I also work in a small shop where we build engines for jet skis so the guys know their stuff pretty well. My "rescue" Sportster garners more attention and appreciation than my out-of-the-box Deuce.

This is partly because of the wrenching involved with bringing a bike back to life, which mechanic type guys appreciate. There's also an attitude of "I could do that, too" that comes with the Sportster which is sometimes not present in people looking at a large or aggressive bike.

I find that the less familiar with motorcycles a person is, the more they tend to gloss over the Deuce - too big, too chrome, too loud - too far outside their experience set. They will, however, sit on the Sportster and "try it out".

I took my Sportster out yesterday and marveled at how much fun it is to ride. I suspect a lot of general purpose riders would have more fun on my Sporty than muscling around their 110 bagger that they financed just because everyone else has one.

 

I am past 50 so I guess I am not retarded any more!

 

+1 on this. I hadn't been on a bike in over 7 years and never a Harley. But was always under the impression that if you were going Harley to not even bother until you were into the bigger biked and that Sportsters were lesser in some way. My last bike was a V-Star small cruiser and so I thought cruiser was the way to go.

Went to the dealer with a Softail Slim on the brain, tried it, liked it but felt like driving a log at slower speeds and I live in a pretty rural area. For fun I got on a Forty Eight and fell for it immediately (and I mean like the first minute). All this time I wasted thinking that I wanted a big a$$ cruiser and not really enjoying the ride when this bike was right there. Drove off the lot with a $hit eating grin on my new 48 and saved practically half the cost of the slim. I also think that the customization that can be done is cooler.

Underrated bike perpetuated by many of us with the thought that it's the Equivalent of a Ford Focus or lower end of a company that makes great stuff.

People just need to try it, the other companies just don't have a bike that feels or looks as good

 

Nice! How do you get that service, 1-800-CHOPPER?

 

Shortly after I got my Sportster, I started thinking that I should have gotten a bigger bike. However, the more I ride it and learn about Sportsters, the more I like it. First, Sportsters are harder to ride than the bigger bikes. They are more subject to the wind and have more vibration so it takes more skill to control than a heavier machine. Expert Sportster riders have skills! Also, Sportsters are really café racers. They were Harley's answer to the Triumphs that got popular in the 60's. Sportsters were designed to be race bikes and, back in the day, they did well at the track. It is a fallacy that Sportsters are entry level bikes. They were not designed for that purpose.

 

Yes sir, thats a good response.

My bike gets cat calls, compliments, smiles, thumbs-ups all over Israel.
Not many bikes get this, there are bikes here but they are mostly piece-meals.



.

 

Yup, it's the guys that don't have a ride or never ridden that have the best advice or info!

 

Some other fun facts I learned from the shop idiot: A fender stratocaster is not the same thing as a fender strat. Rich people do not pay most of the taxes. He got somebody arrested and went to their jail cell and laughed at them (I have been to jail here and this is not possible). He also lies about having been in the military which is very disrespectful to those who have.

My apologies, hes not retarded because he's 50, hes retarded because he thinks he's smarter than everybody and uses his age to try and validate everything he says. Didnt mean to offend anybody, my parents are in their fifties and I don't consider them retarded.

The rest of us just give each other a hard time, they all like my bike and are happy for me. My boss told me it was cool and asked if they sold mens bikes where I bought it, I even had to laugh, he was just bustin my bawls.

Another interesting thing I learned when I ride is mist of the time when you pass another rider, no matter what they are riding they will almost always wave in acknowledgement of the unspoken bond we all share, cool stuff i think

 

I would like to see you at night standing next to it looking like your avatar....

 

No, he`s retarded because by that age he should know better.