Midlife crisis?

Strong Bad

I'm looking to get a jump on my midlife crisis that is a year and a half away. Holy hell that feels weird!

I'm putting my Mustang on the market and will use the $$$ to put down on a Harley. This is the one I'm eyeing since it's my first bike:

http://www.harley-davidson.com/PR/MOT/2006/06_template.asp?bmLocale=en_US&family=sportster&model=xl1200c&market=US&modelsection=gallery


What the hell! With gas prices going apeshit, this should cut my expenses and give some serious cruisin fun!

Any other bikers out there?

John

Drumingman

Are you married? If so is the wife going to ride with you?

Also, if this is your First Bike, Take a safe riding course with the MSF.

janmike

And at what age does MLC begin? Hell, I remember JFK and I am still waiting for it to happen.

beardog03

don`t get the sportster...
you will be very disapointed...go the extra mile and get the full sized one

I `ve been riding Harleys for thirty plus years ...trust me on this one

Drumingman

Got to agree with beardog on this one, I prefer dressers too.

BTW, Most Safety courses are offered by riders at local schools.

opus

I don't know. I've always been a sportster guy. Maybe it was the way I was raised:) As a young kid I grew up next to a young hoodlum:p who spent all day working on the damn thing and extolling the virtues of his yellow sporty. Kind of had a soft spot in my heart ever since.




Oh Yea, Welcome back dog:cool:

schwarcw

I've got two words: Gold Wing! I don't own it, my brother does. I chersih evey opportunity to ride that big beauty. I know a lot of the guys like the runble and noise of the fat boy bikes. But the Gold Wing is a smooth, quiet and powerful machine on the road. I enjoy the sound of the wind, not the engine on the open road.

dkg999

Not that the 1200 Sportsters are bad, escpecially with a set of S&S cams and the screaming eagle pipes, however make sure you look at the Dynaglides

beardog03

IMO... Sporty`s are great little bikes, but you will soon want more passing power when it`s needed, and there is not enough leg room to make a day ride comfortable..

They are great starter bikes, and for short little cruises around the town..
The older sporty`s were actually a litlle bigger size wise (not motor)

If you go for a test ride, take your time and put a good 20 min (at least) in the saddle before making your decision....the Dyna is just a bigger version...take her for a test putt also

Early B.

Had a Kawasaki Vulcan once upon a time. Loved it. Sold it and bought the wife some furniture.:(

MattN03

What kind of Mustang do you have? I have a 03 Mach 1.

Beekyman

One day I might be blessed with owning a Harley but for now I'm very happy riding my 2001 Suzuki Marauder VZ800 and busting my knuckles occasionally on my 1984 Honda Nighthawk CB650SC. Just get a bike you like and hit the roads...so far every biker I've met has been cool! It really dont matter in the long run...just hit the road and join another proud group of individuals!
Good Luck and by all means...attend the MSF course, its fun and you just may save your bacon!

Zen Dragon

janmike wrote:

And at what age does MLC begin? Hell, I remember JFK and I am still waiting for it to happen.

I figure it could be bad, hence the word crisis.

I've been trying to avert it by living in a minor state of crisis for the past 10 years.

Willow

Yeah when does MLC start ?
I'm not into bikes or sport cars. But again when does MLC start?

George Grand

Couple bottles of Viagra would probably be a lot cheaper and safer John.

Ricardo

Mid Life crisis...sounds familiar; I'm enjoying my "metric" bike.

Strong Bad

George Grand wrote:

Couple bottles of Viagra would probably be a lot cheaper and safer John.

No problem in that area my man!

The 1200 Custom was the first one that caught my eye in a certain price range. When I actually go to buy, it very well could be something bigger. I have some friends with Bikes and everytime we head down Ocean City Maryland in September for Bike Week, it kills me not to have one.

I'm single by the way. I'm the only factor in this choice.

I will say this, about 10 months ago i found a small lump growing on my arm. I finally got the balls up to head to the doctors. Later this month I go in for minor surgery to have it removed. The Dr is not 100% sure what it is, but he is confident it is a benign tumor since it doesn't hurt and hasn't grown any larger. Said it's not a cyst or a fatty tumor.

