Buying a Harely need opinions

My first bike was a Vulcan 800 Classic and I have ridden a couple of Sportsters. I like the Kawasaki it was a great bike and I got it a lot less than I could have a Harley. However you are not going to know what kind of bike you want until you ride some. Do not buy any bike because someone tells you it is better etc. ride it and see for yourself. Also ignore all the Harley hate I have many friends who would tell you they would by their Harley again.

 

i have a 2008 1200 nightster blacked outthat has screaming eagle upgrands and vance hines short shots. First off it sounds like a helicopter when i get on it and 2 its pretty snappy but anything more than one person i would go for a dyna or softtail. Handle bars go with something natural ape hangars are uncomfortable and your arms go tired and you have no protection when driving down the road, but know upfront you are paying for the name its a good name dont get me wrong if i could do it all over again i wouldn't i would buy used alrady broke in and did up i have 22 k wrapped into mine and its a 10k bike so just do your research and be sure about it before you buy it ... maybe buy a learner bike first

 

IMO they are loud, expensive, slow, and does not make you look cool as some would think.

 

That's the first problem - if your buying a motorcycle to look cool then you probably don't have your mom's permission anyways. All the different bikes do the same thing - its the rider that gets something different out of it. I have a couple friends that "ride" to the local bar, have a few, and then ride back to the garage. They enjoy the hell out of it - so who am I to say that they aren't as cool as the guy that rides 1k miles a weekend? Thankfully, neither of them give a crap what other people think... its all about finding the bike that you like and riding it.

 

Hey, lots of opinions here. I will give you mine.

I have had two Harley's. 1995 softail custom and a 2007 Ultra classic. Both bought new, traded the softail for the ultra as I am older and fatter.

I learned to ride on a 1980 suzuki 400. Barely did 55 MPH with me on it. One year later bought the HOG. I only had one real problem with either bike, the softail needed a starter. Other than that oil and tires. If you want one, get one. If you buy used avoid anything that has had motor work done, you just don't know who did it and this is where the issues start in my opinion. If you want to enjoy riding with someone on the back or if you are not 5'4" and 150 lbs, avoid the sportster. For the price of a 1200 sportster, you can ride a Superglide 1340(not) 96in(yes). Great full size bike.

If this is your first ever bike, I suggest getting a cheap Honda Shadow or similar so when it falls down, you can just shrug, pick it up and keep riding.

Have fun, be safe and post a pic when you get your new ride.

 

the rocker C's are F'N awesome. I rode one a few months ago and fell in love.

 

There was a south park episode done about that. haha.

 

My .02, rent or test ride a few different bikes. Buy a used one cuz most of the kinks wiil have been worked out. Make sure you take and MSF course, the life you save could be yours! Harleys keep there value, not sure about Vics on that part of it. Hondas are easy to play with gas, oil, go! Have fun on which ever you decide cuz its your bike not ours!

 

First off.. never buy a harley as a first bike. They're just too damned expensive and like.. 1 in 10 people that buy a moto end up keeping and riding it.

I've owned a harley a few times. Think the people that love em are just "harley guys" or haven't ridden other brands.
I get on a harley/buell and it just feels middle of the road at best. Uncomfortable, and mid grade quality. I swear they sell the sportsters with the seats they come with just to force you into buying a new seat. You also, regardless of your modifications, get branded as an asshole due to all the choads with loud empty pipes and open headers. Loud pipes lose friends...

I can't agree with the maintenance free aspect either. I'm a bit of a maintenance freak, so maybe that's the difference. Having the primary to adjust? Having to go to harley to buy oil? Having to re-torque all your bolts all the time, or lock-tite everything when you buy it? A friend from work was telling me I was full of shit, till his exhaust fell off right in front of my house. Ok, he's an idiot too AND ok, my kawasaki looses bolts too.. but its a kawasaki.. its also not a great bike. Just singular.

My best cruiser was the star.. both 650 and 1100. Smooth as glass and super well put together. All my yammy's were always the best hondas a close second.. but just like the cars.. hondas are missing something.
But now I ride a kawasaki klr. Its not the highest quality bike, but it gives me less problems than my buells/harleys did and only cost 5k new, and frankly has given me almost no problems and no serious ones. My harleys were always in some state of disrepair.. from carbs to leaks to cables. Off the road problems. YMMV.

Yamaha is the toyota of motorcycles.. and.. well part of the toyota in toyota as well... if you know your engine genealogy.

 

I have always liked the Deuce... yours is especially nice with the wheels. Did they come with the anniversary package?
Some of the Road Glide customs I've seen are just knockouts. FBI does some gorgeous dressups for 'em. Still, I have the fitment problem, which is one of the reasons I went Victory (as well as the American made thing).

