Thanks folks for all the great advice up to now! I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive to come here with this in that I've posted questions to other forums only to have my premises completely disregarded. I really appreciate you all being respectful of them. Now to a couple specific follow ups:
To the person with the used F6B, hit me up with specifics. Understand it would have to make financial sense which would include a bank and a transfer from where you are to where I am in Colorado. (I'd most likely want to make a road trip out of it.
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To the person saying the Indian and F6B are different riding styles, I would beg to differ having ridden both extensively. That is part of what makes consideration of the F6B possible but I can understand your comment if you've never ridden the Indian. I have never ridden a V-twin that is so well balanced and so stable and vibration free. As my wife says, it's alchemy. Where I see the difference is in style. I realize I'm style conscious and at my age, I'm unapologetic for that. But I appreciate both styles. Truth be told, the F6B style is more consistent with who I am: I believe in riding protection and full face helmets for instance.
Maybe I should be giving the heated grips more consideration. I keep hearing about this "revelation" thing, I live in a highly variable climate and I do have some hand aches, numbness, etc.
I really hope I don't have to go for a taller windshield. This is one area where the F6B has it all over the Indian. I am absolutely adamant about looking over a windshield so that's the starting point. I could add SOME height and still look over but the way I've had it explained is the stock shorty blocks body wind and pretty much allows full helmet wind. Whereas slight increases in height actually induce buffeting. I'm just going on what I've been told here. I'll confer with my buddies at Clearview tomorrow.
To the person who claimed hardly any down sides to the F6B. I start hearing a growing list of nagging (non show stopping) ones. The biggest bummer is the "drone" of aftermarket pipes. I'm not a loud or "macho" pipe sound guy necessarily, but the stock "Jetsons" sound is border line embarrassing to my sensibilities. So I'd prioritized different pipes quite highly heavily favoring the Cobras because they look so bad*ss. I'd already noticed that first gear is way too short. Not a show stopper for me, but a nit. Earlier today I started reading about this "ghost shifting" thing that apparently is significant enough for Honda to address is more recent models. I've yet to determine how much of a concern that is.
The soul searching continues! I've just gotten back from a long brunch with my wife where she probed me deeply on all these issues adding on top, "How would you feel if I got an Indian in a year?" Since she's mostly thinking the Scout, that's not such a huge concern.