Do yourself a favor and just find her a decent low mileage Dyna and skip the sporty. I bought mine a sportster and within a few months traded it up to a Dyna.

 

the m8 low rider s and fat bob are the best handling Harley cruiser’s out of the box. I had an fxr in stock form and the low rider s is better. If you take an fxr and build it with the best aftermarket suspension components that’s a different story. The fxr frame is the best frame still to date.

 

wait what! A 131 low rider s for a street bob. Congrats. I am sure it will be a great build.

 

That's certainly an option, she really likes the look of the new Nightster as well.

However, I'm gonna try to make her hold off until AFTER she takes the riding course..

 

Just the opposite. Do yourself a favor and just find a low mileage Sportster 1200. I've owned a couple of 1200 Sportsters and put 10's of thousands of miles on them. They're way lighter than a Dyna (solid mount Sporsters are sub 500 lbs) and you're going to pay way less. I had a '92 XLH1200, a friend still owns a late 90's (I think '97) evo low rider. Even after he installed a cam, the bike couldn't keep up. Low, heavy and slow... It's a very nice bike but the added weight would be a headache for a smaller, beginner rider.
Twin-cam's are more power but still heavy and you'd pay a premium...

 

I have never ridden an FXR either, but have plenty of miles on my 21 Street Bob to make the following statement. In stock form (shocks, tires etc) this bike has a ton of room for improvement in handling. I don't know if it's just a tire thing, but my Road Glide felt more stable in high speed corners than this Street Bob.

Maybe by "cruiser" you were referring to non-baggers. IDK.

Zach

 

Speaking here as a guy with three divorces, it's gonna be really important to get the bike she wants, instead of the bike you think she should want. Obviously, as the one with the experience, you should be able to help her avoid any big obvious mistakes, but she if she chooses her own ride, she'll be more inclined to love it.

Not knowing how big or small or athletic she is, it matters why she wants a bike. If she really wants the look and feel and sound that is associated with these bikes, it seems like an air-cooled Sportster would be the bike of choice. If she really just wants something she is going to have fun riding, the new Nightster would seem like a perfect first bike. Under 500 lbs, very low CG, ABS and traction control, and ride modes so that it can ride like a beginner bike in rain mode, and later it can run with the big bikes in sport mode. Whatever gets her to ride with you is a win for both of you.

 

You are wise but I think we still pick the bike for her
+1 Guzzi V7

 

100% This. As a woman, my advice is absolutely get her the bike she wants if it fits her. Period.
This is how you get someone to ride and want to ride. Let her pick it, let her test ride it, ask her how comfortable it is. If she keeps gravitating towards a certain bike, look into making that bike comfortable for her.

This is why I didnt listen to all the men telling me what bike to get. "get a little bike, get something small, get this bike get that bike" Bite me. I got a fat boy, and I still absolutely LOVE my fat boy and there's no god damned way I'd get rid of him. I've had a phenomenally positive experience with the bike.

A friend of mind used to be a bicycle sales man, and professional cycling racer before he got into motorcycles and he said that he always told customers "Get the bike you like the most, because that's the one you'll ride." and often if a guy brought in his wife to get her a bicycle, he'd find some way to get the husband of doing some bullshit so he can talk to the wife by herself and ask her what bike she REALLY wanted. And then when the Husband came back he'd direct him towards the bike the wife really wants.
He says the exact same thing about motorcycles. Get the bike you want to ride. Get your wife the bike she wants the most.

 

Ultimately it's going to be up to her (hell, she makes 3x what I make so she's footing most of the bill anyway lol), but she's pretty much telling me she wants something small, that looks nice, and sounds good. Specifically she's interested in *anything* Harley or BMW, maybe Ducati. Why those brands? We're a car family, always had "cool" cars like BMWs, older Porsche 911, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar, Range Rovers, etc... So she understands certain brands have an allure, history, etc.. She's just brand new to looking at bikes on her own, but she knows I come from a long line of Harley and Indian riders (also owned about every make of sport bike but always loved Ducati).

Her coworker that she really likes (female surgeon) also rides and owns some type of softail, a BMW R9T, and a Triumph. So she would consider those as well because that woman has really talked them up quite a bit.

Not to get ahead of myself (she's taking the rider course in June), but my short list is 1) older Sportster that we don't care if if gets dropped, 2) Nightster if she decides she DOES care about her first bike looking nice, and 3) something like a Ducati Scrambler or the one of the smaller BMWs. Personally, I like #1 and #2 the best, because if it doesn't pan out I'd love to own a Sportster, and the nightster would be a fun little 2nd bike or it could be traded in towards a touring bike if she wants to remain a passenger instead of piloting her own bike.

I imagine she'll be an extremely timid rider once she's in control of the bike. Her idea of a "sporty" car is accelerating rapidly onto the highway on the single on-ramp we have, and then setting the cruise 2mph over the speed limit until she gets to work or home.

Her primary reason for wanting a bike is because she's desperate for a hobby and wants something that we can do together, and something she can do with that coworker of hers that doesn't revolve around work or the kids.

I do love me some Moto Guzzi, but it would be a tough sell getting her onto a bike from a brand she doesn't recognize.