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2007–2013 · Cruiser · Buyer's Guide
Stripped to Bare Twin Cam Soul
The Street Bob is Harley's factory take on the post-war bobber: solo seat, mini ape-hanger bars, chopped bodywork, and nothing bolted on that doesn't need to be there. Underneath sits the air-cooled 1584 cc 45° V-twin, built around 92 lb-ft at 3,000 rpm rather than headline horsepower, with 75 hp arriving at 5,020 rpm. Six speeds, belt final drive, and a Dyna chassis that changes direction more willingly than the silhouette suggests. No fairing, no screen, no clutter. What you buy here is stance and mechanical presence, which is exactly the assignment in this corner of the cruiser market.
Ride it the way it was drawn and it makes sense inside a mile: short hops across town, a two-lane held at a steady 60, a Friday evening where being seen matters as much as arriving. There is so little on it that there is very little to age, and the aftermarket keeps it endlessly reconfigurable if the stock look ever stops satisfying you. The honest caveat: equipment is deliberately thin, a 4.7-gallon tank at 36 mpg puts fuel stops around every 150 miles, and the forward-set riding position starts asking questions after two hours.
Spec sheets don't ride bikes, but they set the baseline.
| Power | 75 hp (56 kW) @ 5,020 rpm |
|---|---|
| Torque | 92 lb-ft (125 Nm) @ 3,000 rpm |
| Displacement | 1584 cc |
| Engine | 45° V-twin |
| Cooling | Air-cooled |
| Gearbox | 6-speed |
| Final drive | Belt |
| Fork | Telescopic |
| Front brake | 300 mm |
| Front tire | 100/90-19 |
| Rear tire | 160/70-17 |
| Seat height | 25.8 in (655 mm) |
| Wet weight | 668 lb (303 kg) |
| Fuel capacity | 4.7 gal (17.8 L) |
| Top speed | 115 mph (185 km/h) |
| Fuel economy | 36 mpg (US) |
Equipment check
Chassis
Hit the starter and the V-twin drops into that loping, uneven idle that rocks the whole bike on its mounts and sends every firing pulse up through the pegs. Rolling, the vibration organizes itself into a steady beat you feel in your palms and through the seat base, present the entire time but never numbing at road speed. The 25.8-inch seat sets you low, the mini apes put your hands up and wide, and the forward controls stretch you into a posture that feels right at 60 mph and clumsy in a parking lot. All 668 pounds sit so low that the mass mostly hides itself once you're moving. On an open two-lane it sits calm and straight, the engine loafing in sixth, the exhaust note doing most of the entertaining. Paint, metalwork, and switchgear all reward looking at them up close.
None of what follows comes from a press kit. It's what has settled out of years of talking with riders at fuel stops, at club nights, and in the messages owners send once they've put real seasons on a bike. On the Street Bob the chatter splits cleanly: the engine and the look do the winning, and the short equipment list does the complaining.
The torque comes up in almost every conversation. Riders describe a strong, satisfying pull that makes relaxed cruising effortless and answers a roll-on with a deep note out of the pipes. The styling draws the same weight of praise: mini ape-hangers, solo bobber seat, wire wheels, denim paint, a factory bike that reads as a custom and gets looked at wherever it stops. Long-term owners keep circling back to the paint, the chrome, and how well the whole thing has held together.
The complaints gather around what isn't there. No tachometer, no passenger seat, no modern rider aids, and riders coming off metric cruisers notice the gap immediately. Comfort is the next recurring theme: limited suspension travel, short rear shocks, and bumps arriving straight at the rider, which makes long days tiring. A smaller but steady group flags the single front disc as light on bite for the weight, so hard stops need planning.
Recall: 2008 California units — exhaust heat shield not installed
NHTSA campaign 07V535000 affected certain 2008-model-year units built and shipped to California, on which the catalytic muffler’s protective heat shield was not installed at the factory. Without the shield, contact with the hot muffler could cause burns, and contact while riding could lead to loss of control. Dealers installed the missing shield at no charge. This recall did not affect 2007 bikes.
Steering Stem Clunk
Some owners report a noticeable clunk from the steering stem when the front wheel encounters a sharp bump; fixable with a washer kit, not safety-related.
Where this Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob FXDB pulls ahead of — or falls behind — its rivals on the numbers, and the typical bike in its class on character.
Power
Torque
Displacement
Wet weight
Seat height
Forget spec-sheet bragging. Here's who the Dyna Street Bob FXDB is actually built for.
If Sturgis and Daytona are fixed points on your calendar, this is the shape and the sound you showed up for. Stripped, loud, personal, and still yours after you've changed half of it.
Made for A1A — Florida Atlantic Coast · Black Hills / Sturgis Rally Hub · Daytona Main Street / Bike Week
Good company on slow days across historic two-lanes and small-town stops, provided you plan around a 4.7-gallon tank. Style-first heritage rather than a genuine mile-eater.
Made for Acadia National Park · Austin / Handbuilt Motorcycle Show · Blue Ridge Parkway
Straight answer: not your bike. Two-up loads, all-day interstate, and weather are outside its brief, and the tank and the seat both run out well before the route does.
Made for Beartooth Highway · Blue Ridge Parkway · Going-to-the-Sun Road
If you're cross-shopping the older generation, here's what changed.
Previous generation · 2006
The Factory Bobber Done Raw
Compare to the previous model →If this one isn't quite the fit, these are the bikes worth riding back-to-back against it.
Any price note compares both bikes at the same age — the youngest age both have on the used market — against this Harley-Davidson Dyna Street Bob FXDB. “cheaper/pricier” is what that bike costs second-hand, not how worn it is.
