When I read this thread, I thought right off of the xl low.

 

Another downside of the metrics is most have to have expensive valve adjustments. Over the life of a bike that can add up and combined with your increased depreciation push your real cost of ownership past that of the Sportster. The Sportster is fairly maintneance free and the ace-in-the-hole is the tremendous aftermarket. I don't care what you don't like about a Harley you can change it. With a metric, and I've had my share, you're very limited in what you can do and it'll cost you more than parts for a Harley. And if that ain't enough the 883 Sportster is one of the cheapest bikes you can get insured. All things to consider but in the end I'd say get whatever she wants.

She'll probably want what she's most comfortable riding. All that being said if she's not comfortable with the weight of a Sportster the Honda 750 strikes me as a real nice low light bike with really good looks and enough power and comfort to keep her up with the big boys with ease.

 

Btw, an 883 custom will run you 1K less, $9.5K is in the range of a 1200 custom.

You guys are forgetting one big aspect of Harley Davidson ownership that has nothing to do with the name; ease of maintenance. Of course, there is a very common misconception going around that somehow harley maintenace is more. I have no idea where this came from.

Harley maintenace costs are like 1/4 those of metric bikes (unless you go the dealership way in which you will be raped by both depending on the dealership). Here is a comparision from MCNews; Maintenance costs on 1200 sportster: Parts: $57 Labor $90. Suzuki Boulevard M50: Parts: $81 Labor: $495. Ducati S2R Monster: Parts: $205 Labor: $390. Honda CBR600F4i Parts: $259 Labor: $444. Dyna Wide Glide: Parts: $59 Labor: $162. Sorry, I would do a better comparision of cruisers only if I had better data.

I actually bought a HD for the ease of maintenace. You don't have to do silly things like remove half the body panels, the seat, and all electronics to change an oil or air filter. On a harley the oil filter is by your left leg and the air filter by your right.

Ok, so an 883 costs $500 more than boulevard? You will make up the difference in maintenace.

 

Flame me for this but you asked. If you buy her a bike and she hates it then what? I have known several women who have bought bikes and after a season or two the bike just sat. My mother-n-law however loved riding and sold her Honda to "step up" to a Harley. Money on any bike better be well thought out.Well if it's a metric good luck gettin half your money back in 3 years. If money is not an issue then buy her a Dyna, she'll love the lower seat height, YES DAMN IT THE DYNA'S SEAT HEIGHT IS LOWER THAN THE SPORTY, plus the center of gravity is lower on the Dyna's. My daughter-n-law is 5"6" and she cannot put her feet flat on the ground on my 883C.

 

When I was looking for a bike, I settled on a 2006 883L for a lot of reasons. While the Metric bikes talk about quality, and they are good bikes - there is a cost for being modern. How old is the Honda Shadow as a model? How many of the parts are interchangeable between the years? Not many. And when the model goes out of favor - the after market crowd does not pick up the slack (with some exceptions like seats and such). Try upgrading an engine/tranny when your Shadow is 5 years old and then again when it turns 10. This is just in the cruiser bike area - it gets a lot worse with the sport bikes. In the race to be the best - the old is discounted and disguarded. That is the market mindset for those bikes.

I didn't buy a Sportster because of the resale value - but because of the reasons why the resale would be higher on my bike.

The Sportster model is as old (give or take a few years) as all of the Japanese Motorcycle Companies. I can buy replacement parts for a 1957 Sportster (http://www.colonymachine.com/14-sprtstrkt.html) .... How far back (in years) can you go to buy parts for a Metric? There is not a market for it. This means that I can keep my Sportster for the next 40 years - at least. I get to drive this bike until the big guy upstairs tells me that I get to ride with him in heaven (or hell).... I'll bet he rides a Sportster too....

3500 Miles on my bike in three months ..... I didn't fire her up today and I am already going through withdrawls. I gotta go!

 

MuddyXL wrote:

Over the life of JAP motorcycle engines most folks never bother to adjust their valves, it really isn't that hard of a task to accomplish and after the second time around and NO adjustments are made...well ya just blow it off until the sum of your parts starts tellin' ya that somethin' needs some attention. (excessive top end engine noise / gas mileage is gettin' worse)

After the first 8k miles or so you rarely have to mess with them. Still rather not have to deal with them; besides that? Gettin' yur hands dirty from time to time tinkerin' with yur sheen is a good thing

 

I am a Harley convert. I previously only owned jap bikes. My last bike a Vulcan 750 is what convinced me to buy Harley. I had a thermostat go bad at 7000 mi and the bike slightly and I mean very slightly overheated. I ended up with a bad head gasket and warped head from it. If that wasnt bad enough the machine shop told me that they would mill the head back to flat. After I spent about $300.00 on machine work and gaskets I bolt it back together. I couldnt figure why it kept backfiring through the carb. Come to find out the valves hammered down on some antifreeze and bent the two intake valves. I then bought another $100.00 in gaskets and valves. As bad as the experience was it gave me time to see how the bike was made. Believe it or not the two overhead cams dont ride on anything exept a this coat of oil and the top of the aluminum head. There is no bearing or race, just oil between aluminum and steel turning at 5000 rpm. My sportster may not be near as technologically advanced but it is dependable. I was so impressed with the simplicity and durability of Harley, I purchased mine out of state and rode it home. What a great way to get to know a new machine. I am told 20yrs ago I never would have been able to depend on a Harley.

Tim

 

The safest bet would be to let her have a say-so in the decision. I don't know about dealers in your area, but there are those that have a demo (usually an 883) which you could let her try. If she likes it (the sales guy will make sure she does), you're a hero.

I gotta add, that the new Sportsters are rock solid bikes. I've had asian bikes and they were OK, but from what I've seen here lately, the Harley service shops I've been to are first class and in my view a lot better than the rest. It's why I bought one.

 

Why not ride them all? Take her to all the dealers and make sure she gets what she likes. If she does not like it, she will not ride it. Dont know about you, but at my house, IF MOMMA AINT HAPPY....NO BODY IS HAPPY! Good luck with your search for her scooter .