Fatboy or Heritage

[rightisright]

As Irate said, the biggest downfall is the lack of travel. I have high quality Progressive shocks on my custom (and a 210 tire. Not fat by today's custom standards. But fatter than a stock Harley rear tire). My ass still gets a hard whomp if I hit a 2" deep pothole at 65 MPH. Better than a hardtail.. but not by much. In fact, if I see the bump/pothole coming up, I push my feet against the forward pegs and lift my ass off the seat in anticipation of the jolt. Softails are great bar hoppers and low(er) speed cruisers. But if you are only going to have one bike, get one w. a real suspension.

[Ben Rumson]

The Softail was a compromise from the beginning. The first concern was "How can we make it look like a rigid", then came trying to fit suspension components to it. There is little suspension travel, and far less if you lower the bike even 1". Even in factory trim it isn't hard to bottom out the suspension(without bottoming the tire on the fender or frame on the ground) on a decent size bump. This will cause the rear tire to possibly leave the ground looking for travel. Now imagine that happening on a curve.

As Irate said, the biggest downfall is the lack of travel. I have high quality Progressive shocks on my custom (and a 210 tire. Not fat by today's custom standards. But fatter than a stock Harley rear tire). My ass still gets a hard whomp if I hit a 2" deep pothole at 65 MPH. Better than a hardtail.. but not by much. In fact, if I see the bump/pothole coming up, I push my feet against the forward pegs and lift my ass off the seat in anticipation of the jolt. Softails are great bar hoppers and low(er) speed cruisers. But if you are only going to have one bike, get one w. a real suspension.

I wasn't able to get a clear explanation on suspension differences from people not associated with this board. The lack of travel is a huge issue.. Many thanks for putting it short and clear.

I'll post for more input as a move along in my search.. Thanks again.

[308Mike]

Here's the bike my wife rented for me on my birthday several years ago. It was a great ride all that day. I had a BLAST on it!! If I could have afforded to buy it, I would have been GREATLY TEMPTED!!! Perhaps it's MUCH better that I couldn't have bought it.

Mike B-Day Present Harley Cropped Posted.jpg

[AZMARK]

883 or 1200 Sportster?

I see lots of people buying the Sportster's as first bike around here. I think the 883 is a decent first bike, but the 1200 should be for riders with a little more experience.

[Ben Rumson]

883 or 1200 Sportster?

I see lots of people buying the Sportster's as first bike around here. I think the 883 is a decent first bike, but the 1200 should be for riders with a little more experience.

Most I've spoken to say you'll tire of the 883 after the first week and then you need to sell it at a loss..

Mike B-Day Present Harley Cropped Posted.jpg

Thats a fugly Terminator head going on there.

[308Mike]

883 or 1200 Sportster?

I see lots of people buying the Sportster's as first bike around here. I think the 883 is a decent first bike, but the 1200 should be for riders with a little more experience.

Most I've spoken to say you'll tire of the 883 after the first week and then you need to sell it at a loss..

Mike B-Day Present Harley Cropped Posted.jpg

Thats a fugly Terminator head going on there.

A couple of months after buying my KZ550, I wanted something bigger - at LEAST 750cc's in size, so my next bike was a 1000. Consider the reasons you're buying it, then get the size most suited to the way you want to ride it. Remember, larger engines also weigh more, get less fuel economy but also ride on the freeway MUCH better than the lighter bikes. They absorb the freeway bumps and ripples MUCH better than the lighter bikes (something I know from EXTENSIVE experience).

I rode a KZ550 as my MAIN TRANSPORTATION for two years, and used a snowmobile suit in the winter to stay warm and dry. Riding my KZ1000 on the freeway was NOTHING like riding my old 550. The additional weight made ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the world when riding continuously over the freeway expansion joints, and the larger tires made a HUGE difference regarding how my bike "rain-grooved" on the freeway (when your bike tires track in the freeway grooves and cause your rear end to wobble around while going down the freeway - and current tire designs have done a LOT to help eliminate "rain-grooving", but unless you're riding slicks, you're going to still get a LITTLE "rain-grooving" on the grooved roadways.

If you have cheap, straight-tread tires designed for off-freeway use, and you get on the freeway, you'll be surprised at just how much the rear end of your bike jumps around and initially, you might think there's something wrong with your bike (unless you've experienced it before). I don't know if the military is still educating their riders about this phenomenon, but I would be surprised if they weren't. Kinda' like the concept of counter-steering and how the rear tire DO NOT track directly behind the front tire and what causes it. When I was in the Marines, they began an extensive bike riding course on the base, which was VERY educational.

I hope they're STILL doing it. From what I remember, the training course SIGNIFICANTLY cut the number of severely injured and dead military from motorcycle accidents. It was EXCELLENT training.

Evaluate your riding conditions and when you plan on riding, and THEN think about the bike you want to take on the ride. If it's predominately freeway, make sure you get yourself a heavy bike with a good suspension system. If not, think about where else you're going to ride- canyon, twisting roads, passing multiple cars, riding in a pack with similar bikes, etc., etc. But you want to get a bike which makes YOU happy - not everyone else!!

[TheIrishman]

883 or 1200 Sportster?

If you're asking about 308Mikes rental, that is a big twin. Sportsters have the belt on the other side.

Most I've spoken to say you'll tire of the 883 after the first week and then you need to sell it at a loss...

The 883 will get boring if you're looking for a cruiser. You need to wind them up a bit to make highway power in stock trim. If you are actually gonna run back twisties with it, the light weight make it a far better choice. As for the 1200 being for more experienced riders, YUP! They'll whip a factory big twins hide in the speed department and can get away from an inexperienced rider quickly.

The real issue with sportsters is the smaller frame. You can build a Zippers performance 99" motor and lower the final drive(those extra inches make up for the lack of a sixth gear), and cruise with the big twins all day then smoke them on the mad dash home. You can't however make the stock frame any more comfortable for someone over 5'10" on long rides. A stretched aftermarket frame is the only way to fix that.

Remember, larger engines also weigh more, get less fuel economy but also ride on the freeway MUCH better than the lighter bikes. They absorb the freeway bumps and ripples MUCH better than the lighter bikes

But even an 883 weighs as much as most larger displacement Japanese bikes.

[AZMARK]

883 or 1200 Sportster?

If you're asking about 308Mikes rental, that is a big twin. Sportsters have the belt on the other side.

Yep that's what I was asking. But it sure looks like a Harley to me.

[McClarkus]

Heritage hands down. Had one and sold it for the Electra Glide 'cause the wife wanted a bigger seat with armrests. I am not a big guy and the Heritage handled much better than the Glide in my estimation. When coming to a stop on the Glide I have to be very careful and it was just more natural on the Heritage. It seemed to be balanced better for me. My roads are gravel which complicates things. I first got the heritage after my Sportster gave out while on a road trip. As Bob K is fond of saying "If one must break down while riding, it is best dome during business hours, at a convenient location, with a fully charged credit card". Such was the case with me and the Heritage followed me home from Des Moines Ia to Co Springs is one ride. I wish I still had it.

[rightisright]

(those extra inches make up for the lack of a sixth gear)

Best thing I ever did on my custom was to ditch the 5 speed and put in a Baker sixer.

Harley went from a 5 speed to a 6 in it's big bikes in '06 or '07 (IIRC). For highway cruising, it's a night and day difference.