 

The stock wheel on the Deuce was a spoked wheel. The front wheel in the picture is a Harley Davidson thunder star mirror chromed wheel. I miss that bike. I kept the Deuce for 2 years after buying the Road Glide and I hardly rode it and I only sold it to free up space in the garage. I wished that Harley would have used the counter balance engine they use in the softail line up in the touring family.

I was at the Harley dealership yesterday looking at a new Road Glide custom. I really like the sedona orange and I am about to take the plunge and have the new Glide sitting in the stable. I would replace the short wind screen for a standard height one. I attached a picture that I found on another forum. It is not the exact bike but you can see the color.

 

Good deals to be had out there now. I picked this one up on Saturday and saved about 15% off list. Already have 300 miles on it!

 

Lots of great thoughts put into this thread thank you everyone for their opinions and photos. Its pretty much either you love em or hate em lol. After thinking about how this will be my first motorcycle intended for street use that it needs to be a used bike and something that I won't kill myself over dropping. I also know that me being 180 pounds and possibly using it later to take two people on that I'm going to need some power no matter what brand I go with..

I'm really not sure on what I want, which could be something like a kawasaki 600 or a cheap Harley on craigslist because I'm not going for an image or to feel macho I'm going with Harley because I enjoy the qualities of the bike. 2 types of bikes at complete opposite sides of riding spectrums but they both appeal to me lol I need to do some riding and then make my decision. Might be a while but I will update when Its worth it.

 

Well when you get your bike ( no mater what it is) pm me and I could ride down there with some buddies and we can go for a ride.

 

Good luck in your decision. I love riding anything with two wheels even my Puch moped back in the early 80's that my friends laughed at me. You can not go wrong with going with a Honda (one of my favorites, I have owned more Honda's then Harleys). But I will leave you with this, my brother sold his Harley and wanted another bike and bought a Yamaha because he could not afford a Harley cause he wanted to ride. We had many of conversations on the phone and I could tell he wanted another Harley but he bought the Yamaha. Now six months later he wants to trade in the Yamaha for a Harley. There is nothing wrong with owning a Yamaha but make sure the bike you want is the bike you buy. All bikes depreciate. If you have the chance test ride all the bikes you are considering and make your choice from there. Once you make your decision, enjoy the ride.


Work bike

Cruising bike

The toy

 

If you want to care a passanger I am guessing female just remember its called a Milwalke vibrator for a reason. A Harley is unlike any thing else on the road. Buy used to save a ton. 2006 and back still have carbs. meaning you can still work on it yourself. Late 2006 and up fuel injected bring it to the dealership.

 

Both my Harleys have had EFI (non carb) and I have had ZERO problems with either of them. The Softails have a conterbalanced engine and there is ZERO VIBRATION even at idle. Now my Road Glide has a little bit of vibration at idle but it disappears once I start moving.

Before buying my first Harley in 2002, I use to think all Harleys leaked oil and vibrated the bolts off and I can tell you first hand it is not true.

My first street bike was a 1974 Kawaskai 250 enduro and then a 1984 Honda V65 Magna (talk about a power house). I do not want to bore you with the rest of the Japanese motorcycles I have owned but one the recent ones I sold several years ago was a 2001 Honda CBR 929RR Erion Racing Edition. Great bike but the riding position took a toll on my back and wrist. I still like the look the CBR, GSXR, R1 but they are just not comfortable to ride at this stage of my life. I considered a Ducati 1198SP (beautiful looking bike but very uncomfortable to ride for more then 15 minutes for me). Took one out for a test ride.

I love all bikes.

 

As others have said, for learning, it's probably best to do that on something other than a big bore Harley.

For something cheap and easy to learn on, I'd suggest a Kawasaki KLR 650. You can get them fairly cheap (they're cheap to buy new), they hold their value pretty well and they're fairly easy to sell when you're done with them. It's a good riding position to learn on and it's easy to handle (the seat might be a bit high if your leg length is less than 32").

As for power, it's not as big a deal as it seems. I've done two up riding on the KLR and it only has 34 hp. You're not going to be blasting down the road on it, but you shouldn't be doing that anyway. It's not a great bike for two up, but it's doable and it's a great learning bike.

The VStrom and the Versys are good learning bikes. They're very popular with those who own them.

A Harley is a pretty big and heavy bike to learn on, though it does have a low center of gravity. I probably wouldn't recommend it as a first bike though. I would also stay away from sport bikes. They're deceptively powerful, even the 600cc ones. Many have less than 100 hp but they're very light which makes them quick. They're also uncomfortable for two-up riding because of the forward riding position.

 

Well, you asked for opinions, huh? Despite the hating, lots of good info here. You may want to ride something a bit smaller and more disposable for a while, but I do know lots of people that started out on a HD. Many are good riders, not posers. There are LOTS of good deals to be had right now, so I'd go used.

Most of all, be safe. Ride like everybody else on the road is your ex wife.

 

^^^^^NICE!!!^^^^^^