Lean Angles Softails
Club Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 2,697
Likes: 10
From: San Angelo, Texas
Actually, I did look up " Picture of Heritage without Bags" and darned if it doesn't have the same appeal as the Deluxe: ie -it is just the bags I am reacting to that makes me like the Deluxe better (with my own bags imagined) So it is probably simpler to change the bags on the Heritage to a Springer type (or get used to the studs) that it is to buy bags, shield and new suspension for the deluxe, just to end up in the same place, and cheaper too. Thanks for the input. It actually is the same machine just with different shocks. And I don't need or want "low" Nigel
Road Captain
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 537
Likes: 120
From: DELMARVA
Softails and road clearance
Looks like you got it all sorted out and will make an informed decision.
Softails are pretty close to the ground even before you drop the tail even lower as a styling decision. Problems happen because the rear section is a fake rigid that in reality will flex and compress and reduce your road clearence to even less if you hit a bump while hiked over in a corner.
Think about it. A lowered cool looking Softail that mimics a rigid is actually at a handling disadvantage to a rigid because the rear swingarm moves up into the wheel well under compression.
Maybe if you are after that low rigid look and don't want it to smack the asphalt you really oughta just buy a rigid...ha, ha. It would work better.
In my case I fell in love with the Softail Deuce. I run mine with less than an inch of sag in the rear and raised the front end about an extra inch for more lean angle. I was trying to keep the beauty of the Softail frame and increase the potential inherent in the working suspension at both ends compared to a rigid.
In any event Softails are not at all deficient in the handling department until they are dropped too darn close to the asphalt. I applaud your actually thinking this whole process through before plopping down the coin for a setup you sense isn't tweaked the right way for how you drive.
Get that rear end up there and keep it high is my take on it. I get a big grin on my face when my Deuce tracks the corners like it is on rails. Who says Softails can't handle? Not me.
Softails are pretty close to the ground even before you drop the tail even lower as a styling decision. Problems happen because the rear section is a fake rigid that in reality will flex and compress and reduce your road clearence to even less if you hit a bump while hiked over in a corner.
Think about it. A lowered cool looking Softail that mimics a rigid is actually at a handling disadvantage to a rigid because the rear swingarm moves up into the wheel well under compression.
Maybe if you are after that low rigid look and don't want it to smack the asphalt you really oughta just buy a rigid...ha, ha. It would work better.
In my case I fell in love with the Softail Deuce. I run mine with less than an inch of sag in the rear and raised the front end about an extra inch for more lean angle. I was trying to keep the beauty of the Softail frame and increase the potential inherent in the working suspension at both ends compared to a rigid.
In any event Softails are not at all deficient in the handling department until they are dropped too darn close to the asphalt. I applaud your actually thinking this whole process through before plopping down the coin for a setup you sense isn't tweaked the right way for how you drive.
Get that rear end up there and keep it high is my take on it. I get a big grin on my face when my Deuce tracks the corners like it is on rails. Who says Softails can't handle? Not me.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,158
Likes: 68
From: Martinsburg, WV
Lean angle, Softail, and Deuce.
The Deuce has one of, if not the highest lean angle of any of the big twins. People should check their facts before saying that Softails don't have lean angle.
The Deuce has one of, if not the highest lean angle of any of the big twins. People should check their facts before saying that Softails don't have lean angle.
Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 157
Likes: 1
From: San Jose California
Getting passed by minivans in the turns is not the way I want to go through life.
Last edited by Rayvan; Sep 13, 2012 at 04:36 PM.
Thread Starter
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2nd Gear
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Canada
Easy now,,, I didn't say all softails have no lean angle, I just quoted the manufacturers numbers on the two models of interest to me. There is nothing wrong with that suspension system ....just keep it high and don't dangle stuff off the sides. Nigel
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 3,217
Likes: 90
From: Detroit
It's not like the thing handled badly (actually I don't know, because it was a rental bike so I didn't want to push it to the point of scraping anything), but it was kind of soul-less, like a Harley missing one nut. Totally boring. Might as well have been riding a Gold Wing.
Road Captain
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 537
Likes: 120
From: DELMARVA
Softail Road Racer-Why the hell not?
