2007 Street Bob - First Impressions

2007 FXDB - Street Bob

It seemed about the right time to get a second bike for myself. The '98 Road Glide was still running fine, but I was spending a little more time each winter on repairs. Maybe, after 170,000 kms (over 100K miles), I should start taking it easy on the old girl and consider getting a second bike, just for city riding. When it's not winter, I ride every day to work. A lighter, bare-bones bike would be nice for that.

Having the Road Glide as a backup really opens my choices. The second bike doesn't have to be utilitarian, able to serve a wide range of uses like carrying camping gear and providing protection against severe weather.

Problem is, for a long time now, I hadn't come across a bike that speaks to what I want, the way the Road Glide did 8 years ago. Harley has a nice, varied lineup, but there wasn't anything special that turned my crank.

That changed once I saw the blacked-out Street Bob. Having considered buying or building a flat black cruiser for years, here was a bike that was brand new, having a stroked, 96" Twin Cam motor, six-speed tranny and ready to go. Easily (in my opinion) the best looking bike in HD's product line and... What's this? Just about the least expensive too! That was just too tempting a proposition.

So that explains the picture below - the bike sitting in my driveway...


Close enough to Spring - it's time to do some riding!

Now that I've managed to get the bike out of the back alley and onto the streets for a few short rides - maybe it's a good time to share some first impressions. But, first a brief description of how it's set up: The bike is mostly standard (for the time being, anyway) - including the mid-controls, which many people swap-out for forward controls right away. I think the mid-controls deserve a chance, as they're excellent for handling. I might keep them and just add a set of highway pegs later, to obtain some variety in foot position during highway rides. One of the things I had done by the dealer before taking possession was installing the Stage 1 upgrade (increasing volume of air intake and remapping the ECM) and slapping on a set of free-flowing (and louder) pipes. The dollar-to-performance-increase ratio of that step is well worth it. I could have gone to the 103" but, really, this bike is gonna have plenty of jam already with the 96". Maybe over next winter, if I want something to do and have the money, I might consider it again. One nice thing about the stroked Twin Cam is that it doesn't cost nearly as much to get to that displacement as it did with last year's 88 inchers. The pipes I went with are the Screamin' Eagle III's and I can tell you right now they emit a very nice, deep exhaust note. Also, as this stroker is a fairly recent introduction, I felt better sticking with the HD product - the ECM remapping being well-tested against these pipes. Aside from that, the only other modification was with regards to the seating. The Street Bob comes standard with a solo seat, which is nice, but my wife does like to ride on back once in awhile - even though she has her own bike. To satisfy that requirement I had the shop install a bitch pad (especially designed for the Street Bob's solo seat) and rear foot peg mounts. When I picked the pad from the catalogue, I expected it to be just a minimal thing but, as you can see from the photos, it's quite deep and sumptuous. The grab strap is handy too, as I later figured out how I can tie a lunch bag on it (shown below). This will be my daily, to-work-and-back bike, after all.
Lunch bag's velcro lid fed through strap	Lunch bag's lid secured around strap
Now that the description is out of the way, maybe you're wondering what it's like to ride, right? Well - and this will not come as any surprise to those who have ridden Dynas before - it's great! I started to appreciate the Street Bob's design right away, as I attempted to navigate it out of the still-frozen back alley. With such a low center of gravity and low seat height, my legs were more effective as out-riggers as the front and rear tires squirmed left and right through the meandering ice ruts, on my journey to the side street. Even the semi-ape handlebars helped in that regard - the high-up grip providing more effective leverage to keep the bike upright. That was nice since, unlike my Road Glide, I don't have engine guards to protect this bike, should it drop. With its narrow (100) front, fat (160) rear tire and the mid-controls, I expect this to be a good machine on gravel.


The massive forks compliment this bike's sturdy, no-nonsense look.

It's still very early in the season as I write this - roads having ice patches here and there - so I haven't had a chance to put many miles on, but here's a few of my initial impressions: This is a very easy bike to handle. Nice in tight, low-speed maneouvers, powerful and the transmission shifts smooth as silk.

Especially compared to the hundred-pound-heavier and 16-cubic-inch smaller Road Glide, the low-end torque on this machine is instantly smile-inducing and, even with my 6' 2" height, the mid-controls are not bad. I found the factory setting of the brake pedal too low for my liking, but that was just a 5 minute job adjusting that upward.


Semi-ape-hangers provide good leverage, getting bike through deeply rutted, icey alley

So there you have it. Nice ride, nice look, nice price. What's not to like? The denim-finish paint job perhaps? We'll see how that stands up. Gotta avoid putting polish on it, of course (just soap and water), but I think it'll do fine. Together with just the right amount of chrome in the right places, the finish gives the bike a serious-riding, I'm-no-toy appearance.

Upon seeing it, my wife's take on it was, "It's a perfect man's bike."

Well... I'm not promising you 'perfect', dear, but I'll do what I can, okay?

2007 FXDB - Street Bob


Close enough to Spring - it's time to do some riding!

Now that I've managed to get the bike out of the back alley and onto the streets for a few short rides - maybe it's a good time to share some first impressions. But, first a brief description of how it's set up: The bike is mostly standard (for the time being, anyway) - including the mid-controls, which many people swap-out for forward controls right away. I think the mid-controls deserve a chance, as they're excellent for handling. I might keep them and just add a set of highway pegs later, to obtain some variety in foot position during highway rides. One of the things I had done by the dealer before taking possession was installing the Stage 1 upgrade (increasing volume of air intake and remapping the ECM) and slapping on a set of free-flowing (and louder) pipes. The dollar-to-performance-increase ratio of that step is well worth it. I could have gone to the 103" but, really, this bike is gonna have plenty of jam already with the 96". Maybe over next winter, if I want something to do and have the money, I might consider it again. One nice thing about the stroked Twin Cam is that it doesn't cost nearly as much to get to that displacement as it did with last year's 88 inchers. The pipes I went with are the Screamin' Eagle III's and I can tell you right now they emit a very nice, deep exhaust note. Also, as this stroker is a fairly recent introduction, I felt better sticking with the HD product - the ECM remapping being well-tested against these pipes. Aside from that, the only other modification was with regards to the seating. The Street Bob comes standard with a solo seat, which is nice, but my wife does like to ride on back once in awhile - even though she has her own bike. To satisfy that requirement I had the shop install a bitch pad (especially designed for the Street Bob's solo seat) and rear foot peg mounts. When I picked the pad from the catalogue, I expected it to be just a minimal thing but, as you can see from the photos, it's quite deep and sumptuous. The grab strap is handy too, as I later figured out how I can tie a lunch bag on it (shown below). This will be my daily, to-work-and-back bike, after all.
Lunch bag's velcro lid fed through strap	Lunch bag's lid secured around strap
Now that the description is out of the way, maybe you're wondering what it's like to ride, right? Well - and this will not come as any surprise to those who have ridden Dynas before - it's great! I started to appreciate the Street Bob's design right away, as I attempted to navigate it out of the still-frozen back alley. With such a low center of gravity and low seat height, my legs were more effective as out-riggers as the front and rear tires squirmed left and right through the meandering ice ruts, on my journey to the side street. Even the semi-ape handlebars helped in that regard - the high-up grip providing more effective leverage to keep the bike upright. That was nice since, unlike my Road Glide, I don't have engine guards to protect this bike, should it drop. With its narrow (100) front, fat (160) rear tire and the mid-controls, I expect this to be a good machine on gravel.


The massive forks compliment this bike's sturdy, no-nonsense look.


Semi-ape-hangers provide good leverage, getting bike through deeply rutted, icey alley