G'day all, checking in from Queensland, Australia. I have always been interested in motorbikes from a young fella, even if I never really rode them until I was in my mid 20's.  My family was always against bikes though, as they thought they were too dangerous.  I didn't know anyone else who rode them either, so I never really had that final push to get involved.  I'd look at bikes on the internet for years, telling myself that I'd eventually get one. I'd watch shows like Sons of Anarchy and would imagine the feeling of that freedom and exhilaration of riding.  It wasn't until I had temporarily moved away from my fiance and my family for work and my car at the time died, that I finally seized the moment and did what I had been thinking about doing for most of my life up until that point, and bought my first bike! Now, this isn't where HD comes onto the scene though. My first ever bike was a Kawasaki Vulcan S which I bought new not long after they first came out. It was relatively cheap and I liked the subtle hybrid mix between a sports bike and a cruiser and it had the ability to be fairly customizable for the size of the rider. I've ridden the Vulcan S for the last 5 years or so, mainly as a commuter and short rides around the place.  I have really enjoyed my time with the Vulcan S, and I think it was a great entry point for me into riding but I'm ready to finally progress a bit further down the rabbit hole. I'd be lying if I didn't say there has always been a part of me that was in awe of Harley Davidson's. They always had an aura about them in the way people spoke about them and the way that they looked.  I'm 6'3 and 100kgs and unfortunately for my joints, I love the style of the Sportsters, and even more so, the Cafe Racer style setups. I stumbled across @chris_b_owens Cafe Racer build on the US Forum and absolutely loved it.  A part of me knows I'm obviously not built for this style of bike but the other part of me says "Stuff it!" do what you want to do and don't worry about if anyone tells you you're too big for it.  I really like the Iron's and am having a mental tug-a-war between the 883 and the 1200.  I absolutely hate all the colours on offer for the 1200 and love the look of the Rawhide Denim in the 883.  I don't like the ape hangers on the 1200 either. My brain however is refusing to give in and keeps highlighting the bigger engine on the 1200 for pretty much the exact price of the 883 and how I'd be crazy not to just swap out the handlebars and put up with the paint.  So anyway, that's where I'm at. I'm looking forward to poking around the forums a bit more and hopefully convincing myself of a reasonable solution!

Welcome to the forum. Good intro. 

Welcome to the forum, enjoy all the test riding you have ahead of you.

Thanks guys. Yeah I'll be definitely going for test rides soon. Only just upgraded to the R licence last weekend so I could start doing that. 

That wears thin pretty quick WK. Go for comfort and function over form.

Turn a second hand 103 Dyna into a big cafe racer :)

Hi Weedkiller. Welcome to the forum. 

Yeah I don't mind the look of the Street Bob either. I'm also wondering whether I hold off for a bit and see what happens in the next year or so with the mystery surrounding the sportsters and what HD are going to do. 

Haha nah it comes from my surname. Sort of a play on words.