Harley-Davidson's Dyna 35th Anniversary Super Glide FXD135

Sometimes it’s great to be wrong. When I first heard that Harley-Davidson had massively reworked the Dyna range, I was kind of negatively surprised. I thought that after the counterbalanced Twin Cam engine in the Softail models came out in 2000, that the whole reason for being of the Dyna line was in question. Before 2000, to get a smooth running non-dresser model Harley you had to get a Dyna with the rubber mounted chassis. The Evo Softails could get a little numbing above 65 mph back in 1999. But after 2000, the Softails were turbine smooth at all speeds, so why would you choose a Dyna over a Softail? Now I was thinking from my customers’ standpoint as we had always sold way more Softails than Low Riders, Dyna Wide Glides and Super Glides. From a personal standpoint, however, my favorite non-dresser Harley-Davidson had always been the Dyna Wide Glide.I borrowed one once to go to Laconia and rode up there with about eight sport bikes. They thought they were going to leave me in the dust but that Wide Glide handled extremely well and the rubber mounts let me run at high speeds with no fatigue, I was hooked.

So while I personally liked the Dyna range, I was skeptical from a business standpoint that improving the Dyna range was that critical. Well, in the three months since the new Dynas have been released, here at Barnett H-D the longest any of the Dyna range have lasted on the sales floor is about three days. We almost couldn’t finagle one for this riding impression, they were selling so fast. Finally I got time to read up on all the changes and take one for a ride. The customers are right. These new Dynas are noticeably better than the old ones; Harley-Davidson’s improvements were spot on.

The Dyna range is for customers who want to ride a little faster than those on the softails, people who want a little more comfort in the back that the regular twin shock suspension supplies and for those technophobes who like things simpler, no counterbalancers for them, please. For example, if you marked out two points on opposite sides of a town and asked an average Fat Boy rider and a Dyna Glide rider to time themselves from point to point, the Dyna rider would arrive earlier every time. The rubber mounts are just easier to ride a little faster, they’re smoother over rough roads and they steer a little better. That said, Harley-Davidson worked on the looks a little this year and made them all look a little better. The forks were kicked out a degree on the Super Glides, the Wide Glide got some extra rake and a fancier rear fender and the new models, the Street Bob and the 35th Anniversary are just plain good looking from the get go. And all of them got fatter rubber, a 160 in the back.

The FXDI35 comes with the chrome package, the large Wide Glide gas tank and center mount speedo, great looking 49mm forks, and a slick retro paint job honoring the memory of the first Super Glide from 1971 (but they dissed the “boattail” seat of that model). Under the new clothes, the bike is pretty much all new: new cases, new six speed transmission, new stiffer frame, thicker axles, improved starter and primary, a new oil pump, a tucked in battery, and non-optional fuel injection. Harley has worked the bike over in detail making it easier to work on and more reliable. These hidden improvements are the kind of engineering that has put Lexus so far out in front of the rest, small changes that eliminate hassles. For example, you don’t have to remove the primary to take off the starter and manually adjusting the primary chain is a thing of the past. And of course, they put on the new, easier to pull clutch arrangement which we mentioned in the road test of the Night Train last issue. Improved bearings are located throughout the bike, from the swingarm pivot to the cam plates.

So what’s it like to ride? Very impressive. The tuck and roll seat is very comfortable, the wide Softail Standard style bars are super and the new forks soak up bumps with very little stiction. The six speed tranny shifts noticeably better than the old ones and the new clutch is a mandatory upgrade if you have an older Harley. Parking lots are infinitely easier to get around in when you have to continuously feather the clutch. The faster you ride, the better the engine mounting system works and the smoother the ride. If you haven’t ridden a Dyna with the new Twin Cam engine bolted solidly to the transmission, you have to try it to believe the difference. Earlier Dynas never really lived up to the old FXR in performance terms but these new ones do. The sixth gear in the new transmission is an overdrive, put there to let you go faster at a lower RPM, improving gas mileage and increasing comfort.

Well, I was never so glad to be wrong about something. The upgrades to the Dyna line will bring a new group of riders to the Harley line up. The improvement is as great as that of the Sportsters in 2004, the bikes are more durable, better looking and more comfortable to operate. If this is what we have in store for us in other lines over the next few years, we can all say that the new product development center built recently sure has paid off.

--Mark Barnett

Click Here for the Twin-Cam 88 Stock vs. 1550 & 1450 Stage 1 Kit DYNO TEST