I was mildly impressed by the softail with the 96ci I rode, primarily cuz it felt almost as light as my SM and it had good grunt. My bro-in-laws T-sport with the 88 has great grunt and a huge powerband, but also SE pipes and I'm guessing some carb work. the HD motor that really kicks me in the a$$ is the VRod mill (by Porsche), but the one I rode was a Night Rod so all the pretty wore off the moment I realized how easy it was to scrape peg. So sad. That said, I will never buy a new HD for what they did to Erik Buell. Not to mention Triumph's a better bike by a long shot.
