Harley-Davidson’s new 2006 Dyna Street Bobber

First, they either removed or shortened (bobbed) the fenders on their bikes. This reduced the weight and made the bikes look better in their eyes. They removed or chopped off unnecessary components from the bike. Who needs a windshield, front fenders, big headlights, crash bars, big seats, etc? Chop them off and make the bike lighter.

These bikes began to be called Bobbers. Changes kept occurring but it wasn't until the late 60s and early 70s that the Bobbers gave way to the choppers.

Now the Bobber is back and is as bad as ever. This is the bike that is affordable and is made for the rebel in you.

Obviously, it is EPA compliant and street legal and manufactured by Harley-Davidson. So it is not the same stripped down bike that existed years ago. In fact the Bobber that I tested had quite a few upgrades included. The style and feeling that was so much apart of the 60s & 70s is what Harley is trying to capture.

All of the new 2006 Dyna's are fuel injected and have the new 6-speed Cruise Drive™ Transmission. Harley-Davidson says the Cruise Drive is a completely new design, using helical gears that mesh more quietly than the straight-cut gears previously used.

Notice that it does not even have passenger pegs, windshield, or as much chrome as most of the Harley's. Two up seating, windshield and pegs and much more chrome is optional though.

Some of the upgrades that were on the demo bike that I rode included standard chrome upgrades like switch housing covers to Bullet lens and hand and foot controls. Plus they replaced the center controls with forward controls and put on a bigger rear tire. The stock tire is a 160, the upgraded rear tire is a 180.

The Dyna Street Bobber, as tested and pictured, priced out with a $14,495.00 sticker price, plus upgrades of $2,989.53 (includes labor) brings the total to $17,484.53. That price does not include tax, license and prep charges.

Test Drive

I took this Bobber for a good ride up to Bartlett Lake and back. It only had 5 miles on it when it was given to me. I returned it with over 70 miles on the odometer. It was a fun ride, but nothing to get real excited about. This is a bike that has a heart and soul that has to be found with the person that wants this profile.

One of the first things that I noticed was the clutch action. There was reduced clutch lever effort. The ball-and-ramp mechanism and clutch diaphragm spring have been redesigned alone with a teflon cable; Harley-Davidson claims a 35 percent reduction in clutch lever effort on all 2006 Dyna models. I found this quite refreshing.

On the ride up and back to the lake I never really needed the 6th gear. Most of the speeds were under 60 mph. The first 5 gears were all that were needed. Although, I really wanted to take advantage of the sixth gear to see what it was like. I found that under 60mph the bike was to sluggish for the tall gear. Not having a tach, I could not tell you or recommend shift points. I did notice that when down shifting I some times over revved the engine to match the speed. This was because the ratios were closer together. I don't see this as an advantage for a bike like this. Now if it had a narrow HP band and you wanted to take advantage of the peak HP then this would be an advantage. But not for this bike.

After getting it warmed up, I was able to push it a little bit. I was pleasantly surprised at the acceleration that it had. Mind you it is not a turbo or a rocket bike at all, but it was very refreshing to feel it's spunkiness. Don't have a clue on the et - that is not what this bike was build for. It was as stock as you can get with stock exhaust.

I know one of the first thing that I would want to do to this Bobber is upgrade to a stage 1 kit. But, with the new 02 sensors in the exhaust pipe this could be a problem. No one currently has come up with an alternative exhaust system yet. The only thing that you can do is add Screamin Eagle slip-on's. From what I have been told the 02 Sensors help with monitoring the exhaust and adjusting the injection system for better performance and exhaust emissions.

The bike handled great all the way up to the lake and back. To me the suspension seemed a little soft and at one time I had a funny oscillation with the front of the bike going up and down and the rear suspension was doing the same thing but at a different speed. It felt like I was on two different bikes at the same time. Not sure what that was all about, just felt weird, it never happened again.

The bike rode great on all of the curves at the lake and was fun to be with. Surprising fun to ride even with the ape hangers and the forward controls. I kept wanting to find the none existent center controls. But this being a Bobber with mini ape hangers, the forward controls seem to be just what this bikes needs for the right profile.

Finally, on the way back to Hacienda Harley-Davidson I turned west on the 101 to find out what the sixth gear was all about. Not a lot of difference. I did notice that when going 60-70 and shifting into no. 6 the bike was a little more quiet. Yes it was a little more sluggish, but not bad. I don't know how many times I wish I had a sixth gear on my bike. As long as you are over 60mph the 6th gear is quite nice. I am sure one would find this a welcome addition on any cross country riding that you might do.

According to Ronnie at Hacienda, the sixth gear is still 1 to 1 and is not any higher. I am not sure, I can only tell you what it felt like. Ronnie said the the six speed is just a close ratio gear box. There is no doubt that it is a closer ration gear box, but the 6th gear seemed taller to me. They could do that with different pulley gearing too; don't know.

Summary;

Overall, this is a great bike. Big advantages, 6 gears, smooth gear box, easy clutch action and great looks from the past with all of the technologies of today. Obviously it is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and there are a lot of new designed parts for this bike - it is not so new that there has to be a couple of years to work out any bugs. If you want to share the ride, you will have to upgrade the seat and get pegs. If you want more then just slip-on mufflers, you will have to wait until someone finds an upgrade path taking into consideration the 02 sensors.

Ride safe.

Kirk