slim?
Any Dyna riders ever ridden a Softail Slim? Stock seat or springer, either one? I do love my Superglide Custom, but the Slim has had my attention lately. I realize it can't lean into turns as well due to the floorboards, but I'm kinda old, and the retro appeals to me. Not sure if I would ever trade the Dyna for a Softail, but would like to know what any owners/riders have to say.
Thanks for any helpful info.
BTW, I had an 05 Heritage, so I basically know how Softails with boards feel on the twisty roads, SCRAPE!!!!!
Thanks for any helpful info.
BTW, I had an 05 Heritage, so I basically know how Softails with boards feel on the twisty roads, SCRAPE!!!!!
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 3,145
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From: New York
One Nice Bike!!
I sat on a Slim at the NY Auto Show and loved the looks and feel. In May I found a black 2012 with several great mods and 132 miles on it for $16,000. One of the coolest looking bikes I had ever seen. I was convinced this was the bike for me. After a half hour test ride I gave the bike back and told the guy, 'Thanks, but, no thanks".
The bottom line is my mission was to have a great handling "sporty" bike that would love the twisties, one I could put my wife on occasionally, put a backrest and luggage rack on for a day bag and put a sport windshield on. As cool as the Slim was (and still is) the bottom line it didn't fill my mission. BUT, if you are looking for that type of ride by all means go for it. Also, check out the Slim pictures on the Softail section of the HD Forum. Some really cool bikes. BTW I bought a new FXDC in June and am LOVING it! Here is the Slim I almost bought:
The bottom line is my mission was to have a great handling "sporty" bike that would love the twisties, one I could put my wife on occasionally, put a backrest and luggage rack on for a day bag and put a sport windshield on. As cool as the Slim was (and still is) the bottom line it didn't fill my mission. BUT, if you are looking for that type of ride by all means go for it. Also, check out the Slim pictures on the Softail section of the HD Forum. Some really cool bikes. BTW I bought a new FXDC in June and am LOVING it! Here is the Slim I almost bought:
Last edited by Antonio Balls; Aug 13, 2013 at 06:35 PM.
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2013
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From: Georgia
I have ridden a couple of Slims. I rented one in Florida and test rode another when I bought my Switchback. You are correct on the SCRAPING! A lot of it, but hey I like to lean. My worst complaint was the stock seat. It was horrible for me. I'm 6'1, 195 and I thought the position was comfortable but the seat itself caused a lot of discomfort after only a half an hour of riding. My plan if I bought one was to immediately change the seat out but ultimately couldn't deal with the handling limitation.
Hope that helps.
Hope that helps.
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2011
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From: sugar land, gulf coast, tx
Thanks guys. I went to visit a friend who rode a Slim. Found out he had traded it for a Seadoo jet ski. Now he's looking for a Deluxe to replace the Slim.
Took a good ride on the Dyna Sunday and again realized that it handles so well for a Harley, and the last thing I want is scraping boards, again...Did see a video about a guy who rode a 46 Knuckle over 22K miles all over North America, including Alaska. Owning one of those would be a hoot, I'm sure... tp
Took a good ride on the Dyna Sunday and again realized that it handles so well for a Harley, and the last thing I want is scraping boards, again...Did see a video about a guy who rode a 46 Knuckle over 22K miles all over North America, including Alaska. Owning one of those would be a hoot, I'm sure... tp
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2009
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From: Albuquerque, NM
I walked into my dealer last summer with the intention of buying one. It's my favorite bike that Harley makes. One test ride convinced me otherwise. Too much footboard scraping, even on the lame-*** test ride.
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Elite HDF Member
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From: sugar land, gulf coast, tx
Sadly, the streamline boards used on the Street Glide would improve lean angle, but would ruin the retro look of the bike. Weren't the first boards rectangular and kinda narrow, too?
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: salt lake city
I rode one during the demo days earlier this summer. I quite liked the bike and it was my first time riding a softail. I thought it was a good, fun bike, but the lean angles are way less than my lowered street bob. I really dig the style of that bike, though, but if i had one i'd have to back off in the turns a lot. I've got a friend with one and she rocks that bike!
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From: South Fulton
I've loved the look of the Slim since it came out, so I rushed to demo days at the local H-D to ride one...same here - way too much scraping with my normal riding style, and I don't consider myself very aggressive. After the ride, I liked my Dyna even better. However, I also rode a 103 Wide Glide, and I thought that it was the strongest by far of any of the bikes that I rode. Man, that new 103 Street Bob would be nice, but for the money, I'll stick with my demon-possessed '06 88 FXD.
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BTW if you look at specs on softails on HD website you'll notice all softails have an avarage lean angle of about 25 degrees, either side. It don't matter pegs or floorboards.
Dynas have 29/30 degrees. Touring models average 30 degrees. Sporties are 25 degrees lean only, not so sporty.
Dynas have 29/30 degrees. Touring models average 30 degrees. Sporties are 25 degrees lean only, not so sporty.
Last edited by Nat_Asp_Mike; Aug 21, 2013 at 09:32 PM.
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Elite HDF Member
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From: sugar land, gulf coast, tx
Maybe these floorboards would help lean angle, a little bit. These are on a '38 knuckle, and look good to me.
NAt_Asp_Mike, you are correct, sir, in that Softails have shallow lean angles. They really are cruisers or retro tourers. I love to throw my DC into sweepers. It's much better than most believe a Harley should be.