My husband & I bought a bike last summer. We went with a Honda Shadow 750 because we thought the same thing....start with the smaller bike. Now 1 year later we bought the HD. Now there is a Honda in our garage worth $1500 less than it was last worth last summer. We won't get our money back out of it and only used it for 1 year. Go ahead and get the Harley. A smaller bike will be a waste of money. You won't be happy with it for long.

 

I learned to ride in 1987. I was 14, and learned to ride from a Mexican guy I worked with, on a 1979 Honda CB1000. I was a short, skinny kid, scared to death of learning on a bike that big, particularly from someone who didn't speak English, but I wanted to ride. I never had a problem learning to ride on that bike (Tomas Rodriguez was an excellent teacher, and I'm sure regretted teaching me to ride every day when I'd borrow his bike to go to lunch).

I have since taught my four younger brothers to ride. They all learned the basics on a 1974 Honda CB200, and moved up immediately to a Yamaha VStar 1100 and Road Star 1600 with no discomfort or concerns at all. My wife, on the other hand, did not like moving up to so large a bike right away.

I guess the point is, ride whatever you're comfortable with. If you have the opportunity to ride one before you actually buy it, I highly recommend it. I am constantly amazed at the number of people that will buy motorcycles having never ridden that particular model bike.

Good luck!

Brien Crotty