Hey everyone, I would really enjoy your input about rejoining the Harley family.

I owned a Sportster a couple of years ago and realized it was too small and sold it quick. I stepped out of the HD family and bought a Yamaha Warrior 1700PC. It's fast, quite large, and is amazingly comfortable on long trips.

I've been looking at Dynas and Softails for awhile and decided on a Softail Custom. However, theres not much info out there about the difference over the years of each Softail...what I mean is, I'm not too worried about owning a 1990 compared to an 02'....or the question is, should I be? Or even, is a Softail Standard that much different as well?

I love the Warrior, but finding parts to upgrade or customize is like pulling teeth, and people want way high prices because these parts or so hard to come by. I've noticed the Softail is a very customizable bike with tons of options.

Also, do you think I would miss the torque of my Warrior, or can that be corrected with a few upgrades to the Softail motor?

As it stands today, I'm still trying to sell my warrior and make enough to buy a Softail. Thanks for reading through this everyone and I appreciate all your feedback.

Thank you!

 

If you are new to HD and have the bucks, shoot for a 2002 and later for the balanced engine. All Softails are very similar, but if you are used to the Warrior, riding an older Haley is not going to be pleasant for you. Go to HD website and check out different styles before you buy so you get one that will keep you happy for a while.

 

IMHO, you want to stay in the 96B realm, and full injection.

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/22306/...m---FXSTC.aspx

 

2000-2008 = 88"
2009-2011= 96"
2012-2013 = 103"
As it applies to the Softail family. As mentioned above, I would go with fuel injection. Softails got the 6 speed tranny in 2007. I believe the Softail custom was dropped in 99 and brought back 2007-2010??? A nice fuel injected 2007 model shouldn't be too hard to find at a decent price. I wouldn't buy a softail older than 2000, regardless of condition, but that is just my personal choice. Good luck.

 

I would seriously consider whether or not you want to have another Harley.
I bought mine two years or so ago, and I really thought I had bought my ultimate dream bike, after a long lay off from motorcycling.

I have had numerous warranty claims. I have had my 2 year warranty cut in half because I bought an ex demo bike, and 'Thats what they only ever get, 12 months', after negotiating 24 months at time of sale.

The suspension is crap, even worse trying to do any serious two up stuff.

And the last problem was the brake reservoirs leaking for the second time having already had them both replaced under warranty.

So I bought a Kawasaki, which has sat in my garden under a cover whilst I build it a home next to my house, in the pouring rain, and the brake discs, which have been wet for the last week, are still shiny, not rusty, like my Harley that sits in the dry in my shed.

I still enjoy riding the Harley, it's just that for the premium price I paid for it, I expected A LOT more.

 

oh and the Stereo on it makes the Harley speaker system seem like 'My First Karaoke' system.

 

Others including me have not been so unfortunate as to have a lot of problems. In the past 10 years I've had one warranty claim. That covers 4 different Harleys, two of which I still own. The problems mentioned above are not typical otherwise HD wouldn't sell as many bikes as they do. Good luck.

 

Thanks for your info...I just called a dealership in my area and spoke to a well seasoned salesman. He actually knew a lot about the Warrior as well and agreed in my assessment of little to no upgrades.

He said if I absolutely have to choose a 90's model, to go with a Dyna because of the rubber mounted engine. The Softail is a good choice from 2000 on up because of the counter balanced engine.

 

What are you looking to spend? You can get a mid 2000's Dyna for under $7K all day long. I would atleast get a 99 dyna to get the 88" engine, and in 2006 the Dyna's got the 6 speed tranny.

 

Right on....If my warrior sells for 6g, I'm looking right around $7,000 or less. I can't go much higher than that.