I'm a 43 year old new rider. I wanted to buy a new wideglide but found a almost new sportster instead. I bought the 09 sportster 4 months back with only 400 miles on it. I have only put 300 miles on it since then. rode around local country roads for about 100 miles then rode for a short trip down the freeway for about 200 miles. The bike is fun around the country roads but was not very comfortable and felt a little under powered on the freeway at 70. The short trip of around 200 miles wore me out also. My son lives about 100 miles away from me and I want a bike that I can ride down to see him comfortably. I'm thinking about trading my sportster in for either a wide glide or a fat bob. Which one would be a better choice for me? Do they ride a lot different? I weigh around 215 and around 5'11''. I'm wishing I would of bit the bullet the first time when I went in the harley shop. What do you think?

 

For a few bucks you can probably make your sporty more comfortable than a stock Dyna.

Pick up some used Street Glide shocks
Get a different seat
Get forward controls and some highway pegs
Make handlebar change (if needed)


I did this with my sporty and for solo riding it is almost as comfortable as a touring bike...and a lot more fun to ride!

 

First off, what size is your Sportster? I'm assuming it's an 883.

The 883 may feel underpowered but really it's not. It will do just fine at freeway speeds it is just sometimes it's going to feel like you are really getting into the throttle to maintain speed. Uphil, headwind, and the bike may top out at 80...which is still faster than any speed limit in the country.

If you do a 1200 conversion, or your bike is a 1200, it is anything but underpowered and the Dyna is going to feel no more or less powerful.

For comfort, if you have the stock shocks, seat, and mid pegs yes it will be uncomfortable at your size. Get a set of Road King air shocks (street glides if you have a Nightster, Iron, or Low as those bikes come with 1" lower shocks or if you want to drop your bike 1") and the difference in suspension will amaze you. Cost is about $50 (more for the Street Glide shocks) if you look on eBay.

A comfortable seat will help too. Most Sportster owners swear by the Mustang wide solo seats.

If you have mid controls, forwards or highway pegs will definately make the ride more comfortable. I like forwards but a good set of highway pegs will give you a couple of different places to put your feet on long rides.

I have a 99 Sportster and a 2011 Dyna Wide Glide. They are very different bikes. The Dyna feels better on highway rides because of the longer rake and slightly larger size. Draw back is the shocks still could stand to be upgraded (but better than the Sportsters stock shocks) and ground clearance while turning is very lacking. I rub my exhaust every time I make a right hand corner and the suspension compresses a little bit...like if I start accelerating out of the corner. It annoys me and in a twisty section of road the Sportster will lose it every time.

The Sportster is a great short distance bike and shines in the twisties. I did ride mine from So. Cal. to Vegas and from So. Cal. to Phoenix. The Vegas run was with my 2-up seat with gel and the Phoenix was with my stock solo seat. The gel seat wasn't too bad but the solo killed me. Still, both trips were well over 300 miles one way and I wasn't dead tired when I arrived.

So really ask yourself how much do you want to spend on a new bike when you've only rode 300 on your current one? I would ride a bit more, enjoy the bike you have, maybe make some changes and go from there. 300 miles isn't far at all...I put about 500 on mine in a week.

 

Well, there's really no contest here--it's like "what should I get to drive cross country--a Smart car or a full size sedan"?

For a trip like that--I would check into the SuperGlide Custom--great 2 up,same motor as the WG, almost 2 grand cheaper, and IMHO, the best looking bike Harley makes now. But if not--definitely the WideGlide.

 

For a non-touring bike, I would also chose a SuperGlide.

 

Don't exclude the Softails either. Give them a spin. as well.

 

I wouldn't dump any money into a Sporty trying to make it some kind of highway friendly bike. My girlfriends Sporty is fun to me for about 15 minutes, then I'm ready to get on anything else. The amount of miles you put on is your business only, and you might as well be comfortable. I don't think you would go wrong with a Superglide, Dyna Wideglide or Fat bob. If I were looking for the best bang for my buck, I would be looking for Superglides. The Fatbob's sure look good though.

 

Uhh.....between the 2,WG, dude......hands down, no question.........but for a few bux more,Softail, definately.........

 

Wide Glide all day long!

But the fatbob looks really comfy, havent ridden one but the wider front tire should make for more fun in the twisties.

 

I second the Wideglide!