Harley Demo Days

[DaveAlvarado]

One of these is coming up this weekend in my town (Ft. Worth, TX) and I'm thinking about going. I see on their website that I'm supposed to show up in long pants, a full-face helmet, show them my license, and sign a waiver. I'm planning on just wearing full gear anyway.

What else do I need to know? I don't think I can make it on Friday, so it'll have to be Saturday that I go ride. Should I show up before they open? Will I end up waiting for hours to ride one? I really want to check out the Fat Bob and the Street Glide, those are the only two Harleys that tempt me. Just wondering what to expect and what the chances are of me getting to ride what I want.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by DaveAlvarado

One of these is coming up this weekend in my town (Ft. Worth, TX) and I'm thinking about going. I see on their website that I'm supposed to show up in long pants, a full-face helmet, show them my license, and sign a waiver. I'm planning on just wearing full gear anyway.

What else do I need to know? I don't think I can make it on Friday, so it'll have to be Saturday that I go ride. Should I show up before they open? Will I end up waiting for hours to ride one? I really want to check out the Fat Bob and the Street Glide, those are the only two Harleys that tempt me. Just wondering what to expect and what the chances are of me getting to ride what I want.

I'm going to a demo ride on October 19 in Vancouver, BC, as well. As far as I know, demos are first come first served. Canadian demo ride rules are here, guess they're the same in the States.

Will try to test ride the Street Bob [my favorite] , the Low Rider [my wife's favorite] and the Super Glide Custom [kinda like them too].

Looking forward to reading about your demo ride.

[DaveAlvarado]

Well, I went over the weekend and it was as painless a process as it could be. From the website for my local HD dealer I found that they expected you to wear long pants, boots, and a helmet, and they preferred you to wear long sleeves. So I showed up in full-face helmet, jeans, boots, mesh jacket, and gloves. Surprisingly I wasn't the only one in full gear, or a full-face helmet. I had to sign two papers saying I was responsible for damage or injury and the HD dealer wasn't liable. After that I just had to find the lady with the clipboard signing people up for rides.

The ride sign-up process was easy, I told the lady what I wanted to ride and she told me the next ride slot where that bike was open, then wrote my name down for that bike on that ride. While one group was out, they'd do the orientation talk for the next group. Orientation was simple--they told us how to ride staggered formation, what hand signals we'd be using, and basic stuff like "never pass the bike in front of you".

The rides left about every 30 minutes--the total ride was about a 10 mile loop that took a total of about 17 minutes to run, then there was the time of everybody getting on the bikes and checking out the controls, getting new road captains as necessary, etc. The ride itself was a pretty standard organized group ride, with about 15 bikes. If you've ever ridden with a group where you rode staggered formation and used hand signals passed down the line, you'll be more than ready for the demo day rides.

I got to ride a Screaming Eagle Fat Bob which was one of two bikes I was interested in (the other being a Street Glide that everybody wanted a ride on). I have to say, I was disappointed. I was expecting the bike to really knock my socks off, but it just didn't. I love the look of it, the bike seems to fit me pretty good, but there was no chemistry when I rode it. Maybe next time I'll get a crack at a Street Glide and that will do something for me, but for now there's no Harleys on my next-bike radar anymore.

[KD57]

You will love the Street Glide. A neighbor bought one recently and I really liked it, although it has lost some of the "HD" feel, it's tighter, smoother and feels a little Japanese to me.

[Elvis]

Originally Posted by DaveAlvarado

I got to ride a Screaming Eagle Fat Bob which was one of two bikes I was interested in (the other being a Street Glide that everybody wanted a ride on). I have to say, I was disappointed. I was expecting the bike to really knock my socks off, but it just didn't. I love the look of it, the bike seems to fit me pretty good, but there was no chemistry when I rode it. Maybe next time I'll get a crack at a Street Glide and that will do something for me, but for now there's no Harleys on my next-bike radar anymore.

Dave, thanks for sharing. Do they allow only one test ride? Also what's your current bike? just curios.

