I saw a youtuber talking about the rear shocks on the 2015-2016 and how they were pretty bad. He says they improved them in 2017? From what I can see they didn't change much from 2015-2024? He also said the original tires that came on them were dangerous in the rain. Front forks were pretty weak and he added 20 weight oil to improve them. From what I can see there's very little wrong with these bikes and what is wrong can be easily upgraded. Exception is the small fuel tank, but that's something I can live with.

 

You can live with it for now, but its gets annoying. I find the bike to be comfortable enough to not need to stop for gas every 120 miles. I love mine and my love for it is the only reason I hold on to it, but I've considered selling over the range issue. That being said, mine is a 2018 and I've never felt like the suspension needed work. I'm 6' 230 and even with my 14 year old son on the back I was zipping though the PA mountains on our last trip.

 

If an extended brake line is needed (handle bar swap as example) it is easier on a 2019 and later. They put a fitting along and up under the edge of the tank that can be disconnected rather then going all the way to the ABS module if equipped with ABS.

 

I'm 5'8" and 180 with a 30" inseam, and love the fact I will be able to flatfoot this bike. IMO a bike with short range becomes an issue when you ride in large groups, you end up having to stop for gas when the other bikes don't need gas. I never ride in really large groups. The USMVMC that I belong to usually rides with a few 2-4 to maybe 8 or 10 bikes so I don't see this as a big issue. The shocks (although very expensive) are an easy upgrade. I will set mine up as a solo bike, the wife refuses to ride on the back of my bike

 

My wife rode on my Buell XB9 all over with almost no back seat area but once we had kids hasn't been back on. That was 14 years ago. lol