hi everyone, i am new to forums and the harley seen,iam looking at getting my first harley, allthough not new to bikes i dont kwow whitch one to get,like to many. a couple of questions,,,why do people regard the sportster as a girls bike?,,,, i love the 1200n& 1200c.they look pretty cool to me. secondly i love the deluxe, would this be a good first harley?, as i can not see me buying another one , so is it a case of get the one you want first?i would love to read your honest replys.

The sportster is the baby of the bunch but the best handling of the lot. If you are looking at buying one and one only Harley, then just buy the one that best suits your purpose because braking and handling is not worth considering within the different models. The difference between them is minimal. I have a 2009 softail standard and i ride with a mate fairly often that owns a 2007 street bob, we are very similar in the way we ride and both ride and corner the bikes to their limits and there is virtually no difference between the cornering and handling abilitys of both of these bikes, and yet one is a Dyna and the other a Softail. Anything with boards on it instead of pegs will limit the cornering more but if i were you i would simply choose the bike that you love to look at and will also suit your future riding adventures. Do you want to carry luggage for long trips ? Do you want to carry a pillion ? Will it just be a solo bike to ride short trips ? etc, etc. Think about what you need the bike to do for you and then buy the one that fits the bill. IMO. If you think about it really carefully you will end up with a softail similar to mine. LOL.

Welcome Jocky, I did what your doing, research the whole range and pick one to keep, i`ve only owned one HARLEY, found it 18yrs ago still have it and always will.

What Peter said .... take ya time and weigh up what suits you, your riding style and looks right in your opinion, when I did it I didn't consider prices because I knew the first one was gunna need to keep me happy and in the saddle for quite a while.

I did consider sporties too but found the big boys better on the highway and thats what suited me, the sporties were great fun around town though, that said both can still do either highway or town riding ok and can be modified in just about any way to suit a change in riding

Best of luck with it, choose carefully and you won't regret your decision, love every mile

G'day, welcome,

The Sportster is a great bike, the ladies tend to go for them because they are lighter and agile unlike the Softies and Dynas.

I have been looking at the new 883, black, solo seat, drag bars.. $13.2K ride away .. and the new 1200 range is very nice.

The question you probably need to answer is "What do you want to do with it?" if you want to ride with your mates on the weekend, the odd trip to the coast and over night and don't intend to go round Oz on it then a sporty is a good choice, having said that I have met several people who have Sporties and have taken them to The Rock, Cairns and round Tasweiga, no probs.

Historically the Sporty was less powerful so ridding with a pillion was slower but the new stuff is up there with the old Evo numbers so I can't see the issue.

Only other thing I will say is, ask lots of questions everything from cost of service to tyre pressures, this forum will provide the answers you need to make the right choice for you.

Cheers

 

Hi Jocky, this question has been asked a heap of times on the forum...Brother the bike will find you., sit on and ride all of them. you will know whats suits you. go with what feels right.

good luck.

Take them all for a test ride. It doesn't cost you anything, and you might fall in love with a Harley you hadn't even considered before riding it. Good luck.

i have had a 85 softtail,2003 1200c, now a07 lowrider,i loved riding the sporty but if u are going to do a lot of 2up the big bike will be better for that.buy what suits u who cares what other people think,but i wonder how blokes can ride those jap cruisers