[DaveAlvarado]

Originally Posted by Elvis

Dave, thanks for sharing. Do they allow only one test ride? Also what's your current bike? just curios.

Test rides are first-come, first-served. I showed up when they began on Saturday morning (9am) and at that time it seemed like there were enough people that you could get in on every other ride. What that meant is that you'd ride, come back, listen to another orientation, and go ride again. You can absolutely do more than one ride, unless there happens to be a few hundred people wanting to ride that day. You cannot sign up for more than one ride at a time--you ride, then you go to the back of the line.

I currently ride an '07 Suzuki M50 set up for touring, put about 14k miles on it since June '07 when I bought it new. Maybe I'm just really used to how my bike rides. The differences between my bike and the Fat Bob:

- The Fat Bob puts out some more low-end grunt, but didn't seem significantly faster. Obviously they don't let you top the bikes out so I can't make an absolute claim, but my "butt dyno" said that more than twice the engine wasn't making twice the power. The power on the HD was certainly lower in the RPM range though--around 3k-4k rpm, where my bike probably ramps up between 4k and 6k.

- Vibrations. Oh god, the vibrations. I felt like I was sitting on a paint shaker at a stop. In motion, no problem. Stopped, it felt like riding down a washboard road, but I was sitting still. This was probably the biggest turn-off for me. It didn't make the bike feel powerful like I thought it would (like a muscle car loping at idle), instead it just felt like one of the engine mount bolts fell out somewhere.

- Center of gravity / turning - the HD is obviously much lower. Turning was...weird. My M50 handles almost like a 600lb sportbike--it takes a little muscle to make it flick around, but it has no problem turning into curves, and the turn-in feels consistent from vertical to peg-scraping. The HD on the other hand felt like it really just wanted to go straight. Once I'd initiate a turn, it was hard to tell when it started turning, but at some point the bike seemed to fall over and be leaned into the turn. It's hard to describe, it just wasn't smooth.

- Engine backpressure - very different on the HD, probably because of the different size and shape of the cylinders. The HD seemed to complain more when you chopped the throttle from a sound/vibration standpoint, but actually allowed smoother deceleration than my M50.

- Controls - just took me a little while to get used to the blinker setup. Also, I got really confused at first because I didn't realize the blinkers were self-canceling. That was a neat feature I could get used to.

- Size - believe it or not, the M50 is bigger in almost every way. The only thing big on the HD was the primary drive cover. Definitely disproves the "bigger engine = bigger bike" myth.

[Elvis]

Hey Dave,

Thanks very much for your thorough review. I ride a C50, I'm just under 9000 kms now and the C50 does everything I want and it feels so natural both in the city and on the hiway. The more I ride it, the more I love it. Like you said in another post, a chemistry has developed between me and the bike.

Having said that, I've been admiring the Street Bob for a while. Nowadays I look at the Low Rider also [it's my wife's fault]. I noticed the primary cover on these bikes are quite extended out and that kinda bothered me when I sat on the 09 Street Bob. Just can't wait to ride one of these machines.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by DaveAlvarado

Test rides are first-come, first-served. I showed up when they began on Saturday morning (9am) and at that time it seemed like there were enough people that you could get in on every other ride. What that meant is that you'd ride, come back, listen to another orientation, and go ride again. You can absolutely do more than one ride, unless there happens to be a few hundred people wanting to ride that day. You cannot sign up for more than one ride at a time--you ride, then you go to the back of the line.

I currently ride an '07 Suzuki M50 set up for touring, put about 14k miles on it since June '07 when I bought it new. Maybe I'm just really used to how my bike rides. The differences between my bike and the Fat Bob:

- The Fat Bob puts out some more low-end grunt, but didn't seem significantly faster. Obviously they don't let you top the bikes out so I can't make an absolute claim, but my "butt dyno" said that more than twice the engine wasn't making twice the power. The power on the HD was certainly lower in the RPM range though--around 3k-4k rpm, where my bike probably ramps up between 4k and 6k.

