Ok, to begin with, I can't believe I am even doing this. I have been on "fat" bikes forever. I'm currently riding an 07 FLHT. But, and I have no idea how it happened, the Softail Customs are going "psst, hey, yeah, over here..." And I'm starting to listen to the voices. And then, then I start looking at the photos posted for the Customs. Now I'm blinking like a one eyed dog in a meat locker. And you, "Live2Ride"...yeah, you and that bitchin black hot rod. STOP!

Alright, here are my questions. Some may be silly, but bear with me, I been pushing fat bikes for quite a while.

That front tire. How does the Custom handle corners, groved highway surfaces, rain, etc?

Two up. (with the right seat, back rest, etc.) Is my wife going to be happy doing 2 or 3 days on the Custom as far as foot position, room between her and me (physically, not mentally), suspension quality, etc?

Can I lower the Custom an inch and not bottom out riding 2 up, plus have a decent ride?

I use my bike for at least one 3500 to 4000 mile trip a year, plus lots of 150 to 400 mile day hops. Any opinions or experience with that.

I am all about tweaking bikes and adding goodies and using t-bags and all that. And I love the 200 rear, bobbed fender, wide forks, apes, and on, and on......

Won't somebody help me, please?!?![sm=drooldude.gif]

 

...If there's a cure... I don't wanna know about it.

[8D]

The ol' HD bug's worse than pneumonia.

-Ryan "Rowdy."

 

Well, since I was called out (Thanks by the way), I'll help as much as I can.

I live right by the mountains in South Carolina, and I ride the twisties here and in North Carolina quite a bit. I love to ride hard and fast through them. I haven't had the chance to ride them with my new bars, but I can say that with the stock bars and the Roland Sands bars I had, I never had a single problem hammerin' the turns. I think the 21" front wheel tracks great. I've also never had any issues with grooves on the road, rain, gravel,or anything like that. I've had a 1200 Custom, a Deuce, and now this bike, all with a 21" front wheel. Never had any problems, and I don't have any complaints. I bought my wife a 1200 Low, which she wound up giving back to me because she didn't want to ride anymore, and it had a 19" front wheel. It didn't feel any different to me. I'm sure the 21" wheel will feel different to you at first, but you'll get used to it and you'll see there's nothing wrong with it at all.

I ride 2-up quite a bit. That's the reason I traded my beloved Deuce in on this bike. When my wife didn't want to ride her Sportster anymore, I needed to get something that would be more comfortable for her to ride on. The stock seat is really comfortable for both the rider and passenger. My wife actually commented on the fact that she has a lot more room between her and me, so she's not cramped up right against me like she was on the Deuce. The only complaint she has is that the stock seat/backrest setup doesn't offer enough support for her to lean up against. She says it's better than nothing, though. I told her that if she decides to make start taking long trips with me, I'll get a nice big poofy seat and a big backrest for her. She liked that idea. As far as leg position, I don't think there's much of a problem for her. Her knees give her problems all the time, and don't start to bother her until around 150-200 miles of straight riding. If we stop and take a break for any length of time, she's fine. As far as how the stock seat and body positioning is for the rider, I have no doubt that I could ride this bike across the country and not complain one bit. The stock seat is amazingly comfortable. I do 150-300 mile day trips quite a bit, and I have NEVER had my butt start to hurt. I've never been one to take really long trips

 

Well, I don't ride a Custom, myself, but maybe I can help out woth some of your concerns~

I, too, was very leary of the 21" front tire... especially after coming off a Hayabusa with a 17" front
wheel that was conciderably fatter~ It did take some gettin used too... more on the confidence side
of things, but I've yet to have any problems cornering and never had issues with road grooves either~

Can't speak for the two up riding as my lady rides her own and I'm set up for solo only~

Can't really speak for the lowering aspect either~ My duece and half **** lowers it just fine every time
I mount up! I have yet to bottom out though~ The rear swing arm shock can be adjusted to accomidate
different weights and set ups though~ I'd have to wanna think it can be done (lower an inch) without
bottoming out, but would also think the ride would be a bit more rough~

I've done a couple long huals on my Train.. longest being around 1400 miles... and never had issue one~
I coulda kept right on cruisin'~

I say "Go for it"! If it turns out not to be what you expected, just set it up for your lady and don't worry
about two up riding anymore... unless you're thinkin trade in, that is~

 

Sorry... I type too slow... L2R got it covered!

