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you said water is probably something else to worry about on a honda 1100, yeayour right start worrying somewhere between 100,000-200,000 miles, untill then
ENJOY

For all you folks that are even remotely thinking about buying a Harley and are looking for a pretty sweet deal, go to your local Harley dealer and ponder over the 2008 (105th Anniversary Edition) Dyna Wide Glide. It is the last year that the Wide Glide will be made and there are a few left to be had new on the showroom floor. The dealers are willing to talk turkey with the new 09s hitting the floor. The Copper/Black color scheme looks nice as does the copper inlay on the saddle. The 96CI fuel injected V-Twin has some awesome torque and when paired with the 6-speed transmission, it is one sweet ride. You could wait for a year or two and probably let the initial owner take the depreciation hit but Wide Glides are not that easy to find used anyway and the 105th anniversary edition also being the last of the model line...probably going to hold it's value for awhile.

Sportsters are nice bikes for smaller framed guys (or gals) but I really didn't care for the riding position...plus I am FAR from "small framed". The seat seemed to be a bit too high for my liking. They've changed a lot since I owned my "Sporty" but I put thousands of fun miles on mine without a lick of problems. (And that was a 1980 XLH back in the days when Harley was owned by AMF).

I moved from the Sporty to a 1981 Superglide FXE. That was the poor-man's cruiser. Had the big 80-inch (shovelhead) on it and with a few minor mods, it became a fire-breathing beast!

Got out of biking for a few (almost 20) years after an unfavorable incident with a 4-wheeler but have recently purchased another bike...yup, you guessed it...another Harley. A 2007 Superglide Custom (FXDC). Just something about owning a Hog...once you own one, nothing else seems the same.

If your going for Harley get the 1200 for your money you will have more power than the 883,and resale will hold better. I use to have the 883 love the bike it handled great used it on LDR's, Rally's it never let me down I put almost 50K on it in less than 2 years but had to trade it in for a little bigger bike on account of what kind of riding I do. I regret not having it for around town. Now I do have a Honda also it is a ST1300 I have a harder time on the get go on the account that I am short however on the road it is an awesome bike and well worth every $. Good luck.

I believe I'm chiming in too late and think the original poster has already made his selection but if not heres my nickel's worth. Its a simple solution, RIDE BOTH BIKES!!! If your holdback is the liquid cooled vs air cooled consider this. When you bought your car did you get a pre 1979 VW Beetle? If not then you didn't use this same point when getting your 4 wheeled mode of transportation. Why use it to select a 2 wheeler. Honda has been using liquid cooled engines for many many years so I think they have perfected it. I have two Honda bikes and my last concern is the liquid cooled engines. My knowledge on the Sportster is limited to having a good friend that owns one. I can tell you this. I own 3 japanese bikes and his Sporty has been in the shop getting repairs more than all 3 of my bikes combined. He bought the bike off the showroom floor and has near 10,000 miles on it now, 2001 model. I've put 10,000 on one of my bikes this year alone! His biggest problem was three months after he bought it the rear wheel seized up. Turns out the wheel bearings were not greased at the factory. HD did replace the whole wheel assemble with no hassles. I have nothing against HD, maybe own one myself one day, who knows. Just know that at this time and point in my life I chose Honda/Kaw and all three have served my needs well.

JimHarvey, your right about the Harley this is why I have Harley and Honda but we may be adding to the stable we are thinking about a couple of KLR's for on/off roading so what's your input? anybody's input?

Jeez, this thread just refuses to die

Gummiente wrote:Jeez, this thread just refuses to die.

Yeah...it's the typical Ford vs. Chevy dilemma for bikes. Different folks have different opinions, substantiated or not. You know what they say about opinions...

To the original poster......... don't buy a 750 or 1100/1200 cc bike. You'll always be wishing you'd bought something bigger. Go with the Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda or Victory. Look at the 1300 cc bikes or bigger, cuz you'll wish, on down the line, that you had bought a bigger bike.

I bought a 1100 Aero, and after two weeks, wished I'd looked at more bike. After a year, finally bought the Victory Kingpin. Love the bike. Go for bigger...... it's always better!!!

kingpinman wrote:To the original poster......... don't buy a 750 or 1100/1200 cc bike. You'll always be wishing you'd bought something bigger. Go with the Suzuki, Yamaha, Honda or Victory.

Yo, kingy, you're way too late - check out his sig line, he bought a 1200 Sportster back in August '05.

This is an old thread, but thanks for keeping it alive.

Always a day late and dollar short............