6'8" and ride a softail. seat, bars and forwards to be half way comfortable. My friends still think my bike looks like a moped with me on it! O well it gets me down the road.

 

I don't have a scale but I would guess my weight is like 165 or 170, I'm the type of guy who believes in buying once, but buying right, so I'm reluctant to start with a dirt bike or something, since I'm in urgent need of transportation on the street. And I don't think my lady will be riding with me often

 

You could try this one.

 

So here is the answer that may sway you. If you buy a bike with a fairing and you drop it. More than likely you hit the hit the fairing to the ground and it gets costly with paint and such. If you have no bag guards and drop can easily cost 1k to fix it. look at my bike below, Not cheap when it comes to pearl paints and graphics. Buy a Honda with black grips and plastic chrome

You have alot to learn about buying a Harley if you think you bought it right the first time. Everytime you turn around its another 100 bucks in chrome and such.

Buying a vt1300 or a 1100 would be buying it right. You dont even know if you will like riding it. You may get out there and be scared to death. Harleys are great but a decent Honda is a good place to start. Easy to resale, Its your money do as you like, But when you drop it it wont be cheap to fix.

And whats the urgency? All your friends have bikes? Trust me no matter how much crap they talk about Honda's and crotch rockets. They will still ride with you.

 

I agree with buying what you want the first time. And I don't understand the concept of light bike vs heavy bike. You balance a bike, you don't hold it up. Now if you lose that balance, the bike is going over. It's happened to MOST of us.
I do agree that most bikes handle differently. A bagger is top heavy. The faring makes a difference too.

You said you are "in urgent need of transportation on the street". Buying a new bike and taking it on the road because you have to is dangerous. You have to treat the bike with respect. Learn how to ride it in a parking lot. Once your on the road you need to pay 100% attention to the cagers that seem to be aiming at you.
If you've ridin in the past it won't take long to get back into it.

 

 

Most people have a tendency to move up as time passes. I'd suggest that you test ride a Road King. I'm 6'3" and owned a Lowrider and Electra Glide Classic. There's no comparison between the comfort of the 2 bikes! Believe me, it gets old riding around on your tail bone with your feet stuck out in front of you on forward controls. If you want to buy once, I'd say buy something closer to what you'll want eventually anyway. The saddle bags make the bike much more versatile as a transportation vehicle too.

 

6'1.5, first bike was my Fat Boy. No issues, fits great.

I took the MSF then rode around my neighborhood for about 2 weeks. Then I started to venture out further, a month later I'm feeling pretty confident and have even intentionally rode in the rain.

Don't do two-up for a while, I saw a 1000 miles, I'm already at 550 and I don't feel confident to do that. I think a year of regular riding is ideal.

 

6'1" / 235-240 and just bought a Heritage Softail Classic. My first bike, it's very comfortable. I was originally going to get a wide glide, however after sitting on several I thought the Fat Boy / Fat Boy Lo and Heritage were more comfortable.

I am going to add some highway pegs on an engine guard soon, for longer rides. Other than that not planning any mods for fit / comfort.

 

I get the concept, but there are so many areas where buying once doesn't apply. Golf. Tennis. Etc. But especially motorcycles.

My ex wife was taking her road test a few years back. I remember she was in a group of 6 riders. Her on a little Kawasaki KZ200 an five guys all on various Harleys. It was funny (and scary) to see these guys wobble out of the parking lot to be evaluated by the follow car. She easily cruised out and aced the test. Not surprisingly, she was the only one that passed.

There is a HUGE difference between a heavy bike and a light(er) bike when it comes to low speed handling. Try doing a U-turn with a light bike. If you stumble, you put a foot down and save it. On a heavy bike, gravity whoops yer a$$ and you end up posting one of the many "I dropped it" threads we see every day.

Yep - many buy one as their first bike and survive. Many don't. Good luck either way you decide to go.