His first unsure impression and the way he said it got me scared! I sort of woke up and told myself it is time to really start living life and making the best of it.

It's game time!

John

Ricardo

John,

Hope everything goes ok with that surgery.

When you go shopping, don't forget to at least take a look to metric bikes; I initially thought of getting a Harley until I saw how much more bang for the buck you can get on a Suzuki, Yamaha or Kawasaky.

I might be flamed for this, but I see Harleys somewhat like Bose....not that they are not good...but they are way over priced for what they are. (Though I must agree that their resale value tends to be better than metrics)

Take a look at the Suzuki M109R...you might fall in love.

Demiurge

Get what you like! If you're on anything other than a Harley around here bike wise you'll get laughed off the road. Love them, and love the folks who ride them. It's a great hobby. Post the pics if you do get one. I'd reccomend finding a place that has a rental program before you decide to buy.

Demiurge

HTrookie wrote:

I might be flamed for this, but I see Harleys somewhat like Bose....not that they are not good...but they are way over priced for what they are. (Though I must agree that their resale value tends to be better than metrics.

Harley-Davidson is an institution around here. Part of the reason for the expense is that you're buying admission into an exclusive club that you can only be in if you own a Harley. It's not meant to be a value buy, despite the resale value they hold. If you don't have one you're not going to get the kinship and the feeling of community when you do. Riding around on a rice grinder isn't the same experience and you're missing out on a whole hell of a lot. Depends on what you want from riding.

Willow

Demiurge wrote:

I'd reccomend finding a place that has a rental program before you decide to buy.

You bring up a great point. I don't see how ( a tad off topic ) a car dealer expects you to make a decision on buying a 30K car with only testing it for 10-30 mins....come on now, I take longer thinking about what chocolate bar I'm gonna buy. But again very good point Demiurge.

Ricardo

Demiurge wrote:

If you're on anything other than a Harley around here bike wise you'll get laughed off the road.

Demi,

I bought a bike because I like riding; bought a Suzuki because I thought it gave me more for my money. I ride with some Harley owners, and none laugh at my bike. I can tell you also that when we park the bikes any place, more people stop to drool over my bike than any of the Harleys.....we all laugh together at this.


Oh, yes, there are some people riding Harleys (note I did not say "riders") that look away when I get close to them in a stop light, like if I was from another planet. These are normally called "posers"; they don't "ride" their bikes; just use them to get to the close by bar and park them; they are also the ones with very loud pipes that feel the need to make them heard at every stop light.

bobman1235

Pff, save yourself some aggrivation and stay away from Hardly Ablesons. It's funny how we mock Bose's marketing machine when Harley is agruably the biggest marketing machine of all time. Pay 3x as much for a bike that is guaranteed to develop an oil leak and require extreme amounts of maintenance every year, not to mention is horribly inefficient, just because it makes you more of a man, and is an American machine. The Japanese make some GREAT cruisers for way less, and you'll never have a problem with them. And if the sound is what you're after, buy some pipes

(Didn't mean to offend the Harley guys out there - I know lots of great Harley guys, and hell, ride what you like. Just my opinion on them, YMMV.).

EDIT - Why does owning a particular brand grant you admission into this secret club? I'd say a comeraderie exists among most bikers, maybe not among the ricer squids per-se, but non-Harley cruiser guys.

Ricardo

Demiurge wrote:

Harley-Davidson is an institution around here. Part of the reason for the expense is that you're buying admission into an exclusive club that you can only be in if you own a Harley. It's not meant to be a value buy, despite the resale value they hold. If you don't have one you're not going to get the kinship and the feeling of community when you do. Riding around on a rice grinder isn't the same experience and you're missing out on a whole hell of a lot. Depends on what you want from riding.

Just confirming my thoughts...though not all harley owners are like that. I only disagree with the comment on the rice grinder; the riding experience won't be different whatever bike you ride, and that's what most riders are for...just ride and enjoy.

Strong Bad

Thanks for the suggestions guys. My friends are not exclusive to Harley. One has a Harley, another a Honda and another a Yamaha. When we hit Bike Week, it was just people with bikes loving life. No non-Harley bashing going on from what I saw the last 3 years.

