Is it me, or are the bone stock Softails with the 88ci (1450cc) counterbalanced twin cam motors pretty sluggish? Just took mine out for the first time, and man it sure seems like a dog. My 1200 sporty seems waaay quicker, but maybe it's in my head because it's so much smaller??

 

I only rode one 1 time. About 1/4 mile and took it back because it was so gutless.

 

A bone stock 88b moving that 700+ lbs bike can be a bit underwhelming. It is one of the major reasons so many people let them breath better with a Stage-1 air intake. This of course leads to free flowing pipes, and a EFI tuner. I've go so far as going with a cam upgrade and dyno tune. My 88 is a very different experience compared to stock bikes.

 

I kind of figured... I was just surprised as to how slow this bike seemed. It's an 03, same bike as yours but the Deuce. EFI as well. It's bone stock, just as it was bought 10+ years ago.

 

Sometimes I think mine with the se stage 2 is slow.

 

Your 1200 should easily leave the stock Softail behind, not just quicker but should have a higher top end, too. Even a stock 103 isn't rated as fast as the 1200. I haven't timed them, but my 1200 and S&S 96" powered Glide feel pretty close. I'd guess the 1200 might have a chance at hitting 60 first, but the Glide would probably take it in a quarter mile; but that's an S&S with close to double the horsepower of the original 80. Just imagine what those guys running 74 inchers back in the early Japanese bike days felt like when a 250cc Suzuki Hustler would leap away from them in the stoplight races.

 

My 02 Softail has S&S 510 cams, high perf breather, S&S Super E carb, V&H Straightshots with Thunder Monster baffles. It pulls so hard it scares me sometimes.

I can see where a stock set up might be under powered but that can be rectified.

 

Sometimes my 107" is too slow...

 

I remember the Suzuki 250 X6 Hustler very well. THAT was a very exciting little motorcycle. No power below 6000 rpm, but from 6000 to 9000, it was a 2-stroke terror. That little bike ran the quarter in the 15s, and with a small rider aboard could just touch 100 mph.

My very first bike was its little brother, the 200cc X5, and I lusted for an X6. Even after owning a lot of big displacement bikes, I always enjoyed a ride on an X6.

Jim G

 

A big bore kit and cams will really wake it up.