Opinions wanted please

The4opps1

IMO, the most important factor with any motorcycle purchase is feeling comfortable on the bike. You don't want to do "tippy-toes" at the stop light, nor do you want your knees to be eye level when you are cruising down the highway. You need to hit a dealer (or two) and spend time sitting on the individual machines. The safety course is a must. It will get you started in the right direction. If you aren't certain what you want, go the used route. Just make sure that you have a general idea of what the used bike you're buying is worth, so that when you trade up, you loose as little as possible. In my experience, you can adjust to the weight and horsepower of a machine as long as you don't ride beyond your limits. Good luck!

Crocker

VRSCDX model (night rod Special) 2007 first year the production numbers are low , Dealers were offered only 2 DX s per dealership by the MOCO, I dont know what the exact numbers were but I think it was between 1500 and 2000 units, I own a 2008 DX ,and after getting aqainted with the dx I did not really care for the foward control set up not because of comfort ,but because it has very good rite out of the box power and in order to really get agressive with the bike you really need a mid control set up, but if you are just in it for more of the cruise factor , the stock setup is fine but you might want to change out the handle bars to get you in a more suitable cruise position ,but I think at 6ft 2 the stock set up will work better for you then it did for me being I am shorter, there are a few aftermarket setups to get you in the mid position , or you can go the wey I did buy buying all the oem parts for a mid control model vrod ,its not a big deal to do, and although the bike is a 600 lb machine it feels lighter then a Sportster,But I do think the sportster will make a better first bike ,just because the Vrod needs to be ridden in a much higher rpm range then a Sportster and it will take you longer to make progress on your riding skills. I would go sit on both and try to get a feel also you might want to sit on a AW model and see how that feels compared to a DX it will give you a good idea about what I mean changing the Bars . Good luck.

RichardS

It's a shame that nowadays the Sportsters are such a hard sell in the secondary market, unless you give them away. I rode Sporty's for years as a young guy, and back then, basically, you either rode (if you rode a Harley) an Electra-Glide or a Sporty, and the decision was made on economics and/or preference, not because the Sporty was considered a "girl's bike". In fact, I can only imagine the bloodshed that would have ensured if someone had accused some of the guys I rode with then of riding a "girl's bike" because they were on a Sportster. It didn't even happen, but if it had, the accuser's body would have been found floating face down in a river. (Those guys had a tendency to become violent quite unexpectedly.....a little carzy, if you ask me, but hey, that's who they were.)

When did a Sporty become a "girl's bike", anyway???

But the fact is, they ARE a tough sell, unless they are dirt cheap.

Although I ride an Ultra, shown below, and before that a Heritage, I myself rode Sporty's off and on, mixed with other Big Twins, (FL shovels at the time), right up to the late 80's.



So when I got a second bike (a killer deal presented itself) a few months ago, a 2002 XL1200C, my first thought was to sell it and just make a couple bucks, maybe, in the process. But after much thought, I decided to keep it!



A couple little rides on it brought back so many great and very fond memories that I realized I'd enjoy having it in the garage for little bar hops and the like.

I can't WAIT for some dummy to say I'm on a "girl's bike"......I'm always looking for a way to test my anger management counseling!


As to the V-Rod......well....not MY cup o' tea, but who cares what I think, or what anybody else thinks? Get the bike YOU want, and enjoy it, and don't worry about what anybody else has to say about it!

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STEVE07

Your on a GIRLS bike! I am only 5'8'' and I find the sporty too cramped for me! This is coming from someone who has come off of a 1980 Honda C.B.900 Custom

Hobbit

steve you beat me to it its even in a GIRLS color white

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RichardS

Ha!!! I'd knew you'd be the first to rile me up Steverino!

By the way, I had a 1980 CB 900 Custom!!!!! (seems like a 100 years ago....bought it in 1981 with less than a thousand miles on it for FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS (as I recall) from a lady whose husband had run off on him. She actually signed his name on the title! Had a GREAT time with that thing for about a year and then made a nice little profit when I sold it to fix my old Shov.)


It looked exactly like this one, right down to the color!



PEARL white, Sir Hob!!!

By the way Steve, I'm 6'0", 185, and never had a problem riding a Sporty, as long as it had forward controls......you didn't feel right on them?

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Did the '60's really happen or was that a dream?

STEVE07

Hey Rich,since I am still having trouble uploading pictures ask Glider to send you a picture of my CB900 custom,I still own it!

Hobbit

im sorry do you have matchin lipstick
I miss my Sportsters and my Buell can you tell i will get anothe abate older and more leaky

most of the lads i know started on Sportsters and telling them its a girls bike, is like trying to take the last banana from the angry gorilla in the corner you just dont do it

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RichardS

Haha! WELL SAID!

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STEVE07

Not comfortable for me at all Rich,I feel too close to the handlebars,on any of them I have ridden,I would take that old CB900 for comfort over a sportster.But that is just me and I really don't want to offend anyone.I know we all have different tastes and riding styles,likes and dislike,But oh Richard I do have to say it againYOUR Sportster IS a girls bike!