I have both, too, and would hate to make a choice between them. Two different animals, each has their strong points, both are great rides. I don't consider sportsters too small, or baggers too heavy. A 90 pound woman that knows what's she's doing can ride any Harley just fine and lots of folks have ridden sportsters coast to coast; it's not a matter of what the bike can or can't do, it's your preference. I wouldn't tell anyone they should get a sportster or a Road Glide, that's a decision people have to make for themselves. Well, actually I'd tell them to get both if they can afford it.

 

You seem to hear folks knock the sporty but each to his own. With a good seat and mini apes, riding 2 up, every other weekend I average 350 miles and one trip last summer I was just shy of 800 miles in one day and was fine so...each to his own. Boils down to whatch ya want. To me at this point in my life, I don't want all the accessories. Maybe later on in life but, I love my 48 and if I could pick any bike out there, it would be my sporty.

 

If it helps - consider that a Sportster is like an Electra Glide compared to a Grom :-)

All I can say is sitting on a Sportster the other day at a dealer just felt right. Don't knock it till you try it. And forget stupid memes. That same joke was done on the Can Am and others.

 

How about one of these? Fast!!!

 

You have plenty of time to really think about this a bit and do some research, especially pricing and availability in AUS. You can do some demoing of some Sporties in the PNW for comparison.

Sporties are great, but you might better like another Dyna, like a Super Glide. If going newer, a 96ci with 6-speeds has some possibilities. Just throwing ideas out there to explore.

 

Maybe you should take a newer Rushmore touring bike out for a test ride . They don't handle like the older baggers at all. They can ride a knifes edge in fact there ability is above my own. I rode my 06 for 7 years before i bought my bagger. Thats right i went from the smallest 883 to the biggest and the first time i leaned it hard into a corner i was like OMG. I ride every day basically from when the snow stops till it starts falling again.

Again i'd never knock the Sportster but i could get a 600 Ninja and leave you crying if you wanted to go corner to corner if your trying to sell handling as its most important feature. Every time i take my Sporty out it feels like a bicycle compared to my Road Glide. Again the point is what the OP wants to do with his bike within his budgetary contraints as well as purpose. If style is more important than ride than Sporty all the way. Nothing cooler than a group of old school Sporty riders rolling up on you.

 

I agree that there are more practical bikes than Harleys but a sport bike is no match for a Sportster in flexibility. I've been on group rides where the full-leather wearing sport riders are complaining about their seats and ride position while the Harley riders including Sportsters are looking for some turns to chew through. For a full day of riding, a Sportster will be comfortable. I know there are exceptions such as upright sport bikes and sport tourers but those don't disprove the reality of a typical sport bike v. a Harley.

 

grew up on Ninjas, just doesn't fit me these days
I like the Dyna as it's a good size and has been great 2-up (used to do the school-run with my daughter), but after the move I'll be solo most of the time (daughter is off to college and wife will ride her own - she's looking at 883 Iron). I guess my biggest concern is going from the bigger bike/engine to smaller but as I'm not a street racer I want enough power to get out of trouble and have a little bit of fun but not spend all my $ on speeding tickets
The move is still 9 months off, so plenty of time to plan and test ride and see what the recent 2nd hand market is looking like in Aus...

 

 

Someone mentioned getting the three main comfort upgrades and in that comment they mentioned "forward controls" but if you get the XL1200C Custom, the forward controls come stock. Seats, if you shop around on ebay and the likes can find one for not a bad price. The biggest cost of the three will be the shocks. Heck, even with them, you can find some good deals on some used air shocks that are used on some other models of HD bikes. I don't care what others say about it being a girlie bike or that you'll regret getting a bigger one later. I have rode Sportsters for a long time and done some LONG trips on them with no problem. 3 times to the East cost and back (with a short stay with friends before the return) and one during a really hot summer and through a Southern route. And Have done 3 trips up to Canada and 1 to Alaska. If AU summers are hotter, then I would suggest some "Love Jugs" to help cool it off. Been riding since I was 15 1/2 and am now 66 and still ride a Sportster.