I know there are other threads on this, and as I thought, "who cares what I think," it dawned on me that there are others in my situation who might find an objective report useful. if not, that's OK too.
I've been riding since 1973, never rode a cruiser of any kind, much less an HD. After a few years of not riding, when I got back into it, I was sure I'd get a Harley, made in America, they're cool, etc.. went shopping - too much $$, all the old worries about reliability (they DID have probs in the 80's for sure - I remember seeing them broken down by the side of the road all the time). The kicker was, the salesman told me how life-changing it would be to own a Harley, that it would give me my identity. I thought, wow, if that were the case, I really must have more serious issues.. and walked out, bought a Suzuki DL650, then my ST.
OK, enough of that.
Nonetheless, the intrigue and curiosity remained. I figured renting one would answer a lot of questions, and it did. Where I live, no rentals. Went to CA to visit one of our daughters, and had the chance to rent a bike instead of a car for the weekend, so we rented from Vacaville (CA) HD, which treated us great, and the woman there (Terri Biron) is gorgeous btw and a real pro - so kudos to a good dealer.
My take on the Harley, again FWIW:
fit and finish: really nice. good paint, chrome obviously
luggage: excellent, easy to use and good latches, etc.
seating position: THIS took getting used to. my back was bowed for two reasons, the feet-forward thing, and the windshield edge went right across my vision, so I either had to slouch or sit too tall like a prairie dog. (of course the windshield could be modified). The feet forward thing started to feel less weird, but I still felt less secure w/o me feet under me on the pegs. It would take time for me to really feel integrated with the bike. again, I guess if I had grown up riding cruisers, no prob. It was interesting at the shop watching their guys ride bikes to test or move to the garage area. Pinpoint U-turns, etc., no sweat. Practice makes perfect.
handling: it would take more time for me to trust how the weight falls into turns. I felt that over time I'd like it more and more, and esp at low speeds. high speed sweepers felt less secure, the rear end was squirrely.
suspension: this was a really weak area. anyone who doesn't like the ST's suspension should ride an Electraglide. mushy and clunky. literally clunky over minimal obstacles. and they pumped up the air shock for two-up first. still not good.
vibration: even tho I knew they vibrate at idle, wow, do they vibrate at idle. and NO they do not smooth out at speed. They smooth out quite a bit but never really smooth out. once rolling it was livable tho.
noise: even with stock pipes, too loud. I like that my ST is basically silent at speed (with ear plugs, yes...I hear some wind noise but not muffler noise).
the rental experience was very good. nice dealership. and overall yes, I dug the bike a lot, and probably would have liked it more and more. my bottom line, curiosity has been answered, no way would I swap it for my ST.. makes me now want to see how a Wing stacks up. and my SO was so-so on the Harley - she liked the comfort, not the noise, etc..
thanks for listening -
I've been riding since 1973, never rode a cruiser of any kind, much less an HD. After a few years of not riding, when I got back into it, I was sure I'd get a Harley, made in America, they're cool, etc.. went shopping - too much $$, all the old worries about reliability (they DID have probs in the 80's for sure - I remember seeing them broken down by the side of the road all the time). The kicker was, the salesman told me how life-changing it would be to own a Harley, that it would give me my identity. I thought, wow, if that were the case, I really must have more serious issues.. and walked out, bought a Suzuki DL650, then my ST.
OK, enough of that.
Nonetheless, the intrigue and curiosity remained. I figured renting one would answer a lot of questions, and it did. Where I live, no rentals. Went to CA to visit one of our daughters, and had the chance to rent a bike instead of a car for the weekend, so we rented from Vacaville (CA) HD, which treated us great, and the woman there (Terri Biron) is gorgeous btw and a real pro - so kudos to a good dealer.
My take on the Harley, again FWIW:
fit and finish: really nice. good paint, chrome obviously
luggage: excellent, easy to use and good latches, etc.
seating position: THIS took getting used to. my back was bowed for two reasons, the feet-forward thing, and the windshield edge went right across my vision, so I either had to slouch or sit too tall like a prairie dog. (of course the windshield could be modified). The feet forward thing started to feel less weird, but I still felt less secure w/o me feet under me on the pegs. It would take time for me to really feel integrated with the bike. again, I guess if I had grown up riding cruisers, no prob. It was interesting at the shop watching their guys ride bikes to test or move to the garage area. Pinpoint U-turns, etc., no sweat. Practice makes perfect.
handling: it would take more time for me to trust how the weight falls into turns. I felt that over time I'd like it more and more, and esp at low speeds. high speed sweepers felt less secure, the rear end was squirrely.
suspension: this was a really weak area. anyone who doesn't like the ST's suspension should ride an Electraglide. mushy and clunky. literally clunky over minimal obstacles. and they pumped up the air shock for two-up first. still not good.
vibration: even tho I knew they vibrate at idle, wow, do they vibrate at idle. and NO they do not smooth out at speed. They smooth out quite a bit but never really smooth out. once rolling it was livable tho.
noise: even with stock pipes, too loud. I like that my ST is basically silent at speed (with ear plugs, yes...I hear some wind noise but not muffler noise).
the rental experience was very good. nice dealership. and overall yes, I dug the bike a lot, and probably would have liked it more and more. my bottom line, curiosity has been answered, no way would I swap it for my ST.. makes me now want to see how a Wing stacks up. and my SO was so-so on the Harley - she liked the comfort, not the noise, etc..
thanks for listening -