Total Motorcycle Community Forums

thx for the responses

i am looking into now the sportster, the honda shadow, and the vulcan 500

i love the appearances of these especially the honda

now with the fact of me being new to the bikers world, aside from price, what should i look for in the specs? what i personally am wanting a bike for is; to cruise the open rode with the nice breeze all around, which is why i want a cruiser as opposed to a sportbike

what specifications should i be looking for, it is hard to be specific on what i am asking because i lack the knowledge

but its ok, i just checked out, an idiots guide to motorcycles

If you want to do some cruising then stay away from the Sportster. That thing will rattle your fillings loose! It was Harely's "sport" bike when they released it back in the 50's and it hasn't changed much since. They started rubber mounting the engine a couple years ago but I don't think it helped. I had an '01 and even with padded gloves it was very fatiguing to ride. Had the forward control and windshield too so it was comfortable for sure, until you started it up.

Ultimately the best bike is whatever is best for you. If you like it, then that's the best bike. Have fun!

iflybricks wrote:If you want to do some cruising then stay away from the Sportster. That thing will rattle your fillings loose! It was Harely's "sport" bike when they released it back in the 50's and it hasn't changed much since.

Not true at all. Yes they WERE known for a lot of vibration, but it's not really that bad and the rubber mounted engines have dealt with that problem. Further, it's now fuel injected.

They started rubber mounting the engine a couple years ago but I don't think it helped. I had an '01 and even with padded gloves it was very fatiguing to ride. Had the forward control and windshield too so it was comfortable for sure, until you started it up.

Well I have actually ridden a few Sportsters, both the 883 and 1200, and both before and after the rubber mounted engines, and before and after fuel injection. Fuel injection is nice, but not that big of a deal. However, the engines before 2004 that were not rubber mounted do give the rider more vibration, but it's not nearly as bad as you describe. For the 2004 and after when the rubber mounted engines were used it's a fine bike. The only issue for long cruising is that some models still have the smaller 3.3 gal tank, and the Sportster is still using a 5 speed tranny while other H-D models have all gone to 6 speed. However, it should be noted many of the bikes from other makers that are comparable to the Sportster also only have a 5 speed tranny.

Metal_Militia, that's exactly what i wanted and the Honda Shadow 750 C2 does it good if you're not too big of a boy . The looks are great, *uh umm* Liquid Cooled, shaft driven and enough power, IMHO, to scoot my 164lbs around at 80mph on the HWY but I'm more of a backroads guy anyways. With w/e you chose, stay safe and have fun.

Metal_Militia wrote:...
now with the fact of me being new to the bikers world, aside from price, what should i look for in the specs? what i personally am wanting a bike for is; to cruise the open rode with the nice breeze all around, which is why i want a cruiser as opposed to a sportbike

what specifications should i be looking for, it is hard to be specific on what i am asking because i lack the knowledge

but its ok, i just checked out, an idiots guide to motorcycles

first of all, that's a pretty good book.

next, as far as what you should be looking for... i would look for a more standard sitting bike. for a cruiser i would look in the 500-800cc range. and then i would look for comfort. take a MSF class. from that you'll know how a bike "feels". then take that knowledge and go into a dealer and sit on every bike you can. find out which one fits you and feels the best. it might be a sportster or it might be a shadow. my father-in-law was looking to get a sportster two weeks ago, went and sat on one and then went to a dealer with all the metrics. sat on a few bikes and went home with a suzuki c50. it's what felt best for him.

hth