I am starting to get a bike, doing the required courses for the ACT.

Today I was told, and confirmed by a sales man on a floor, that in the ACT all Harley;s except for the V-Rods are legal learner bikes.  Which suits me as a bigger guy now looking at a Dyna. 

Can someone confirm this?  I know there is a power to weight ration of 150Kw/Tonne for legal bikes, but doing the stats puts them outside this, though only just.  I was looking at a sporty, but as a bigger guy, the Dyna is more comfortable when I went and just sat on them. 

Just trying to get some advice. 

Getting a loan, so trying to get the right thing.

 

TIA

An addition to this, where can I take a 2nd hand bike to have it checked out mechanically?

I live in Canberra, but will most likely be buying from NSW, VIC or QLD (based on the bike available etc).

TIA (again).

Tia,

 

I got this off the ACT Rego site which is a list of approved bikes but I would still call them for a 100% confirmation for the model your thinking of getting..

 http://www.rego.act.gov.au/assets/PDFs/Approved%20list%20for%20Learner%20and%20Novice%20Motorcycles.pdf

Hidiho

 

I cant believe it, sorry yes I can.

Actually the law is a power to weight ratio - if the bike fits the range it's legal. I did some further checking, and the part I missed was that they count the weight of the fuel. End result is every bike I then redid the math on, is under the PWR that I need. So it looks to be good.

As for the 250 comments, thanks, but I am by far NOT a small guy, and I doubt one of those poor things would be able to move my fat arse. The bear part in my name is not because I am cuddly, it's because I weigh almost as much as one! =)

this is the only Harley on the NSW LAMS list............ SS350 SS350 1974 350

so my guess is ya dreaming if ya think ya can ride a harley on ya "L" plates......if it's leagal to ride any Harley in the ACT, ya would get pinched as soon as ya strayed over the boarder....

 

 

HARLEY DAVIDSON 

Dude, I'm gonna add my two cents - there is no way you should get a HD as your first bike. The simple fact is that a first bike is gonna get knocked around, dropped, scraped, scratched, smashed and everything else you can imagine. that's what first bikes are for! Considering what even a second-hand HD costs (at least, anything in reasonable condition) and what ANY HD costs to repair, you'd be crazy to get one. I know you reckon you're a big bloke but, lets face it, most Learner Approved jap bikes have as good power to weight as most HD's (sorry - but true). We don't ride Harley's because of PtW, we ride them for a whole lot of other reasons that DON'T include 'learning from our mistakes' on them. Seriously Dude, get yourself a 2nd hand Jap bike and spend 12 months smashing the shit out of it THEN move up.

Thanks guys, but my other considerations are the fact that the position I ride on a bike due to issues with my back, I can't sit forward, so it has to be a cruiser, and since from what I can tell most cruisers, ever the 250cc ones are all the same, big bikes, that you need to (literally) cruise on I might aw well start where I want to finish.

I did go through looking at a lot of the 250cc cruisers, and the cost is a lot less, but then I know my nature, if it isn't as important to me then I will treat it worse, and I would rather get good habits from teh start rather then try and correct stupidity later. The other reason too is that I have a friend in CHOG, and through them, and their sensible rules I hope to learn to be a safe and good rider, as well.

This is going to be a commute bike, as well as something to get better on till I feel happy with a pillion, and that may or may not be right after I get off the P plates. If I am not comfy with my wife on the bike with me, or anyone, then nobody gets on in.

Also, I road bikes as a kid on the farm, mustering and general work, and learned there not to be an idiot (though my wife thinks I unlearned that along the way), I want to have fun without risk and hope to pick up again quickly the limited skills ai had from then, and translate them to this and beyond.

Again, thanks for the advice.

cant say about ACT but SA the registrar general can weiver the lams bike and issue a full licence,
a mate of mine emailed him many times, within 6 months of his "P"s, he was issued a full licence.
he is 160Kg and 6"4'. he used the "Im to big" clause

Buy a postie bike - its almost as cool as a Harley and it'll take a shitload of punishment while you learn.Buy some good  gear (Jacket gloves, boots and proper jeans for the bikes (draggins whatever) and look into insurance - at least against the damage you can do to other peoples stuff..

If you are not happy with the thought of owning a 250. Honda and Yamaha make pretty good 650,750 cruisers, a second hand one won't set you back that much and the weight is a lot less than a Harley. It don't matter how big you are, until you can master the brakes you are going to get in strife. and cotrolling a slow falling 200kg bike is much easier than controlling a slow falling 320kg bike. and thats on slow mishaps. Front or rear lockups are unforgiving. I did an advanced riding course some years back
and on the emergency stopping section every one had one wheel lock up at first ,some riders in their 50's had been riding all their life. It was great when you got it right but before that it's scarey.

if you feel your up for it ( a harley ) why not ?  ... BUT i agree with most here that learning ona  jap bike is prob alot better for lots of reasons .  heavy city traffic is a world away from a farm paddock and you want an easy bike to manevour when getting the hang of it.  Dont care how big and strong you are , once a harley starts tipping you just have to get outta the way.  a jap bike at least gives you half achance.  anyway , whatever , ride safe

