Simple Question, I own 2 Japanese Bikes that i'm keeping, I just want a

B

Bart S

New member
Harley Davidson as a show bike.? I own 2 Japanese Bikes I plan on keeping, a sport bike and a cruiser, that I plan on riding on long, comfortable road trips.
I want to buy a Harley Davidson 1200 Sportster, JUST as a show bike, as a bike I can show off, impress other HD Riders and for short road trips. I am not planning much miles on it
My Question:
Should I spend big money on a newer model Sportster, or should I find the cheapest one I can find?
I hate vibration, what year did the Sportster come out with the rubber engine mounts?
Did the rubber engine mounts correct the vibration issue, or do the new model Sportsters sill have vibration?
PLEASE I just want a simple answer, not a personal insult!
rangerclaude, I have been riding bikes for a long time, in the past I did ride a 1200 HD Sportster, IT DID NOT IMPRESS ME, it was about equal in power as a Yamaha 650 V Star,
and I can ride ANY BIKE better than you and the majority of riders out there, I show people up all the time by showing them I can ride the bike they own better than they could ride it!, Just a few weeks ago I rode a friends V Strom 650 and i was riding wheelies on it and he said "dude! I never knew that bike could do a wheelie"
I get fustrated getting behind another rider on a curvey highway and watching him slow down for a curve thinking to myself "what a loser, I can ride that bike better than him"
so you talk about taking curves at 60 -70 mph with a harley, well I can do it at 90 mph on the same bike, IF it was capable of going that fast!
 
Bart, you don't need a sportster you need therapy. Please buy a HD and then go down to the nearest biker hangout and try to impress people. You will get your butt kicked into next week and maybe then you will wake up to yourself and stop being such a tool.
I know you didn't want insults but you are so full of crap, I just can't help myself (and its fun insulting idiots such as yourself)
 
Buy the cheapest one you can find because your not going to impress anyone.People know a loser when they see one.It wouldn't matter if you pulled up on a 24 carat gold plated chopper.You can gold plate a turd but it's still just a turd when your done.
 
Bart, you sure are a glutton for punishment! You keep sticking your neck out and people keep chopping it off. My hat's off to you because I don't think I'd have the gonads to keep asking for it the way you do.

Not absolutely certain, but I think 2004 was the first year for the rubber mountson the Sportster. I may not be right on the money, but I'm pretty close. I've never ridden a rubber mounted Sportster, but I have the old solidly mounted Sportys and both on the bigger bikes. As you know, the old bikes vibrated like a stamp mill and the Sportsters were worse, maybe because the smaller engine turned faster at the same road speed. If the new Sportster rubber mounting is anywhere as effective as on the big bikes, that means it will be smooth as silk. The engine may be bouncing around like a hyperactive child, but no where else will you feel any vibration. HD engineers did a great job and they are much more effective than on any other vibration controlled bike I've owned or ridden. That includes my 6 cylinder Kaw, rubber mounted KZ 1100 Kaw and balancer shaft Hondamatic 400 and previously owned Suzuki 250 twin, Intruder and 850 Yamaha triple with rubber mounts. Also more effective than Norton's old Isolastic system which was rather ingenious back in the '70s.

I hope your friend ok'ed your wheelie stunt on his bike because if you did that on one of mine, you'd better hope you wrecked it and died in the crash because that would be a more pleasant death than the one I'd give you. I'm not insulting you, just saying that I don't abuse my bikes. I guess that's why I have no problem getting over 100,000 miles out of them.

As far as you getting frustrated behind someone, you may want to temper your "loser" comment. I'm a compenent rider and I've dragged the pegs on my full dress KZ1000 shaft on several occasions, so I do know how to go around a corner. However, my 6 cylinder Kaw Voyager weighs 960 lbs with a full tank of gas and no luggage, rider or anything else. It's great on open roads, but it takes a heck of a lot of effort and restraint when hurtling down a Colorado mountain road grossing upwards of 1200 lbs. Yes, even Harleys will pass me but I have three kids and I'd rather be a bit late than DOA. When you have kids of your own, you'll probably adjust your riding methods as well (or at least you better unless you want to orphan them.) And I bet if you were to ride my Voyager on mountainous 2-lane roads, you wouldn't set the world on fire either.

One final thing to consider Bart. I know from experience that when you're hauling butt around corners, that's all you can afford to concentrate on. If you don't, you end up as a statistic. Me? I like to see the country. You and I could ride the same curvy road, you'd get there way ahead of me but you'd be hard pressed to tell me anything about the countryside you just rode through. You could tell me all about the curves, but little else beyond the edge of the pavement. In short, very seldom is it my riding skills or my bike that limits my speed on corners, it's my own desire to see something other than the pavement.
 
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