See, details and explanations, actually good stuff to read for those wanting to learn more about past and present Harley pro's and con's as perceived and explained by actual long time Harley owners. Excellent answers, keep 'em coming...

Note: "con's" doesn't automatically imply "bad", it simply means unappealing to the person who listed it that way because they see it as not their personal preference.

I don't have the experience with Harleys yet to know enough about each generation's models to form such great answers as y'all are coming up with so far so I can't yet say exactly which one(s) I would pick beyond liking certain styles but reading these responses actually helps those of us with less experience to gain more knowledge towards selecting our own version of the ultimate Harley in the future. THANK YOU!

In a car I do like well done bells 'n whistles gadgets and creature comforts as long as they're combined with a quality built interior, luxury GT chassis, and solid performance but on a bike all those electronic bells 'n whistles seem like they're just trying to bring the luxury cage experience to bikes and that's not what I want at all. I ride to get away from all those modern day distractions and escape the stress of the daily grind for a few hours or a couple of days and so far my current choice of Harley, a nice old '93 STC with pipes and intake on a stock Evo, does that just fine for me...

 

You mean the two bolts at the back, from the top, on the Evo; whereas the TC use four bolts directly through the back?

I have not actually looked at a TC, only some of the conversion kits and that is what they appear to have.

Internal oil lines I can see the benefits of purely from keeping things clean and avoiding decomposition of the rubbers. Isn't the only real downside to the TC engine, from a high mileage point of view, the non-rebuildable lifter blocks? Has anyone started to resleeving them?

I pre-supposing the heat of the TCs can be cured by cams and enriching the mix?

Keeping things cheap and simple is always a good thing in my book, e.g. one cam versus buying two and a gearset.

 

The EVO saved HD. It was an engine that had room to grow born for the builders to go wild with. An engine that with some head work exhaust and jetting could be woken up.
It was a tough engine. Many of the issue you read about where caused by those that did mods to them. SS made a ton of cash off the EVO no one could keep up with the EVO wave. Simple 1 cam engine that was fun to ride.
I still have my 1996 FB EVO still runs great No where near the bike my 2016 RGU is but no shame in that the EVO is what it is and fun to ride.
The awakening of HD the EVO brought was like a golden age in history. Dam we had fun , you had to be there for it to understand it.

 

Yes, those two bolts. The TC96 set-up uses four bolts to secure two boxes to each other, providing a far more rigid and suitable coupling. As for the lifter blocks, a feature of modern engines is that much better quality alloys are being used in modern engines, so I would expect a much higher mileage from a TC than say an Evo. There are already a few very high mileage TCs around. For most of us I doubt if service life is going to be something we need to worry about!

As with an Evo, upgrading a TC with slightly higher CR, profiled ports, cams, a suitable exhaust system and a dyno tune will make a dramatic difference in many ways, including the heat problem.

 

Indeed. Evo Era No. 1 was an amazing time. Sadly, I was too busy getting established in life to participate directly, but I watched it with enthusiasm from the outside looking in.

We are now in what I would call Evo Era No. 2, where all those first gen bikes are up for sale on the used market. For guys like me, who didn't have the scratch to play back in the day, it is absolutely glorious. With only a small amount of effort and patience, you can pretty much find anything you want in virtually new condition for ridiculously short money. What a blessing it all is.

 

While many others have come and gone this 96 FB will be here when I die and second son will then keep on going with. It has filled many roll over the years every child every grand child has ridden on it. Wife and I have had a ball on it. There are time we are heading out for a day or week in ride she says we should take the 1SG nick name the bike has had for years. Bit under powered compared to our 103 TC but still fun to ride ,don't take long to pull the side car.

 

I kind of fit into that category.

I'd just got the money together to buy my first and only new H-D ... and then all a sudden you couldn't even get one because they'd all sell out, guys were selling them for more than retail, and a whole new demographic of riders came on board. Including 'on the board' of H-D too -- hence all the trademark wars and old school dealers being closed down.

It would have been an FXRS for me.

There was a lot of bitching about it all back in the day but, jeez, I am grateful for those guys for leaving behind all that you mention. There's a lot to be said to reliving your youth at a 75% discount, especially when it can pretty much keep up with the pack.

 

Evos are bulletproof.

 

Ive shot a TV but never an Evo. First time for everything though.....

 

My fat boy has over 120000 on the clock with minimum problems. My friends 94 Road king has over 200000.Good enough for me.