Hi All

Rented a 2012 Heritage softtail on Maui last week and I had a great day. A Harley is the best way to see Hawaii. The Harley folks on Front Street in West Maui are some of the friendliest Harley folks I've ever met.

I've only owned Baggers, so I rented a Heritage to try out a softtail. I must admit, accept for the B engine, that Heritage is a sweet bike. However, I'm not sure I could get used to the B engine. While it is smooth at idle, it felt like rocks rattling around the case at cruise speed. It shifted very hard as well, but I think a clutch adjustment would help that a lot. Could it be there is something wrong and the engine is riding rougher than normal for a B engine or is it normal? Sure made me think twice about owning softtail as a second bike.

Beary

 

LOL! I ride a StreetGlide and my GF has a Softail Deluxe. There is absolutely NO COMPARISON between the ride of the two. The StreetGlide is SO MUCH SMOOTHER than the Deluxe and they have the same engine and tranny. I will take a rubber mounted frame engine over the B engine any day.

 

That shows why H-D offers a rubber mount line in the FL and FXD lines- some customers just prefer the vibration control.

in terms of performance the solid mount softail motors did put more power too the road- but the "B" motor looses some of that to the balancing shafts.

I do have solid mount motors in some of the older bikes, I wouldn't owna softail because I think the ride is crap...and I gotta couple of rubbermounts.

different strokes.

mike

 

I rode the bike for almost eight hours and felt it was a nice smooth ride with good handling, but I was ready to get away from the engine. I can see owning a softtail as a bar hopper, but not as a long distance ride. And that make sense really, the bagger is the long distance bike anyway. I was just a little surprised how different the two engines felt.

Beary

 

I've put some miles on the Softails (with the B motor) and thought it was ok. Frankly, most of the rentals are stock, so whether it's an A or a B it's going to be a bit of a slug.

 

I own both and
yes my Street Glide is smoother.
But I still like and ride both and enjoy both of my Harleys

 

If you want another bike but not a Touring bike check out the Dynas. If you want a real bike find a used FXR. IMO, one of the best bikes MoCo ever built.

 

Never had that sort of problem on my Heritage. Crusing speed is fine also in my book. Then again, I came from a Sporty -- now THAT'S a bar hopper. I prefer the B far more than the rubber-mounted Dynas I test rode.

 

spent 10yrs and85k on my 01 fltri,loved the bike,picked up an 11 flstc in july,just over 4k now and i must say i am impressed with the b motor,plenty o giddy up sixth gear is a pleasure,it is a little buzzy over 80 but i have no regrets in the transition from an a motor to the b,hope it serves me as well as my 01.