As someone who has recently traded a Dyna (owned for 5 years) for a Softie, in stock form the Softie is a much better handling bike than the Dyna was. Sure the Dyna leans a little bit more but the OEM suspension on the Dyna is ***** IMHO.

I assume you are somewhat vertically challenged.......i.e about 5ft high or less as otherwise I can't imagine what you'll look like riding a Softie with rigged up mids on and your knees are tucked up under your armpits.
Please post a photo

 

Only the boards touch (Very) occasionally on my Deluxe. Even then you've got to have had a touch of the 'red mist' and be riding like a Kamikaze!!

You'll do more damage to your underpants than the bike!

 

I scrape all the time, The Deluxe touches down before any of the other Softy's, it's only the boards though.

 

honestly Im pretty sold on going for a softail I thank you all for the great info

as for my knees in my arm pits I think I'll be ok...Im just under 5'8" but I have a short inseem (29")

 

I was around when the first softail frame hit the market. Was involved in bikes for twenty years already (riding for 50 years at present). It was sometime back in the mid-70s. The original Softail was NOT a Harley idea.

Some guys had a little factory and were advertising the "Road Worx Sub-Shock". All of us cracking our spines on HardTail Rigid frame choppers looked at the idea in astonishment.

The MoCo factory saw the ad for this new stylish hardtail replica (I think it was in EasyRiders or something) with shocks and swingarm and bought the design when the little factory sputtered out of business. Harley was very interested in "custom" and "looks" as that was where Harley wanted to go at that point.

The Japs were dominating the performance market and so Harley decided to quit performance entirely and concentrate on profiling and bad boy image and get everybody to dress up like a pirate and pretend they were in the HA. Or if you bought a Dresser you could pretend you were Elvis Presley or something. Retro was in and here to stay in the Harley camp.

Me? I was all ways into enjoying the performance aspects of Harleys. With pirated disc brakes, better front fork, alloy Akront wheels, some lightening and a few motor parts, the 60s bikes I rode were a blast as "all rounder BIG Road Bikes." I had a fair number of hot rod XLCH Sportsters and stylish rigid choppers and took trips on my Bagger back when that was considered hopelessly out of style.

But I liked bikes that were good for ten hour days and fast enough to be fun in traffic. I had to own good performance but did not appreciate Japanese plastic ugly styling. I preferred real steel.

Here I am 30 years later still enjoying the heck out of how comfortable and ridable my latest TwinCam is with a little attention to detail.

For one thing all those guys that lower a swingarm equipped shock equipped "Softail" and then are surprised it smashes into the ground when it bobs around on its shocks in a corner---well what do you expect? It HAS shocks. It is NOT a rigid HardTail. Only a rigid HardTail can sit that low. Why? Because a rigid won't bob up and down as it HAS NO SHOCKS... It is SOLID.

That's right...Softails bounce up and down in a corner when you hit bumps. Maybe knowing that an intelligent rider would look at ways to INCREASE the clearance by raising the front end a tiny bit. I know I have done so on mine and it did not make it feel bad at all. And it is wonderful being able to stuff the bike into a tight corner and lean waaaayyy over without hitting anything.

Guys should be happy as heck to have the handsome good looks of a suspension equipped Softail.; That frame is gorgeous. And it rides on pretty decent shocks if you set it up right.

So, both pretty and corners well. With great lean angles if you will extend the front forks a tiny bit to give it a stance. Check out the clearance of my Softail Deuce in the photo. Miles of room under the cases and pipes. Zero chance of bottoming or scraping.

Bottoming and scraping is not cool. It is just as senseless as lowering the idle on a Twinkie below where the oil pump can support proper oil pressure. Sure it sounds "cool" set that low but you wipe out your bearings with no oil pressure.

And set too low you will wipe out your Softail when parts smack into the pavement. Incredibly dangerous.

But don't listen to me. I ride Harleys for the sheer pleasure at how great they feel over long miles and even bad roads. I guess I got off the factory marketing train somewhere back in 1971. I bought my Deuce because it was pretty AND it could be set up to ride like a *****.

I am totally out of touch with most Harley riders I meet. Most are into the "looks" thing. It is extremely rare when I meet a "runner" that loves the bikes the way I do. But boy am I happy just taking her out for long runs.

Hope nobody gets there nose bent out over my opinions. I have already heard from other Harley riders. One guy even explained to me as I am somewhat stupid...that Harleys are not actually meant to be driven at all. "They are just for show." "If you want a bike to actually RIDE it, go buy a Jap Sport Bike."

BS. Baloney. Harleys are a total blast to ride. It's all in what you prefer and how you set one up... I am all for good looks or I wouldn't still be on one. But as for me, I like them to work as slick as they look...

 

Just read a write up in a Harley mag about the Breakout the reviewer managed without to much trouble to scrap the primary cover a few times never mind the foot pegs, not to good a lean angle apparently.

 

They're listing it at 23.4 degrees on each side. Even the Rocker had 29.5 on one side, and 32.5 on the other.
The Breakout would probably be a pretty good handler if it was raised, along the lines of what Rleedeuce recommended.
Maybe we'll eventually come back to the point where we aren't lowering bikes so much, that they're useless for anyone but little old ladies.

 

From one old fart to another, I like your style...

 

My Boards from last year.. I decided to buy shotgun shocks when I realized I was scarping also
the mounts.

Not all bikes can be all things, if you want lean and light, you can get sport bikes or sport touring (BMW makes great bikes), if you want Touring , the Ultra's gold wings are awesome, if you want bar hopping, a chopped sporty, you want good looking cruisers that is the Softail.

Every time you take a bike out of its comfort zone it is always a 'trade-off'.

 

rleedeuce that was some great history and it sounds like you get what I want. I dont want a sporty jap, or a BMW, I'm over my sportsbike phase its fun but I just want to get back to riding, its hard to explain I guess.

I never planned on lowering the bike, but I did see something about swapping shocks and raising the rear a little? perhaps I read the thread wrong I did only skim over it.