Anytime I see someone asking for advice on buying used bikes I typically see people praising the early twin cam Dynas. The 1999-2002 units had forged cranks, timken bearings and CV Carbs. They also supposedly have better, lighter frames and are "better built" with "fewer electronics".

I've seen quite a few people say the 5spd trans is stronger then the 6spd and the extra gear ultimately doesn't do a whole lot.

So add in the fact the older bikes cost less, one would think they'd be the most popular to own and build. However, almost every Dyna I see is a +06 motorcycle. Questions on this form, build threads, all the bikes in the "Club Thread" and of course all over Instagram, Facebook and even in person ("real life").

The newer Dyna's 6spd and 49mm Forks are a dead give away and dominate the landscape.

Are the values of the forged crank and timken bearings just dramatically over stated? Does the benefit of the 49mm forks and updated cam tensors out weigh the perceived benefit of the older rotating assembly? Have people finally learned to embrace EFI tuning and reliability?

 

Why worry about it?

if you like old bikes or think they are better, gitchusum. Would be slightly crazy to expect the rest of the world to share that eccentricity.

the fxdx is is a beast. I want one.

 

Oh I'm not worried about it, I'm just a bit baffled.

Like I said, I always see "99-02 is best evvarrr" but then NO ONE lives by that.

I currently have an '03 and my only real gripe/jealousy is the 49mm forks. I feel they look visually better then the old tooth picks.

 

NO ONE is a pretty broad statement. When I was shopping for a Dyna, I was only interested in getting a 01-02 FXDX. I ended up with the 02.

Edited to add that I have enough $$$ invested in mine that I could have purchased any year Dyna I wanted.

 

swap in 49mm forks. Cant be that hard. Lets do it!

to get the ball rolling, anyone here done this?...
edit- Mad Scientist Gorman did it:
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/dyna-...l#post16352825

i think the stem is the same size.

 

Yup, pretty simple. There are a few issues, but nothing too difficult to overcome.

As far as the OP's question...most 'what year?' threads I've read steer people toward either early or late Dynas with a warning against '04-'07.

In my opinion, any 'avoid x model year' comment is mostly over-blown. There are idiosyncrasies for most years/models but as far as I know every single one has a well documented symptom and fix. People seem to make a huge a huge stink about cam tensioner and IPB issues but the owners of the bikes that actually have those "problems" seem quite happy with their bikes.

 

If the other option is a sloptail, I'll take my dyna with all its problems. The only real problem for me is the way the swingarm is mounted.

 

Other than my 2006 SB being possessed by the devil, I love it!

...but seriously, the only problem I've had with it was an exhaust stud that broke off, for which the head had to be removed and taken to a machine shop to extract the stud.

 

Speeding?? The devil made me do it!!

 

I never done anything normal in life, so I suppose thats why I always had Dyna,s