This seems to be an age old question. Some riders see little or no difference, some see a lot of difference. I'm not a big guy (about 5'9 - 170) and I thought that the ride in crosswinds was greatly improved when I ditched the solids for a set of RC Components "Wicked". The hell of it is that you have to spend the money and change out wheels to find out for yourself, unless you know someone with a bike comparable to yours without the solid disks.

 

got a 03 phatboy with hd slotted solid rims rides fine by me.

 

I don't have a fatboy but a good crosswind will blow any bike around if your not ready for it. I got thrown into the other lane when crossing a bridge in the mountains. The mountian side blocked the wind and it was an awsome ride then the bridge came up and so did the wind when crossing. Scared the crap out of me.[]

 

I have changed them on every Fatboy that I have owned. There is a big difference to me. But like someone else noted the only way that you will know is to either ride someone elses without the solid wheels or fork over the dough for something different.

 

I have a 03 fatboy & have not noticed much difference. Not to slam anyone but the solid wheel (cosmetic-wise) is why I bought this model. That's what makes America great, to each his own!

 

Like I said in another thread, the solid wheels is what make it a FATBOY, I know the cross winds suck at times, but I will stick with solids, I guess you could call me a traditionalist.

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We recently had a discussion about this in another post. I just changed my solid wheels to a set of PM Villians. I noticed a huge difference riding in the wind. There are windy days that I can ride now that I could have never ridden in with the solid wheels. The big difference that I notice now is that with the solid wheels, the entire bike gets pushed around along with the rider. With my new wheels I notice that in a strong wind, my head gets pushed around (wearing a helmet) but, the bike is rock solid. Much easier to deal with than having the bike get pushed around IMHO.

 

In my opinion.....you might see a difference but as someone else said, even with different wheels, the wind is going to blow the bike around some regardless. I changed mine but it was mainly just to change the looks. Dont spend the money if you are only worried about improving the ride because you dont get enough in return for all that money. In my opinion, it makes the bike look 20 times better with a good set of chrome rims on it though.

 

FYI...as soon as a 'spoked' rim hits around 28 mph, the windwill not travel through it. As for the FB solids, they cannot produce anymore side pull/push of the bike than a spoked rim...unless...your sitting at a light during a huricane!

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I have a 1999 Fatboy. I had the stock wheels on it for a while. Yeah the wind blows you around. As of last Winter I put a set of 40-spoke wheels on. It ridespretty much the same way in the wind. So, it's not the rims, it's the damn big bike!