I am considering the 07 883 low for my wife (5'3" and petite). I have also considered other brands for this size of bike (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha). Does anyone have extensive experience and knowledge of this size of bike in H-D and these other brands. Please give me your opinions and findings in the comparison of different types of bikes. What will I find to be the positives and negatives of the H-D.

 

Well it depends on really what your wife likes the looks of. Nowdays there all dependable, the 883 evo sportster is know as the battleship of the fleet. That should say something in the way of dependablilty. I know a woman that has a '98 883 sportster that she travels on for her work and it has 120,000 miles and still going strong! But all brands are great nowdays so whatever looks right to her would fit the bill. Hey on +'s and -'s the sportsters have the best by far aftermarket custom parts if your into making the bike "yours" and they do have the best resale value.

 

Easy.

Sportsters look awesome.
Sportsters sound awesome.
Sportsters ride awesome.

 

Hells yea, my buddys all ride but I by far have the niceist looking bike, than again i also had to pay about 5 times as much as they did hahaha.

 

If she is able to ride a "heavyweight", the 883L is what to get. It's low enough, yes, but the bigger thing is these Sporties are so incredibly STABLE! They damn near ride themselves. Just my .02, but you cannot go wrong with this choice. Sure most here would agree.

 

Hi, I am about 5'5" and 119 pounds. I flat foot the bike pretty much. I did put on a brawler seat and it sits me back some so I dont flat foot as well as I did. At first I thought it was too much bike and looked at vstars,, boulevards, volcons, etc. but no one would let you test drive anything so I could only sit on them. I loved the feel of the volcon, it was very comfy. But I had the sporty already and decided to try to become one with it first, well I amm so glad that I did, I love the look of it,, the sound(new pipes) and it rides very nice. I have no problems controling it. I did at first, but I was just very inexperienced. I really love my 883L now. I would not trake it for anything. I dont know how all these dealers expect you to get a feel for a bike when you cannot test ride one.. Good luck to you and your wife with your choice.

 

In May 05, I bought a V-Star Classic 650, traded it for a Roadstar 1700 in May 06, traded it for an 07 XL883L in Aug. The HD is a better built, easier handling, and all around better bike than either of the others. It just feels soild. I put 4500 miles on the 650, 3500 on the 1700, and now have 700 on my 883. I wish I had gone for the HD from the first.

 

At 5'3" and petite, the Sporty might be a little much if she's a first time rider. I definately wouldn't want her intimidated by the bike. If she can sit on it, flat foot it, and is able to maneauver it on foot (back it up while turning, etc) then she might be OK. My aunt is like your wife and bought a Hugger - she sold it after a year and a half becuase she wasn't comfortable with it's weight... but she's also in her late 50's.
My first bike was the Kawasaki Vulcan 500 Classic and I can not think of a better beginner bike for her. But, if she's ridden before, and/or is comfortable on the Sporty - then definatley pick her up the Low!
MOST IMPORTANT - Make sure she likes the color!

 

I love my 06 883L. Having said that, size wasn't really an issue for me. I'm a pretty big guy 6'1" 210. For my height, I do have a somewhat short inseam, so the low feels good to me. I agree with the post above concerning stability. If she can handle the weight of the Sporty, I'd say that's the ticket for sure.

 

I am 5'3", not petite though and I started out on an 06 883 low about two months ago. I'm in the upper middle age bracket and have never ridden before in my life. So far I have found the Sporty to be pretty easy to handle and no too intimidating. I could flat foot the bike with the stock seat (which BTW rode like a rock) but I changed to a Mustang wide solo and that sat me up a bit higher. I have an appt. this Saturday at the dealer to have risers put on my bars cause even with the stock seat I had to lean forward and with the new seat it's a problem cause after about 15 miles my hands start to cramp up and go numb! I did ride Hub's softail Deluxe this past weekend and I think that maybe by next summer I will be ready to move up from the Sporty to Softail. Has you wife taken the MSF course? If not I highly recommend it, it helped me A LOT!!