- Vibrations. Oh god, the vibrations. I felt like I was sitting on a paint shaker at a stop. In motion, no problem. Stopped, it felt like riding down a washboard road, but I was sitting still. This was probably the biggest turn-off for me. It didn't make the bike feel powerful like I thought it would (like a muscle car loping at idle), instead it just felt like one of the engine mount bolts fell out somewhere.

- Center of gravity / turning - the HD is obviously much lower. Turning was...weird. My M50 handles almost like a 600lb sportbike--it takes a little muscle to make it flick around, but it has no problem turning into curves, and the turn-in feels consistent from vertical to peg-scraping. The HD on the other hand felt like it really just wanted to go straight. Once I'd initiate a turn, it was hard to tell when it started turning, but at some point the bike seemed to fall over and be leaned into the turn. It's hard to describe, it just wasn't smooth.

- Engine backpressure - very different on the HD, probably because of the different size and shape of the cylinders. The HD seemed to complain more when you chopped the throttle from a sound/vibration standpoint, but actually allowed smoother deceleration than my M50.

- Controls - just took me a little while to get used to the blinker setup. Also, I got really confused at first because I didn't realize the blinkers were self-canceling. That was a neat feature I could get used to.

- Size - believe it or not, the M50 is bigger in almost every way. The only thing big on the HD was the primary drive cover. Definitely disproves the "bigger engine = bigger bike" myth.

[Elvis]

Day 1: Test rode two of my favorite dynas:

09 Street Bob: It felt like it was built for me. Front break and clutch levers were perfectly positioned and their curvature fit my hands. Clutch was effortless to operate. Liked the solo seat also.

Self-canceling signals were confusing, sometimes they didn't cancel.

Handle bars are a bit high but thought could get used to them. Mid-mounted foot pegs were awkward because I currently have floor boards and heel-toe-shifter. Kick stand is kinda hidden behind the primary cover, so it's hard to find it.

The motor shakes quite a bit when at idle but it was okay when under way. The start-up was great. The engine comes back to life strong and loud, I could do it over and over again. And the pulsation from the engine reminded me the two-stroke low-speed marine engines. Love that feeling but when I see the motor shaking I wonder how long it would last? The schoks were a bit stiff to my taste, guess they're adjustable.

It's a 96 ci engine, very powerful but thought it was manageable. It delivered smooth and predictable power. Loved the tranny, clear and crisp shifting, couldn't test the 6th gear. Was pleased with both breaks. Thought front brake was stronger than mine on the C50.

One thing that bothered me was the ignition key. It had a key like a laptop lock key and because it'd fall off, they attached the key to the front forks with a cord. I also don't like 09's rear fender, prefer a wrap-around fender.

09 Low Rider: Essentially the same bike as the Street Bob but with a lower seat and a tachometer. Thought tacho was positioned very low on the tank [design decision] and didn't want to look down so it's not very useful for me. Same kind of ignition key, power delivery and similar handling. The rear break didn't do much for me, asked another rider, he said the rear didn't add much stopping power either.

Day 2: Test rode the Street Bob again and Sportster 1200 Custom:

09 Street Bob: Love this bike and I could handle it better. I guess I would adapt to the ape hanger bars. This time we got on the freeway and I went up to the 6th gear, really nice. Didn't critique the bike, just enjoyed my ride, at a stop, told my friend, let's split from the group but he wanted to stay so we returned to the dealer.

09 Sportster 1200 Custom: Because there was a 2-hour waitlist on the Fatboy, I chose this bike and was positively surprised with it. Great ergonomics and handling, also powerful but reached for the 6th gear on the freeway. Because I like the Street Bob so much, didn't pay too much attention to the Sportster and just enjoyed the ride. Wouldn't mind having one of these though.

After these demos, I discovered that Fat Bob and Super Glide Custom have slightly different set up for the ignition key. Salesman explained that you can remove the key and use the knob on the console to turn the power on or off. So my new favorite is the Super Glide Custom. It's got pull back handle bars and a wrap around rear fender. I've started a Dyna fund at home and my wife supports it .