Good morning all. I will be making my first Motorcycle purchase in the next few weeks to a month. After all my options I have decided that the harley-Davidson sportster iron 883 is the bike I am going to purchase. This will be my first motorcycle I am ever purchasing. I am a beginner and have only rode a r6 a few times. If someone with riding experience has any input please provide, i want to know if this be a good first bike. I asked the dealer and they hit me with the "Everyone wants to upgrade in the first 6 months to a year." yay or nay? Thanks.

 

 

Since you asked for BIKE advice, Sportsters that are stock or upgraded properly are good bikes but are top heavy in comparison to other HD's. If you look at how many used ones are around, it's because people do tend to move to a bigger, easier riding bike after a short time. If the plan is to just ride around locally, go for the Sportster. Anything more than that, I'd say buy a Dyna. The weight is down low and is just an easier bike to ride smoothly. There's tons of them used too. If you want to stay American and want to look at something that is also easier to ride and has decent used prices, you can look at Victory 8 Balls. Lots of power, great chassis and great brakes.

my advise would be not to buy an overpriced piece of crap. every harley owner i know is always working on their bike. i mean if you like to wrench then be my guest, but i personally like to ride more than wrench.

Lol, says the guy who knows little about Harleys. This may have been true 20 years ago but not today. I've never had any issues and I don't know of any off my friends ever having any either. And many of these guys put serious mileage on their bikes every year, 20k +.

The only Sportster I would own.  But sadly discontinued.

 

No matter what you do, take a riders Ed Course, not only will you learn a lot, you will also get a discount on insurance. As far as buying new, that's just fine but I would not discount looking into a used Sportster if you really want to ride a Sportster. Many find, especially the 883 to upgrade to a large bike. some will call them a girls bike, they aren't, they are the most nimble of the HD's, also wile HD's aren't known for HP they are a torque bike, and the Sportsters with that said have the best Power to Weight ration, they also have the highest center of gravity.  Many time you can find a great condition, low mileage Sporty on the cheap.

 

Actually, if I was looking to get a first HD and was looking for the best bag for the buck, I'd look at a used Dyna, good power, low center of gravity and handle very well for the type of bike it is. If you cared to go a little bigger and along the lines of one of the HD's that I ride, well there is a FL for sale here on the Forum that's something to look at, and probably close to the price range you were looking for, maybe a few bucks more, but I'll say you WONT outgrow that bike as long as you are interested in HD's.

 

As far as people mentioning wrenching vs. riding, It's basically BS these day with how they are built, any bike requires more attention than you 4 wheel car or truck plain and simple, and a properly maintained HD will be a bike you can pass down to your kids 20-30-40-50 years or more.

Lol, says the guy who knows little about Harleys. This may have been true 20 years ago but not today. I've never had any issues and I don't know of any off my friends ever having any either. And many of these guys put serious mileage on their bikes every year, 20k +.

 

I laugh also, My old bikes are still on the road from years past, problem is the only one I still have is my 83 Shovel in addition to my 08 Ultra. but the list of sales I should have never done are, 47 Knuck, 50 Pan, 68 and 70 Trumpet Chops, 74 chopped Sporty, and all of them should still be running strong as the folks who bought them were Harley people before it became a fad. Damn you for making me think about what I had and gotten rid of.   lol

 

Another thing, My 83 Shovel don't leak and yes she had fluids in her.. ROFLMAO

The only Sportster I would own.  But sadly discontinued.

 

 

Yea, it's too bad that didn't stay around, finally a HD you could wear the pussy strips off the tires with.

Yea, it's too bad that didn't stay around, finally a HD you could wear the pussy strips off the tires with.

 

Wait, what? They have a whole race series built around them! Da fok?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most guys find that the sportster is too small within a few months, or weeks even, but you also need to have a comfort factor being an inexperienced rider. If sportster is whatk you decide on definitely get the 1200 and if you can afford cash buy used because you probably won't keep it long. Personally I would suggest a Softail. There are various models and they are small enough to be agile and not overwhelming yet big enough that you may never feel you need bigger. I am 5'7 and 190 lbs and my Softail fits me perfectly. I have ridden the bigger bikes many times and while i will say that it only takes a few minutes to get used to the larger size i would never recommend as a starter bike. As for reliability, I recently sold my 91 Softail that I bought used in 93 and I did have to put a starter in it once.

In my experience you will want to upgrade to the 1200 very quickly, but there is no end you will always want to upgrade to more power thats the nature of the bug:) i think you should at least get the sportser 1200