I call BS on the guy who started this thread. Look at his posts - he's merely goating you guys.

 

Even with all of the Harleys on the road I still rarely stop for gas and not have someone say Nice Bike, and I must admit I love that. It seems there is always something about a Harley.

 

First, why post on a Harley forum asking which you should buy? With that being said, if you are truly a beginning rider, I would buy a Honda Shadow or something similar to learn on so when you drop it (and you probably will), you are not dropping something that will make you cry. When you have a year or so under your belt and some serious miles and the mistakes that come with them, then buy your Harley. I had a Honda CB750 almost 30 years ago that I wrecked, got another that I sold and then bought my first Harley - a 1974 Sportster XLCH - 25 years ago. I wouldn't even consider buying anything other than Harley at this point, unless it was maybe an old Indian or something.

 

"goading", not "goating", dunno if youre right or not, but this thread does not involve any farm animals. yall want to clarify what goating is?

goad (gd)
n.
1. A long stick with a pointed end used for prodding animals.
2. An agent or means of prodding or urging; a stimulus.
tr.v. goad·ed, goad·ing, goads
To prod or urge with or as if with a long pointed stick.
[Middle English gode, from Old English gd.]

from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/goad

 

Good catch. On the other hand, he could be reading a lot of posts and trying to learn stuff,but participating in just the game threads. Give him the benefit of the doubt.

SpeedCrazy, consider the countless people who have switched from metrics to Harleys. Now see how many you can find who have gone the other way. We can't allbe stupid. (There are some, but mainly democrats, so it's allowed.)

 

Honda vs Harley...is it evenpossible to compare?

 

Well just for the record I'm one of those guys that switched from S.A.E.to metric. Actually I started out metric, switched to S.A.E. and now I'm back on a metric.

I can't speak for anybody else but my metric bikes all give me the exact same good feeling my S.A.E. bikes did. Call it soul if you like. If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand.

To the OP, buy a used bike (S.A.E. or metric) to start out on. If you have reasonably good hand/eye coordination get a cruiser in the 800-1100 range. Anything smaller will become a big disappointment pretty quickly. Anything in the 800-1100 size will also be big enough to enjoy for a couple of years until you find out what kind of riding you really like. Then you can plunk down the big bucks for your dream bike and by then you'll know for sure whether you want a Honda or a Harley. My guess is you'll probably end up with a Harley eventually. They're popular for a reason.

 

As a new Harley owner, I might not be qualified to do anything but share my story. You obviously have serious Harley thoughts or you wouldn't be here. I am gonna guess it's a matter of money that is guiding you.

A month ago, I was within a thousand bucks froma deal on a heritage softail and walked away. Curiosity found me in a Suzuki dealer and a slick slaesman had me leaving with a Boulevard that is a Harley copy and he had me ready to change the pipes. My brother is a Fatboy owner and after riding his, I realized it was like buying a fake Rolex and I could never forgive myself or handle the explanations needed for it's similarity to a Harley.

Last week, with 300 miles on it, it went back and I drove off a Fatboy with a monthly payment, a big loss on the trade in, and a feeling of, "screw the money, thank God I finally got it right."

The salesman at HD was totally different and the bearhug and "welcome to the family" I got after the deal had a lot more to it than the commission he had made.

 

Don't buy the Harley, especially the Sportster. You are to concerned with what others think. You either want a Harley or you don't. I see it this way, if you buy the Harley and you buy the Sportster, all the stuff you have seen written here will make you want a bigger Harley. You will not be able to live with the Half a Harley, Girls Bike, Piglet comments because you pay to much attention or put to much value on what other people think or tell you.
So buy the Metric, then you can go to a Metric Forum and learn all the standard answers and excuses why your Bike is as good or better than the HD. Even if you buy the Sportster, you can come back in here and read all the reasons why you don't really own a REAL HD, especially if you buy an 883. See owning a Scoot aint what it used to be. Folks used to own a Scoot for the simple joy of riding. Now it's a status symbol for most, and if ya got the Small Peter Syndrom, ya gotta have the biggest shiniest Harley in town. Also maintenance aint a problem if ya turn out like most HD owners, you either take it to the Dealer, or you won't ride it enough to require any maintenance for several years. Chrome Polish aint to expensive and that is what most HD owners spend their money on several years into ownership, well that and the Costume and the Chrome come first, but I'm talkin in the long run here. If you end up like most HD owners, a couple tubes of Semi Chrome polish and a bundle of good soft shop towels are all ya gonna need for a long time.
So if you can rationalise spending some serious cash and have that cash cow sit in the Garage all shiney and clean get the HD. If for some reason you actually wanna ride, and ride for the sake of being on the Road, take a serious look at getting the Metric, or even the Sporty, however, you gotta wanna ride for the sake of riding to be happy on a Sporty or a Metric. Everything else is sorta tied to yer EGO.
If ya think ya might do some Serious long distant trips covering several weeks then ya better look more at the Ultra Classic, it's got a trunk, and a serious lot of storage for all the BS ya gonna find ya need on Road trips, like clothes and such

 

Nice comparison.... ha ha ha ha