Hi guys, I'm looking at living my Harley dream and getting on on ASAP. I've never had one and am not the most knowledgable on the different types out there. But, I'm tossing up between a night train, breakout or a nice heritage soft tail.... What's the main difference between them all ? Night trains seem pricey but look great, breakouts are newer and around the same price as say a nice night train. Also, I'm a short arse (5'6"  any help or pointers in a good direction would be hugely appreciated!!! Deadset keen to get into the Harley community! Thanks guys.

 

 

May I suggest don't waste yr money on a softail get yourself a sportster , they are a hoot to ride in the twisties !

yeah not too keen on a sportster, more just a fat cruiser of sorts.

first man welcome to the forum pages,great to hear your deadset fuckin keen .Ok, if you've got a leather cap and arse-less chaps get yourself a heritage ,if not, then definitely consider the Night Train, softail standard or softail custom which are all the same bike apart from colours and chrome differences on casings. You will probably very quickly feel the urge to step up from a sporty in my opinion. (I maybe wrong of coarse)
The Breakout are indeed a nice machine but take some riding having got the 240 rear tyre and more front end rake on them (they tend to want to go straight). they also don't have a lot of ground clearance on them either therefore only having a lean angle of 24 degrees (youll scrape on round abouts)compared to that of 35degrees on a night train, softail standard or custom. Like 92fatboy said sportys are exciting to ride. I am also a 5'6" short-arse cunt and have no worries what so ever with my fxst (softail standard-danny gray solo seat-lower seat profile) Do some heavy research man the info is all out there and get some comparison notes going, ride a few and get the bike YOU want straight up(don't be a tight arse, youll be sorry later) and you wont have to buy another down the track cause your not satisfied. Whatever bike you decide on you will, like all of us, buy custom bits and blingy bits just to make it your own. Whatever it turns out to be make sure ya give us all a look ay.....GOODLUCK......Best regards to ya Fella...... FLIPDOG

Hieght don't have much to do with it these days , as there are seats to get you forward & lower to the ground. I am 5ft 7inch. I have a Softail Standard. Absolutely love it. Have set it up with quick release stuff like 16inch quick release Screen & Panniers ( quick release) & a Sundowner seat. It all depends on what you intend to mainly do, like long distance riding / Touring or up the shops for Milk. Go to a dealer and try a few. But even the Heritage etc you can get a Mustang seat with riders back rest that is 40mm lower to get ya feet flat on the ground. Just sit on a few that you like. & Don't let a dealer force you towards something you are not Fully keen to.
Good Luck.

+ 1 go to a dealership, ride a few different bikes and run with what ever is comfortable! Nothing worse than lashing our your hard earned cash to be disappointed!

Sporties are best in twisties... but small frame and engine and a lot of people find they want a bigger harley after having one for a bit.
Softaiils look the best and most traditional but sacrifice handling. They are great if you dont want to ride too hard around a corner, bad clearance,
Dynas dont look quite as traditional as softails. they have exposed rear suspension which is more practical that aesthetic. They have a soft mounted engine and better handling and ground clearance than softiies. The pic of the Dynas is the Fatbob, twin disc front and fat wheel means great to ride .
And the tourers, for touring of course.

That is my 2c worth. I am sure I will cop a flogging for this from the riders who don't agree with me. The real thing is you need to get out to a dealer and ride as many as you can and then decide.

+ 1 on going to a dealership to test ride them. You can always buy privately later if you decide to.
...and with a Harley, I'd recommend riding it round the block more than once (dealerships are keen on you riding the shortest distance possible). Even ride it once, go home, think on it, and go and ride the damn same bike again with a fresh angle.

My bike now, 883 Sportster (first Harley) ...I'd never test ridden a Harley before, I'd just done all of the research from my keyboard. I was used to Jap bikes.

When I picked up my bike from a private sale... well I thought the thing vibrated so damn much that I figured it was busted!

There was the guy almost crying as I rode his beloved bike out his driveway... and there is me almost crying too, but cos it was shaking my fillings loose.

I've come to love the bike now, and feel like all of those Harley things add to the character that you can't replicate in other bikes.

Welcome to the community, and post some pics when you make a choice

Cheers guys, appreciate the pointers! Looking at a few nice soft tail standards and am liking them! Is the night train pretty much a blacked out version of a soft tail std??? And why are they so expensive still??

So I'm looking for pretty much the Sunday cruiser.... Not into twisty stuff, doesn't have to be a rocket (though I'm sure nothing will be slow ) basically, I'm looking for low, fat, tough.... And would it be better to buy something with say things like cam work etc done? Or safer to do everything myself?

you got it mate, like I said nightster, standard and custom are physicaly exactly the same bike, HD pricing goes like this
entry level are sportsters
next are the dyna series (all dynas have exposed rear shock /springs)
then theres the softail models
top of the line are touring models (roadking etc)
Check out the standards that have solo seats just to get a better idea of what they truly look like as the stock two up seats take away the look of them I reckon.
When you get one youll probably change the bars and seat eventually just to customize the way YOU fit the bike. Also look and ride better with arse end lowered an inch and a half mine fits me perfect with these things done.
By the way just go a stock standard engine mate 1584cc 6 speed should be plenty for you straight up and will give you room to move a little later on to do mods that suit your riding style..Regards FLIPDOG

Test ride test ride and test ride then you will know what bike suits you're riding style. Its best to get the engine mods done from new if you want to keep your 2 year or the extended 5 year warranty. I went all aftermarket engine mods and very happy with the outcome 7 years later.
Good luck and choose wisely.

At a guess, Sunday cruiser, maybe have a ride on a Street Bob, & Softail Standard ( FXST)

You didn't mention if you had a full license, if you don't you won't be able to ride a Harley until they bring in the LAMS bikes early next year. Unless your live in the ACT they can ride any sized bike.

If you do have full motorcycle license just go and test ride, nobody can tell you what bike is right for you they can only give you options.

Hope you find what your looking for.

Ha Ha... had the same experience... bought the Harley without riding it first because it wasn't registered with the previous owner... so I registered it and picked it up on Friday the 13th last year... the misses said I shouldn't pick it up on Friday 13th but I couldn't wait... anyway the bike vibrated like hell all the way home (I also have a Suzuki GSX650F) so I was used to a very smooth ride.  For the first month, I thought my eyeballs would be affected because of the vibration but as time went on I adjusted and can ride with great enjoyment now,  In fact now I love the feeling of the bike with it's incredible take off power... the incredible sound ... it's truly a great buy for a 14 year old bike and it looks like it just came out of the showroom and mechanically as well... I love my 2000 Custom Sportster XL1200... It's black and covered in chrome... and that chrome spoked front wheel... geez she looks great.  If I want a smooth silky ride I get on the Suzuki but if I want to feel alive and stir up the neighbourhood I fire up my Sportster... she is such a beautiful machine.

Yeah I know you can buy the newer rubber mounted engine Sportster, but there's something about a motorcycle with the engine attached directly to the frame... especially a V twin... it has a raw power which you can really feel right through your body... it's not for everybody but once your hooked you get an amazing riding experience everytime you ride it.