As a matter of fact, I was thinking on going to the Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha end of the spectrum to see what thay have to offer. I bet the $9k I would spend on that 1200 Custom would go alot farther in the metrics.

HTRookie, what did yours run if you don't mind me asking. Thats a sweet looking ride. Great look to it! Thats my style!

John

Ricardo

john d. strong wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions guys. My friends are not exclusive to Harley. One has a Harley, another a Honda and another a Yamaha. When we hit Bike Week, it was just people with bikes loving life. No non-Harley bashing going on from what I saw the last 3 years.

As a matter of fact, I was thinking on going to the Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha end of the spectrum to see what thay have to offer. I bet the $9k I would spend on that 1200 Custom would go alot farther in the metrics.

HTRookie, what did yours run if you don't mind me asking. Thats a sweet looking ride. Great look to it! Thats my style!

John

John,

Mine is a C50 (805cc); has enough power to cruise at 75-80 MPH on highways and still have enough upwards leeway. Cruising back roads I have no problem keeping up with 1800cc bikes. MSRP is around $6800, but if you shop around you can get it for $6000 including tax and everything.

I spent another grand on the backrest, saddlebags, crash bar and lightbar.

Edit: Oh, and it has FI and shaft drive, which IMO gives a lot of peace of mind.

Demiurge

Whoa!

In an event to answer all posters I will post my thoughts here....

I'm biased as all hell. I live in Milwaukee, grew up blocks from the Harley world headquarters, and like I said -- it's an instutution around here. That loud annoying sound you all hear is music in this city, and this state for that matter. Most are respectful as well, which is more than I can say for a lot of other groups, which being a Harley owner is...it's a group. That's the club mentality I was referring to.

Watching hundreds of thousands of Harleys roll through our city for the 90th, 95th, and 100th was amazing, and there were no incidents, almost unheard of for any event of that size.

It is definitely an American institution and there's a mystique about it that you don't get with the other brands because they ARE different. That doesn't make Harley better than any other bike nor does it make it worse, but you're just not getting it elsewhere.

I can't really comment what the climate is like in Balitomore, but I can't imagine that it's much different than here when you roll up to a HARLEY rally with a Suzuki. It's just different, that's all. No knock on owners of other brands. It's kind of like how Club Polk isn't a club for Klipsh owners -- same mentality there.

As far as quality, that was a bigger issue on the bikes made in the 80s, they had a huge problem with some of their bikes back then. That's definitely not the case today.

I'll close with this -- there's a reason that all these other manufacturers are trying to clone the original. They want it to look like a Harley, because they're attractive to the buyer. They're also trying to mimic the feel and sound, which no manufacturer has been able to do. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that's what a lot of these companies are trying to do.

Love them or hate them -- they're not going away. No other company has been able to form such a following nor offer the camaraderie that comes with being a member of this group.

Does this Suzuki or Honda make things like this happen?

Ricardo

Demi,

That's fine; everything's cool. I won't take more of your time..so that you can go post some more on the Babe's thread

Skynut

I have to totally agree with Demi.
I got my first Sportster when I was 21. I had the chance to get a lowrider at that time but I didn't want to spend the extra grand so I got the sporty. I must admit that I really regretted not getting the lowrider.
Later I built my a 1980 Shovelhead and I have been on it ever since. (Well not much in the last couple of years for some reason.)

In my opnion having had both I say you need to figure out what kind of riding you want to do most.
My sporty was real nimble and fun to ride for shorter trips.
My shovel is hella powerful and fun to ride on longer trips.
If I had both I would probably ride the sporty around the coast and on windy mountain roads while the shovel is great for out on the open road.

Either way go for the Harley, there is just no way you can get the same feel and experience on one of those imitator bikes.

shack

Demiurge wrote:

Does this Suzuki or Honda make things like this happen?

Actually, Honda does.

http://www.motosavvy.com/fusebox/dsp_1col.cfm?page_id=25

Demiurge

shack wrote:

Actually, Honda does.

http://www.motosavvy.com/fusebox/dsp_1col.cfm?page_id=25

Not even close....


Nice effort!