Total Motorcycle Community Forums

The Bonneville is the bike that made me want a motorcycle to begin with. Once I pass the MSF Class, I'm going to the Triumph dealership first to sit on a Bonnie to see if it feels as good as it looks.

Doctor Discotheque wrote:Nope, the M50 is the one with the Bobbed rear fender. The C50 has a full fender.

Lol oops, you're right, I read that one wrong! I'm just gonna blame it on being sick for the last three days and reading/responding to it while sick...
But yeah, great bike, I have ridden a Sporty 883 and honestly I wasn't impressed... Granted it was a Hugger, so I hit the ground a lot on it, but even with performance I wasn't too impressed.

Oh, and the Triumph is the classic brit bike, can't go wrong... lol
Wrider

No problem Wrider. As far as the 883 goes, the two big selling points for me are the ease of acquisition and the ease of upgrading. I live in Kansas City and there is a Harley plant in town. Due to the proximity of the plant and the large number of motorcyclists in KC, there are always Sportsters for sale in the $3-5k range. Buying a bike at that price means I can have it paid off in a year and move on to a Dyna Glide and pass the Sportster on to my wife or some other beginner.
As far as Triumph goes, I want one bad, but they are seldom available used in my area and new are a little high. My goal is to spend under $9k, so a Triumph is cutting it close.

Of course, it's all moot until I take my class the first week of April.

(P.S. The Harley dealerships here are super competitive and put on great tax return sales in March/April.)

Doctor Discotheque wrote:No problem Wrider. As far as the 883 goes, the two big selling points for me are the ease of acquisition and the ease of upgrading. I live in Kansas City and there is a Harley plant in town. Due to the proximity of the plant and the large number of motorcyclists in KC, there are always Sportsters for sale in the $3-5k range. Buying a bike at that price means I can have it paid off in a year and move on to a Dyna Glide and pass the Sportster on to my wife or some other beginner.
As far as Triumph goes, I want one bad, but they are seldom available used in my area and new are a little high. My goal is to spend under $9k, so a Triumph is cutting it close.

Of course, it's all moot until I take my class the first week of April.

(P.S. The Harley dealerships here are super competitive and put on great tax return sales in March/April.)

If your goal is to move up to a Dyna in a year and pass on whatever bike you are getting, by all means get the sportster. Especially if there are so many in your area, picking one up that cheap doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Oddly enough, there's another benefit to the Sportster: Tubeless tires. As a solo commuter motorcyclist, being able to plug a tire instead of patching is a small comfort. Since the Dyna is almost surely two or so years away, getting used to a Harley is probably my best bet.

(I'm trying very hard to not skip to the 1200 Nightster, but I have self control. Maybe.)

Go to some dealers and sit on the bikes. Get the one that fells right. I went to dealers every weekend for about 2 months till I made up my mind. I picked the VStar Custom for its light lbs, 4.2 gal tank, looks, and a good hagle price from the dealer. Honda had signs on every bike saying "do not sit on bikes", so I never went back to that dealer.

my opinion for anyone interested in a cruiser type is start with a used Vulcan 500 for a great 1st bike that can last far more than a year if you choose and then get a nicer bike after you already made the common newbie errors on a used/cheap bike, instead of the new/expensive bike.

BTW- I ride a Vulcan 500 and plan on keeping it for several years. If I was 6 ft tall or was going to start touring then I'd look at a bigger bike early on. Otherwise don't tour on year 1 just practice with single or group fun runs. touring bikes are just too heavy for new riders to handle safely.

Are you looking at new or used? Is cost a factor?

Used makes a difference because prior to '04 the Sportsters did not have a rubber mounted engine, and many complained of excessive engine vibration on the '03 and earlier Sportys. Also, Sportsters did not come with Fuel Injection until '07.

Me personally, I went with a V-star 650 Classic used, because price was a huge factor. I liked the looks of the Custom better, but I got a great deal on an '01 Classic.

With a bigger budget I would have gotten an '04 or newer Sportster 883C or 1200C (I need the forward controls for my long legs). A close second to the Sportster for me was the Suzuki C50, and M50. I like the bobbed fender look, but the M50 to me looked a little weird with that gigantic rear fender, so I was hunting really hard for a C50.

I notice you didn't mention the Kawasaki Vulcan 900. This also a nice fuel injected bike. The Custom shares the same styling as the V-star Customs, but it's fuel injected and liquid cooled.

Off your list though, for me personally I'd get the Sportster 883, but I'd get the Custom with the forward controls.

For you though it's really about what you feel comfortable riding on. I test drove a lot of bikes before I started narrowing my choices, and you should do the same if you can.