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[Air-Cooled]

Who has ridden BOTH the '07 and '08 CVO Springer. I'd be interested to know how the two front ends compare?

[so sweet so sweet]

What is the difference on them?

[Air-Cooled]

The '08 has a smaller fatter front wheel. It is also centered more closely in the forks than the '07. I asked the question because, as a rule the large front wheels have historically handled better. On the '07, the front wheel is substantially shifted to the right to keep it in closer alignment with the rear wheel that is shifted right to accomodate its fatter profile. The '08 bike puts the front wheel back in the center of the forks (less alignment with rear wheel), but in cornering a fatter front keeps it more in alignment with the fat rear. Ultimately, it is a seat-of-the-pants conclusion as to which handles best. My guess is that there are very few people who have ridden both the '07 and the '08 springers — but I thought I'd ask.

[so sweet so sweet]

It is a very good question, and I wasn't thinking anything about the tire size.

[GaLonghair]

I have not ridden both, but a good friend of mine has a '08 and I have a '07. He sais his '08 front tire will grab at low speeds and almost dumped him. I do not have this problem. So there are some diffs! The brake rotor is on the opposite side also, for what that's worth.

[ScottPreston]

I also haven't ridden both, but did spend a month in NC riding the Tail of the Dragon, Blue Ridge Parkway and many hundreds of miles very twisting, steep graded road. I can say, I had to be careful not to scrape either side (pipes or jiffy stand) it handles suprisingly well. My former bike was a XL 1200C which handled pretty well. The fatter front tire also rides better on rougher roads.
Scott

[Air-Cooled]

I haven't ridden both either, but it is my guess that the the '07 handles better.

[towjamin]

for what its worth, i have a 95 badboy with the 21" front wheel and just got my 08 and the 08 turns a lot easier and rides a little smoother than the 95, i know it might be apples to oranges    but they are both fruit! just my two cents, Jamie

[Jack]

Just a note:

I haven't had the opportunity to ride the 08, but  my  07 with the 21" wheel came on with a violent shake @ 30MPH when I took my hands off to reset my gloves.  Others have experienced this as well, even in older bikes.  Hopefully this has been eliminated......

[amigo Jorge]

My '08 handles perfect......I often scratch the bottom of the brake pedal 

[towjamin]

hey jack, i had the same shake in my 95 badbay, harley went nuts finding it, it was a tire pressuer issue, you gotta keep them dead on, the warm weather to cooler weather was enough to bring it on, so make sure on your pressure and if the tire is worn, check the balance, but hell if your gonna pull it to balance it you might replace it to be on the saft side

[Air-Cooled]

for what its worth, i have a 95 badboy with the 21" front wheel and just got my 08 and the 08 turns a lot easier and rides a little smoother than the 95, i know it might be apples to oranges    but they are both fruit! just my two cents, Jamie

I've ridden Springers from the 90s and the 21" front ends handled great. My '07 CVO is slightly heavier to steer at slow speeds than the 21" spoked wheel bikes. Maybe the '08 CVO handles best of all? 

[drogers]

You gotta think a wide 18" front tire is going to handle better than a tall,narrow 21" tire. You don't see any road racers runnin' 21's

[Air-Cooled]

This is an interesting discussion that probably will not be resolved unless one or more people have ridden each. Road racers ride on fat tires not because they "handle" better, but because they have better grip at extreme lean angles. In fact most agree that the skinny tires handle better than fat ones. The 16-inch tire is all but dead due to horrible handling characteristics. 17-inch is all the rage now in racing, but that could change.

[Jack]

Having new tires put on as we converse here.  At 8500 miles the front has started to cup.

I had amber light pods installed when new.  Never worked.  Took it back for first service to get it right and the jerk wrenched my rocker box.  Pissed me off so much I found another HD shop to do the work.  Now I'm gun shy with the tire replacement that has to be done.  Revolver wheels are $2500 option for anyone else.......