I get kinda disgusted with know-it-alls that splain me how *** a Softail is inferior to an shocktail... You are on the right track completely, Nigel. But as a long suffering Softail owner who gets lectures from Honda guys about how my bike sucks in the corners---even though they never rode one--I have more than a few opinions myself on the subject.
Fact is a Softail is nothing less than an upside down state of the art Mono-shock like a crotch rocket. Exceptin it has two shocks istead of one. Which makes it state of the art exceptin' times two! Wow! Take that---shocktails!
All kidding aside and my ruffled feathers notwithstanding I have to wonder a bit why nobody has ever invented a double butted, tig welded super hero incredibly lightweight RACING version of a Softail rear fork. Jeez if you put one on and laced up a big fat lightweight Akront alloy rim and found some Koni shocks for the thing you would have the most advanced suspension on the planet.
Actually I am not unhappity with my stock setup. It is sweet steel and looks pretty as pie. But I digress...
Road Captain
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 537
Likes: 120
From: DELMARVA
Hey Rayvan I like your front wheel setup a whole lot. That looks like some model Harley 19" alloy wheel, am I right? What size rubber does it run? Stock 21" is 2.25 wide. Is your wheel wider?
Most of all did you need to run special spacers to match up with the brake disc and wheel offset?
I absolutely hated on the stock skinny 21" Dunlop. What a POS. I switched to a wider Metzler 90/90/21 running 40lbs of pressure and am pretty content except for the nagging feeling that a 19 with even more rubber on the road would be too cool for school.
I have looked for help in switching out to a 19" but the amound of wrong information out there is staggering. One wheel "Expert" laced up a Frankenstein for me and "bent" the spokes to make it match my hub. Haha. WTF?
So in the meantime I have been riding the 21.
Tell me the beans, man. Whuzzup with that wheel????
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 494
Likes: 0
From: Reno/Tahoe
Sweet ride! Have you done the five passes ride? I get lots of miles up in Tahoe. Never get tired of the scenery.
To the question of the OP: No one can tell you what is right for you. Here is my perspective: My buddy's Ducati 999 handles, accelerates, and stops better than my Harley. I know, I have ridden them both!
That said, I enjoy riding my Harley more.
Its because I am in a more relaxed state of mind when I ride due to the fact that I am not trying to apex every turn at the bike's limits (actually my courage is a greater limiting factor than the Ducati's capabilities). My FLSTSI can handle most, if not all turns at speeds well in excess of the posted caution speeds, and often way faster than my relaxed state of mind desires. The floorboards fold, so when they begin to scrape, there is plenty of lean angle left. Magnesium strips secured to the underside of the floorboards puts on quite a spark show to boot!
No bike is perfect for all riding conditions. There is always some compromise. I do not find any troubling compromises on my H-D. Bar-hopping, city riding, mountain roads, 500 mile days, all works great with my bike. O.k., there is one compromise: My wide bars make lane splitting not practical, but that is a problem of my own making. The bike didn't come with 43" wide bars. But I don't lane split either, so no problem.
Perhaps you need/want two bikes.
To the question of the OP: No one can tell you what is right for you. Here is my perspective: My buddy's Ducati 999 handles, accelerates, and stops better than my Harley. I know, I have ridden them both!
That said, I enjoy riding my Harley more.
Its because I am in a more relaxed state of mind when I ride due to the fact that I am not trying to apex every turn at the bike's limits (actually my courage is a greater limiting factor than the Ducati's capabilities). My FLSTSI can handle most, if not all turns at speeds well in excess of the posted caution speeds, and often way faster than my relaxed state of mind desires. The floorboards fold, so when they begin to scrape, there is plenty of lean angle left. Magnesium strips secured to the underside of the floorboards puts on quite a spark show to boot!
No bike is perfect for all riding conditions. There is always some compromise. I do not find any troubling compromises on my H-D. Bar-hopping, city riding, mountain roads, 500 mile days, all works great with my bike. O.k., there is one compromise: My wide bars make lane splitting not practical, but that is a problem of my own making. The bike didn't come with 43" wide bars. But I don't lane split either, so no problem.
Perhaps you need/want two bikes.