Picking between two of my favorite bikes.
Springers always win if they are a choice.

 

The Springer looks better. However, see if they know if the tensioners have been replaced or upgraded. If not, add $500-$1000 to the price of the Springer.

 

Didn't know there were any issues, to be honest. I'm new to the HD world myself. Those apes were just a bit tall for me, plus I like the cleaner look of the Softail better. Always liked the look of the springer though. I say test ride em both and go from there.


You might see my Softy sitting in the shop area if ya go back.

 

I'd have to go with the Springer; I'm one of those "a whole bunch of chrome-looking steel up front" kinda' guys...

 

Both are very nice! But I'd go with the Springer.

 

Go with the Dyna it makes me think of the Easy Riders
Captain America with a different paint job.

 

The '06 Dyna problems were a first year 6 speed tranny recall, something with the shifter forks, and a recall to change the fuel injectors to a more proper size. Not familiar with anything else.

 

Sure...I could talk about '06 Dyna problems for a few hours.
Had one...sold it last winter.

*First big issue...as mentioned a few replies back..."Inner Primary Bearing" problem. It's expensive...gotta pull the whole primary out. You can do a search on the forums and find several threads that are many pages long...but to sum up the problem, the early run (first 6 months or so) 06 Dynas had the first year of the 6 speed tranny. This was made without the alignment dowels that fit the primary housing. So when being assembled..things didn't line up perfectly, and this put stress on the inner primary bearing (IPB). So they kept chewing themselves up...often every 10,000 miles, or less, or more...it varied. The original '06 IPB itself was also a little weak...so combine that with extra stress from not being perfectly aligned..and they failed. Lots of people did a quick fix by replacing the IPB with a "Baker" IPB...helped a little, I tried this on mine...was still a bit noisy, so I replaced the Baker IPB with a factory '07 IPB. Harley made the 07 IPB beefier. I was happy with that one. The proper fix was to get the '07 tranny 'n primary housing that had the alignment pins...so it would always line up properly where the shaft comes out. Less stress on that bearing.

Signs of a failing IPB? Very easy...start the bike...leave it in neutral, clutch released....and listen. The sound of a roached IPB is much like....say you take an old skate board or old roller skates...especially those old ones with metal wheels. And you spin the wheels hard with your hand....you hear those old worn metal bearings making noise as the wheels spin. Now...pull in the clutch and dump the tranny into first....did that kind of sound go away? If so...the IPB is failing.

If there is a major change in noise from the primary between idle in neutral, to clutch in and put her in gear...the IPB is failing.

Costs to repair? replacement IPB ain't much...60 bucks I think.. But it's the time involved in replacing it (~4 hours assuming have all necessary tools)...plus gaskets, oil.

I've heard of owners having the IPB fail as soon as 6,000 miles....I've heard of owners not having IPB issues until 10 or 15 or 20,000 miles or more. Mine went at...I think 13,000 miles.

*Second issue....the stator. Harley went cheap and only bolted it on...eventually those bolts will back out, into the copper windings..and beging to chew up the stator from the inside out. Result is a ton of chewed up copper wires shitting all over the inside of your primary. And horrific squeeling noises. Don't ask me how I know. Fix is to replace it with an 07 stator...which the factory properly built by tack welding the bolts so they won't back out on their own.

Out of those 2 bikes you have up there...it's really up to you and your tastes. I like Dynas for their classic look...the wide glide sorta takes away from that. And I like Springers for their early 70's chopper style looks. Softies ride different than Dynas...and Springers add yet another dimension to the ride. Not fond of the solid rear wheel on that one though..so I'd be changing that out.

Do lots of 2-up riding? Passenger may appreciate the sissy bar and back pad on the Springer versus the open back small pillion of that W/G.

Both have apes that I don't like...I'd be getting some more standard bars on. But yeah those are all personal prefs.

 

I'd pick the Dyna. Just looks better to me.

 

This^^^ I had an 06 Wide Glide that had zero problems, but I only put 10k miles on it, but the problems are documented many times over in the Dyna room here on the forum. One small point to bring up about passenger comfort... The passenger pegs on the 06 and newer Dynas are mounted to the swing arm, and the passenger gets a lot of vibration in their feet. I was told that numerous times by some girls I had on the back. May be insignificant but not if you plan on a large amount of two up riding. I prefer Dynas over Softails, for various reasons, however. I would just NOT buy an 06.