BIKER

Hello I,m 46 and about 6.0 tall and about 200 would this bike be a good bike for me . I plan on Rideing open road mostly and do a little touring and have never rode a bike before. Thanks Ron

FatBoyRider

Ron, welcome to "BikerForums"

The new 04 Sportsters have been improved greatly over past models....bigger gas tanks, rubber mounted motors (less vibration)....etc.
They are fine bikes for sure. If you have a MC license you can rent Harley's from some dealers for a day to try them out. If I were you I would do that first. Only you know for sure what you want, or need in a bike. It would be hard for me to tell you what to do.
The Sportys are a great bike and are a lot less expensive than the rest of the Harley line up. Also a couple of models that are a bargain for what you get are the Dyna Super Glide, and the Electra Glide "Standard"

good luck...

FBR

Junkyard

If you're interested in a Sportster, I would strongly recommend a 1200 over the 883. MSRP for an 883 Custom is about $7600.00. For about $900.00 more, you could get a 1200 Roadster. Based on your size, and the fact that you want to do some touring, a 1200 would be a much wiser choice. Also, since the new Sportsters have a new frame and rubber mounted engines, this added 50 lbs to the weight of the bike. I think with the added weight, and an 883 engine, you'll be disappointed in the power department. If you want to read a good reveiw on the 1200 Custom, and 1200 Roadster, check out the April '04 issue of Rider magazine. Have fun shopping, and good luck.

SoberBiker

Just my .02 I have to say that a person of your size and wieght should look into the bigger bikes for touring and all round comfortability. I am 6'-3" and about 230 lbs and unless I was just gonna go round town, wouldn't even consider a sporty for what you want to do. I understand ecomomics and all...but you will be tradin off for a bigger bike in 6 months or less...Guaranteed!

If you just want a bike to learn on, get yourself a used jap bike and don't worry bout it. You can make all your beginner mistakes on that and not have to woory bout the repair bill...and you will make mistakes. A good way to minimize those is to take the MSF course. Higly recomended to do anyway, cause they teach you how to drive defensively...and that is invalueable! It's not quite as easy to survive out there as it looks

Like I said...just my .02. Do what ya have to do, but just remember...any and all information is only as good as the use ya give it.

fatster

I rode a 04 sportster today and I am 5' 11" and I thought that it rode very nice. The center of gravity is lower and they handle well. The 04's have the high flow heads with bigger valves and the cam seems better than past stock models. I would look at the price between the 883 and the 1200 like mentioned above because if you want to buy new then you dont want a 883. We have alot of people buy older evo sporties and convert them due to its cheaper to buy a used 883 and convert it to a 1200. But with the 04 models I think that the 1200 would be the wiser choice due to performance improvments made at the factory. I am a sportster person and would never own anything else and put about 30 to 40 thousand a year on my bike. But if you are doing alot of touring I would test out dresser and roadking models.

mark47

I'm a little older but about the same size as you. I purchased a new 03 1200 Sportster last year. Loved the bike but sold it in November of 03 and got a 04 Road King. Bike was great around town but not good, for me, for touring. I know the 04 sportster is a much better ride but the sportster turned out to be to small a bike for me. I had not ridden for over 20 years so I felt that I was starting over. Took the MSF course. Sportster is a great bike, would highly recommed that you strongly consider the 1200 if you really want the sportster model.

Good luck and ride safe!

Mongo

I think one of the greatest programs I've heard of is at one of the local dealers here on the East coast. They guarantee that if you buy a Sportster and have it up to one year, you can bring it back to the dealership and get another bike and they will give you what you paid (and what you've paid off) in return to put down on another bike.

They say they have tons of people that 'get into harleys' that way.

mark47

Hi Mongo,never heard of that program. Guess that these forum's are a good oulet to discover new information.

Tom

sure is kinda scary to know what the mark up is.
must be real high if they can do this,,,,,
but what an interesting concept.
never heard of it either, is it just a local Dealer offering this, ?
Bet that dealer sells a ton of bikes

Mongo

I've only heard of this kinda deal at this particular dealer - and yes...they move more bikes than I've seen anywhere. Last July they moved around 350 bikes. At any one point, they boast that they have over 300 bikes in stock, which is always true. The usually have about 80-100 on the floor and a couple hundred more in a warehouse on the dealers property. Impressive place, they even have a good restaurant.