Straight from The Bob
Who’s racks up more FL miles? Who’s worked ’til the wee-hours of the mornin’ with the Harley engineers on Police Road Kings? Who’s tested every FL handling gizmo to hit the market? Answer: Bob Davis. Mr. Custom Shop to you. So. I asked Bobby to give me his impression of the all-new for 2-0-09 FL. An hour later, he was still talking….
In the interest of brevity - well, I asked Bob if he’d drop me an email and give me his Top 10 of the new FL. Comin’ at you straight. Here it is.
#1 The Ride! This new chassis really rides nice (understatement). Noticeably stiffer with excellent rider feedback especially at higher speeds.
#2 Love the new exhaust system. Looks like a 2 into 1 (my personal favorite design) from the side view but has the look (rear view) and function of a dual system. The real benefit to this new exhaust system is the heat is directed away from the rider by not passing under the riders left leg. Awesome! And, it works.
#3 Frame design. The frame is really stout. Lots of cast members; a bolt on removable rear subframe section; wire harness neatly tucked away in several locations (easier service and cleaning); well thought through and laid out. No wonder this thing rides as well as it does.
#4 Swingarm (rear fork in Harley terms). The rear Fork has been re-designed to be considerably stiffer to handle the stress and load of the new frame and wider rear tire.
#5 Rear fender and saddlebag mounts. The rear fender and saddlebag mounting brackets have been completely re-designed, the fender is obviously wider to accomodate the new wider rear tire and the saddlebag framework is much beefier than previous models which allows more load carrying capacity.
#6 Wheels. New wheels and tires! 17″ front (most models) and a wider 16″ rear with brand new designed Dunlops. More load carrying capacity and a better ride. Promised longer life too.
#7 Engine and Transmission. Although this has been out since 2007, the “new” 96ci engine combined with the 6 speed “cruise drive” transmission is well worth mentioning for those of you still riding ‘06 and older machines. This engine has plenty of usable power, stock, and for those who just gotta have it all - my personal favorite upgrade is the “103ci” kit. Street legal of course.
#8 Brakes. The new Brembo brakes are great. They offer excellent feedback and with the ABS option, superior stopping in all weather conditions.
#9 Fuel capacity. This feature was new last year, but definately has to be mentioned. A 6 gallon fuel tank which is a “must have” for all of you long distance travelers.
#10 Accessories. As usual, Harley-Davidson has more and more “new” accessories available for there different models and for 2009 they have made some really nice features available for the Touring model family. How about an integrated GPS/XM Radio combo from Garmin. Zumo. Check it out.
You gotta ride one of these new bikes!