 

Thanks much, guys! I appreciate the help!

I have been a fan of the Softails for some time, but when they hung the 200 on them, that really piqued my interest.

L2R, which 2 into 1 pipe is that. It looks sweet on that bike.

BlueDragon, if I don't like the Custom, I'm sure my daughter would be willing to take it off my hands. LOL!

Hmmmm, I see that my dealer has a black pearl Custom in stock. Uh oh.......

 

Budda,if you like everything else on the Custom but are still not sure about the 21" skinny tire, you can put a 16" Heritage wheel and tire on the front. Looks good too.
Marsh

 

I do find that the Ole 21" tire will " rut-ride " on me. There are some highways in the DFW area that have some wider ruts in them and she will tend to track in them.I then revert back to my motorcross days when you ride in gravel, just let it track and dont fight it and your fine. Other than that I havent had any problems w/mine. Live2ride is correct about the stock seat, its like sitting on a pillow. Ive done a few 250+ mile day trips and never felt uncomfortable. It doesnt handle as well as my Street Bob did , but then again thats not what its made for.Ive also got caught in SEVERAL Rain Storms and it rides sweet, no problems at all. Just a fantastic smooth comfortable ride.Let us know what happens!

 

It's a Cobra 2-into-1. Nice, deep sound and plenty of torque. Cobra and Rinehart are the only two companies I know of that have a lifetime warranty on their pipes. Cobras are about half the cost of Rineharts, though. One of the things that really turned me on to this exhaust was it didn't have the megaphone styling that just about every other 2-into-1 has.

 

Buddha96, I'll attempt to provide additional input to your questions.

Handling:
I wouldn't call it great, acceptable but not great, but that's to be expected with a skinny tall front wheel, fat rear, long wheelbase, rake and weight. The UK isn't known for longstraights and where I live the roads are twisty and many intersections are managed with roundabouts and mini-roundabouts, plus poorly maintained roadsurfaces. The custom handles them OK but nowhere near like a Street Triple or F800ST though. To put it into Harley perspective, I had a Road King Custom on loan for a day and it handled the twisties and roundaboutsbetterthan my bike and ate up up the bumps and ruts as if they weren't there.

Rain, we get lots of that here and I ride in it ! With a single disk up front, small contact patch with the road and bike's mass, braking in the rain requires a bit of planning - like leaving lots of space in front.[&:]

Two-up:
I don't do much two up riding, mainly solo so can't really help you there.

Lower:
Mines lowered by just over an inch, I'm no light weight and haven't bottomed it out yet.

Trips:
Even with the retro, skinny better looking seat and lowered rear; no problem at all on 300 mile days. It's a comfortable, chilled out ride.

Tweaks:
Probably too many choices rather than too few, it's addictive and quite costly. They look good stock - once the padded cushion is replaced - and can look even better with a few bits n' bobs.

Summary:
It's a great bike. It feels very good to ride, you sit in it rather than on it and that compensates for it's heavier handling. To be fair on it I did an advanced rider assesment on it which included London traffic and out in the countryside (twisties) and got A rating.

I'm very glad I bought mine and wouldn't want to part with it, it may not be perfect (what is?) but it oozes character and every ride still brings a smile - even in the rain. I've been tempted by the Street Glide and still am, but can't justify a third bike (yet) and don't want to give up my FXSTC.

Oh and it looks good too, at least when it's clean.