Not a Trike - Review of 2018 Street Bob...might make an interesting Conversion

DK Custom Products · Oct 15, 2017

Not a Trike - Review of 2018 Street Bob...might make an interesting Conversion

A month and a half ago I spent a couple of hours with a 2018 Fat Boy.

(see written report HERE and video HERE)

Yesterday I spent a little over an hour with a 2018 Street Bob.

A first look at both sides.

It is powered by a solid mounted Milwaukee-Eight 107 CI with gear driven counter-balancers.

Before my riding impressions, take a look at a few things-

First off, the Street Bob is Not a Dyna anymore, it is the new mono-shock Softail.

The pre-load on the shock is adjusted with a spanner wrench, under the seat.

The battery now sits under the shock, and is accessed by removing the side panel...which I think is supposed to look like the oil tank on the pre-18 Softails....

...but the oil tank is now under the transmission. In the following photo you can see the oil tank filler/dipstick tube...

...you can also, almost see the transmission filler hole/dipstick. Two panels need to be removed to gain access to it.

All the new Softails have the big oil cooler...18 rows!

This line comes from the oil cooler and feeds the oil cooled heads....

...and this line takes the oil from the heads, dumping it into the oil tank sitting below the trans.

Report continued in next post.

DK Custom Products · Oct 15, 2017

2018 Street Bob Report Continued-

Couple of photos of the compact gauge cluster on the Street Bob.

It was easy to read at all times for me while riding.

I do not know what I did not like about this gear shift lever. It functioned fine, but it looks odd to me.

A close up of the new locking kickstand that is found on all the 2018 Softails

The footpegs are completely different than previous years. The riders' pegs are spring loaded, and work much better at staying down than previous year pegs that utilize a spring washer. However, you cannot fold them up and have them stay folded up.

I did not ride at night, so can't say how well the LED headlight lights up the road, but it looks good during the day.

What it looks like sitting on the bike-

Riding impressions-

The bike feels VERY light pulling it off the kickstand. Close to what my Sporty feels like.

Then I put my feet on the pegs for the first time. I'm a bit under 5'11" and I felt very folded up. My knees felt quite a bit higher than my hips. I did not like it at all...others may really like it, not me.

Ignoring that...the rear suspension was fantastic. It ate up all the bumps, large and small. It was tight, no wallowing at all in the curves.

The front suspension was typical HD, and needs some help.

The little time I spent riding it, there were no surprises, it did everything I asked it to. I did not come close to scraping the pegs.

Power was good, acceleration was smooth and fast (for a HD).

Cruising at 70 mph in 6th, and then getting on the throttle had me at 85 mph very quickly.

There was no low speed hesitation, just a strong pull going thru the gears.

Braking was adequate.

I would need to re position the pegs, but after that I would enjoy riding this bike.