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and am quite attracted to it. A fatboy. But in HD terms I am alomost a complete beginner having owned an old iron head sportster maybe 15 years back but thats all. Anyone here who rides HD and can give advice? Are there any HD forums like this forum - the HOG ones are membership only.

lazarus wrote: Anyone here who rides HD and can give advice? Are there any HD forums like this forum - the HOG ones are membership only.

I rode an 883 sportster. Very vibey. I took the side panels off and it had massey ferguson stamped on the inside

blinkey501 wrote:

lazarus wrote: Anyone here who rides HD and can give advice? Are there any HD forums like this forum - the HOG ones are membership only.

I rode an 883 sportster. Very vibey. I took the side panels off and it had massey ferguson stamped on the inside

You've ridden one and you admit to it!

Have you no shame?!

D-Rider wrote:

blinkey501 wrote:

lazarus wrote: Anyone here who rides HD and can give advice? Are there any HD forums like this forum - the HOG ones are membership only.

I rode an 883 sportster. Very vibey. I took the side panels off and it had massey ferguson stamped on the inside

You've ridden one and you admit to it!

Have you no shame?!

Well someone took my kids as randsome...... I nearly said take the kids but decided I am quite fond of them.

D-Rider wrote:

blinkey501 wrote:

lazarus wrote: Anyone here who rides HD and can give advice? Are there any HD forums like this forum - the HOG ones are membership only.

I rode an 883 sportster. Very vibey. I took the side panels off and it had massey ferguson stamped on the inside

You've ridden one and you admit to it!

Have you no shame?!

I expected all the usual comments but TBH the bike was quite good. The way the big engine ( its 1700cc) pulls at slow speeds is impressive, and the balancer shaft in the softail engine means that it vibrates less than my GS. No white finger which is something I suffer from. And most surprising of all it corners quite decently provided that is, you dont exceed 25 deg of lean. I never normally touch down the pegs on the GS. In fact I cant remem,ber ever doing so. But the first roundabout on the fat boy touched down the footboards. Real hard core!


Sure its heavy and not a bike I would dream of using long distance. But then in my dotage I rarely do long distance - thats what the cars are for. I dont ride that fast. Nor do I take pillions. My bike is for pottering maybe 2000 or 3000 miles a year.

Only two things are putting me off. First is the silly prices. The second, daft though it sounds, is the apalling american marketing bullsh1t you get with any brochure, price list etc. The bikes better than the company.

P.S. Where would I buy a set of those tassels you put at the end of the bars?

lazarus wrote:
Only two things are putting me off. First is the silly prices. The second, daft though it sounds, is the apalling american marketing bullsh1t you get with any brochure, price list etc. The bikes better than the company.

P.S. Where would I buy a set of those tassels you put at the end of the bars?

How about a Victory Boardwalk instead then if you're not sold on the HD lifestyle?
See Pete for tassels, he handles the Blue Oyster Bar clothing section.

They are ok on American freeways

Friend had one - he rode it like a mad bastard - he scuffed all sorts as they do not have much lean....

They may be ok but - you would end up buying a leather waist coat and talking about people called BRO

FAR BETTER OPTIONS IMHO

I can see the appeal in this one, I love the look of Harleys but not all the crap that goes with them ( righthousness and firing evry other county,grounding out ect )
I test rode a Buell,that was weird but almost as fiesty as a Falco,easy to loft it but just a bit to weird in handling and braking terms.
A V Rod or a special built to to my choice with bits that handle/stop ect... yes please
Aologies for dyslexic spellings

The bikes themselves aren't bad for what they are. But they're nowhere near as valuable as they're made out to be. They're nothing special in any sense. If you're in to fashion and all that, then fair enough, but for over all handling, reliability, servicing and spares.. Buy a Jap version. They're much more refined, but don't have that infamous badge stuck on the side.

Ask yourself. Is it the bike, or the badge? If it's the bike, head over to other dealers and try out some of their products. The only down side to the Jap cruiser market is depreciation. HD tend to keep their value reasonably well.

(Side note trivia; HD developed the 883 to keep up with Triumph's 500 Daytona. The fact it was heavier and handled crap didn't stop HD calling it the 'Sportster'.)

Sheebs will tell you there's nothing wrong with owning a Harley.. (and she has left sportsbikes looking rather pathetic at times.) Have a chat with her

Many years ago I nearly bought a Fat Boy from the dealer in Hockliffe in Bedfordshire, I think that's where it was. I would have had one too if they'd not stuffed me around with availability. In the end I used the money as a deposit on a house, I kid you not.

I've ridden a few HD's over the years, mostly hire bike while on holiday. Rode from Miami to the bottom of the Florida Keys and back in a day once on this.



Was great fun to ride, wouldn't go round a even a mild corner due to the limited ground clearance and I did get some looks when I took it back with the running boards all scraped to hell. Perfect for a long straight cruise in comfort. Not surprisingly it was very quick off the mark due to all the torque, but ran out of guts pretty quickly. Given woefully low speed limits in the US that's hardly an issue over there though.

Toured the mountains around Cape Town on one of these.



Hired it from a mental Dutch guy who would not under any circumstances allow me to take the very new V-Rod they'd just had delivered.

The forward footpegs were high enough to allow a reasonable amount of lean before touching down and by taking the weight off the peg and let it fold up you can get it to go far enough to get the exhaust on the deck (I could tell that the Dutch guy was secretly impressed with this when I returned it).

I did a good few miles over a weekend on this and it was comfortable, quick, stopped pretty well and sort of handled. If I had to buy one, this would have been it.

My neighbour in Melbourne has some old low thing that is appalling to ride, forward footpegs, cranked forward bars, very low, too long, it's horrible. Kills my back, impossible to corner at anything other than walking pace and just generally shit.

IMO they are too much money for not enough bike, but each to his own.

At least you can command top re-sale prices and the more H-D accessories you chuck on them the more they seem to be worth.

I'd recommend trying as many different models as poss before making a decision as they are surprisingly different. As mentioned Victory is an option as is Indian, but their re-sale value might not be as lucrative.

The Jap alternatives are better all round, but that's not the point with this type of bike, so don't quite cut it IMO.

randomsquid wrote:

lazarus wrote:
Only two things are putting me off. First is the silly prices. The second, daft though it sounds, is the apalling american marketing bullsh1t you get with any brochure, price list etc. The bikes better than the company.

P.S. Where would I buy a set of those tassels you put at the end of the bars?

How about a Victory Boardwalk instead then if you're not sold on the HD lifestyle?
See Pete for tassels, he handles the Blue Oyster Bar clothing section.

If you want a cruiser there are plenty of good Jap ones to choose from, better prices for bikes and spares, and none of the bullshit. And you can still nod at other bikers instead of riding past looking grimly ahead.

If you really fancy a cruiser, but don't want to follow the Harley herd, how about a MotoGuzzi California (the new 1400), or Ducati Diavel? Far more exclusive, and 'different'.

I'd go for a Guzzi myself.