OK guys I've never ridden, or ridden on, a Harley. I'm not even a newbie yet.

I do want to buy one (my first bike of any motorised brand) in September. I've had my eye on a Softail Standard or maybe a Dyna Wide Glide. I'm leaning towards the Softie though. Anyway I was down at the local Harley dealer at Bundaberg today and there was a lady picking up her new ride (Dyna). Her husband was there and he was waiting for his new ride to be delivered in September. I got talking with him and told him I was considering the Softie and he said that the Dyna's definitely handle better than the Softails.

Now here's what I don't get... The Softail has a lean angle of about 5 to 6 degrees greater than the Wide Glide so it should handle corners better, or shouldn't it?  Now don't laugh but I love cornering on my motor scooter so I wanted a bike with good cornering ability. Whatever I decide on will almost certainly be my first and last Harley so I don't want to make a mistake. 

Cheers

Crookneez

Your better off taking a few bikes for a test ride, it's the only way your going to know if you like their handling or not.

i went for a sportster, first every bike and rode it on my L's. It all comes down to what you are going to do with the bike + what looks better to you. Are you looking at going fast around corners?? if so you have chosen the wrong bikes, a fatbob would be better.....but in saying that i have seen a few ride those bike pretty dam fast.... Go with what looks better to you, and you'll learn to ride it accordantly.

Dont be scared to scrape.......

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/photo2zcs.jpg/

T1

If I remember "the good old days" wisdom it was the softies suspension that was supposed to let it down on cornering ability, not its lean angle.

The softail was designed to look like a rigid, that fact alone means that it will never handle as well as a "normal motorcycle" the design is a compromise.

How many race bikes do you see with a softail setup?

Yes it works but not as well.

I love mine and I love scrapin all those bits that are beyond its lean angle, find a bike you like and learn to ride it. Learn to ride it well.

I forgot to mention you have been around for a little while now Crookneez, a lot of fellas on a scooter would have dissapeared along with their dream long ago.

Lookin forward to pics of your chosen ride mate.

Just buy a Roadking and enjoy , new touring chasis rocks , a bit more bike for your bucks I reckon , but I could be bias ?

Either way try em all , it can't hurt and its free , like ya said , you'll most likely hang on to her , so just make sure you try before you buy , it's the only way to get the one thats suits ya best the first time round , good luck with it anyway !

Hey Crookneez ... great to see your still keen on getting your pride and joy come September ... as someone else as stated you have been around for awhile now , both on this forum and on this planet and like they also said most guys give up the dream pretty quick if it dosent come straight away , so stay true to what you want .

Now to your original question ... again as stated above forget about lean angles and all that type of stuff , there are so many other things that make a bike handle but again it is a fairly agreeded believe that a Dyna will out handle a Softail any day of the week ... depending of course who is riding which bike ... as with most things in life there is always the exception to the rule .

I ride a 2008 Softail and love it but at the same time I would love to take some of those new Dyna Super Glides for a blast through my local twisties ... I seem to remember some of your post from some time back where you said you weren't very tall and would like to be able to plant your feet on the ground when stopped at lights and what not , have a look at some of the Dyna Super Glide Lows ... you got the grunt of the bigger motor but the better handling of the Dyna`s in general .

Don't forget to post a pic or 2 when you finally decide .

Tim .

good luck in trying to find your ideal bike first time round, with me my preference changes all the time so I don't expect to own any toy for a long time. I must admit that I am really enjoying my Heritage Softail and the main reason I went for it was because it can be a tourer or stripped down for a cool custom look. I reckon you have had some great advice so far and for what you want it sounds like one of the Dyna's will probably suit you best. All Harleys are going to feel heavy and cumbersome compared to the scooter you have now. I too used to love going fast around corners on my jap bikes but with the Harley it is just as much fun but at slower speeds. You really need to think about what you are doing on a Harley which to me makes it just as much fun, especially when you get the boards scraping in the corners.

 first things first, there is no such thing as a stupid question. the point of asking anything it to become better informed, and asking about harleys on a harly forum sounds pretty sensible to me.

in most cases position of foot controls makes little difference to handling as any shift in the centre of gravity is minimal.

problem i have is remembering where the foot pegs are at takeoff when you swap from bike to bike. probably looks wierd when someone sees your legs flailing about feeling for pegs.

5 ft 8 shouldnt be an issue for any harley, and angles are all adjustable to make opperating easier for you.

if you have to buy without a testride try it for size. get the sales guy to hold the bars so you can sit feet up of the ground. see if it feels right. ask if adjustments can be made of anything feels a bit awkward.

let the bike choose you.

Mostly good info there but I don't agree with your comment on saying angles are all adjustable. Not without changing suspension components and footpeg/floorboard combo's, by changing them to forward controls. Depending on which bike obviously. But generally speaking, they are not adjustable. Preload and air pressure in shocks on some models, are the only adjustable settings.

 what i meant it that from a short person to a tall person you can adust the at rest position of the foot levers to suit the angle of your foot, which does change depending on leg length. being well over 6 ft myself i tend to have the foot lever lower than my mrs would as my knees are higher due to leg length

good onya crook! i recently bought my first harley after driving big jap bikes my whole life and they are like chalk and cheese. i bought a 2002 fatboy that was lowered when i bought it, looked the ducks nuts but too easy to scrape and hard on the arse so i adjusted the shocks up an inch or two. its a lot easier on my back and i can lean it over a fair bit more since i did that but if you really enjoy throwing your bikes into corners i think you are barking up the wrong tree. my bike weighs 320kg which is about 100kg heavier than my last jap bike but cos the weight is down low it actually feels lighter. if you are dead set on a softy i wouldnt say dont do it but you should give some consideration to a lighter bike. whatever you buy i am sure you will love it. just remember your not driving your scooter!

hey crook , before i bought my bike i took a sporty a softy and a fatbob for a test drive. have you taken any for a run? i highly recommend you do cos you will learn what you like and dont like. good luck

hello again crook, what makes you so sure the dollar is going to keep falling?

 First of all I really appreciate all the replies and helpful comments. I (will probably) buy without a test ride because I reckon the prices will increase as I said earlier. If I knew for sure the $ would drop further I'd be investing heavily and looking at gold plating on a new Harley instead of chrome 

I just think that as the US removes stimulus and the economy continues to grow the $ will strengthen and push the AUD lower. Just a guess really.

NOTE: I meant to add... Firstly, I have no desire, nor will I buy a Jap bike because they are quicker and handle better. The reason I keep mentioning the lean angle is that I constantly scrape going around corners on my Sym 150 motor scooter and it really puts me off. I was hoping there was a Harley that would avoid the scraping. Is it dangerous or a problem when you lean too far and scrape your pegs etc?

what about a sportster

Oooops! 

I think you really should hold out until you get your open licence and see if you actually like riding Harleys, as rednuts said they are more of a cruiser or straight line bruiser. Another option is a Buell, at least it has a Harley engine and they were made to try and compete with the japs and Italians. Buying a Harley is a big investment and at the moment they are not the best to resell with all the imports that are around. You really need to make an informed decision so you don't do you dough. I say this as I have had to learn the hard way many times and lost a lot of money over the years.

Crookneez, I am 5.8. my nightrain standard pegs (IMO) were an inch close, I changed to Kyriaken pegs with the fold out extensions and they are great on the highway. folded up, they are like mini boards.