You're not the only Bear in there mate. I'm 6'2" and when on my Ls was about 130kg. Started off on a Yamaharley V Star 250, which as far as I'm concerned was the best learner decision I made. The handling was very forgiving, I could do 110 on the highway (which, let's face it, is all you need to do), still had the cruiser ride position and was light enough to pick up when I dropped it.
And it's a when, not an if. You will come off at some stage, and most likely (but not restricted to) in your first couple of years on two wheels, if you tell yourself otherwise you're dreamin. And the bigger the bike, the bigger the potential risk (that said, you can still do some serious damage to yourself in a crash on a postie bike). A HD is an investment, I made the decision to protect my investment as much as possible by learning the ropes on something that cost a quarter of the RoadKing and had even less of the emotional investment. And yes, I put it down... twice.

The day I drop the King I'm going to be one damn Grizzly Bear, but in 2 years and 37 thousand kms I've managed to keep the rubber side down and the shiny side up and I reckon I owe a whole lot of that to my Yamaharley apprenticeship.

I agree with all the advise that everyone is offering, Harleys can be a handfull.....But I did what you are wanting to do I brought a 08 Fatboy as my first ever road bike I only ever rode trail bikes about 25yrs ago I figured I might as well start with what my fat arse likes & touch wood no dramas

cheers

Sav

Once again thanks for the advise folks. Insurance is one thing I am all good for, my insurer is ace, with $32 a week including helmet insurance.

Safety wise I am getting as much kevlar as I can without looking like someone from a bad Wesley Snipes film.

I just wanna say that I never said don't buy one, I just said "take your time" and learn the characteristics of the bike and all should be good. If you were buying a GSX 1000 I would say don't be stupid but with the Harley it's just a matter of getting used to the weight of the bike when braking and cornering. If you try and rush the learning experience you will come unstuck so just take a few months to ease into it and you will be ok and try and do as much maintenance as you can on the bike yourself, when you are working on your own bike you tend to find problems before they cause you grief. If you remember anything about riding on the road REMEMBER THESE TWO THINGS - Treat everyone on the road as if they are going to kill you (especially at intersections) and always position yourself on the road where you can be seen easily (especially at intersections) !!!! I don't think you have mentioned your age or previous riding experience ? So, if you have never thrown a leg over a bike before your rider training to get your licence, then i subtract all of the above.

 

Have a look at the Honda VT400. A mate has one on his L's and he keeps up with us without a problem.
My brither rode it and reckons its great. Same size as the VT750 that I used to own.

well is it time to sell the harley and get something else, now that I am experianced?

I have been riding my bike a number of years now and never noticed just how
unresponsive
poor braking
shit accelerating
heavy
un lean-able
noisy
matalic
thirsty
unsafe
expensive
Man you guys must all be riding the worst engineered bike ever made.

where are the good points for riding a Harley,

how about
the weight, lack of acceleration coupled to poor brakes will make him more alert to his surroundings and performance of the bike making him a better rider

you never know!!!!!!!!!!

Until I am confortable with the bike, I won't be doing any traffic easing, mainly because I know some drivers are pricks and don't like it, so they have cut off riders. Pisses me off, and I am in a car. So I won't be doing it. That and I don't mind Canberra traffic, coming from Brisbane for a long time, traffic here is tame in comparison, and I get a good drive in to work in the mornings. Plus that draws attention from cops, something I don't want. Not because I am going to be going to do anything wrong, it's just going to make me late to work.

I have tested sitting on the sporties, and a couple of others, and pillioned on a load of bikes, and the most comfortable for me was the Dyna by far. It just fealt right to sit on it. I did look at the sporty, but I was after a XL883L, and those aren't in Aus without importing them, in the 2010 range. So it was only going to leave the custom or Iron. But to be honest, I can get a good quality low KM 1996 Dyna for less, or a second hand sporty with everything attached at a lower price.

I haven't got oodles to spend, and I want it to be a bike I can ride nearly every day, and be comfortable on the ride to work, and on weekends. Once I am comfortable I will upgrade the bike for something new, but that will be a long time from now, not because I won't learn fast, but if I have my wife on the bike, then I need to make sure I am ready. One day, when my son is old enough, I want a sidecar on a big tourer, and go on trips in that with them both (maybe all if the wife wants another ankle biter), and I am not going to risk any of them.

My back issue is aggrevated by posture, and sitting forward just causes pain and lack of comfort, and who wants that, let alone while riding, so the right posture bikemakes it doable, and the weight, and slower acceleration will also help prevent me being a knob, I want a cruiser to cruise to work, not zip in. That way I get to work relaxed and ready, not hyped up and wanting coffee to maintain the buzz.

So once again, thanks for the advice, I went and did some more looking around, and just found most bikes in the 250cc range looked uncomfortable, and underpowered.

The advice on the advanced riding course is gold, and I will be doing that once I can. Thanks for that, and for all the comments.

Bear...

Sorry Rodder, thanks for bringing the "Dyna" issue to my attention

I should have typed slower