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The best touring model?

Sporty's are a great bike to start with. They are not as heavy as the dyna line which is next up. Problem is that a lot of people start with a sporty and soon after the purchase want to move up and find the market is full of used sporty's and the demand isn't there for resale. If a slightly bigger/more costly model could be a choice, I would say that a dyna lowrider would be a good choice as it is not the type of bike that would be out grown in the near future and would have more of a demand in the market should you decide to sell it for any reason.
JMHO

If it's touring you are after, you can't beat the RK Classic, but then again I am just slightly biased here:D
 
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Glider I agree with you I have a Sporty that I truly love to ride and I moved up to an 07 Lowrider Ride Safe Doug
 
A young person is probably going to find the SG or Roadking to suit them best in the dresser catagory, but why wouldn't you let your son decide what he wanted??

Bill
 
Well, I started on an '05 1200C Sportster about 3 years ago after having not ridden for 15 years. I outgrew that in about 20 minutes. I bought an '05 Softail Deluxe two months later. I put about 30,000 miles on that in 2 years. I managed to get in several 500+ miles rides and it is an awesome machine. HOWEVER, I decided to get my first touring model after Christmas, and bought the "cadillac" of touring models - an '07 Ultra Classic. It is pure comfort. Now, I don't know what your son is interested in getting out of riding, but there is no better touring bike out there. The StreetGlide comes close, it is basically the same bike, but without the tourpak. But, I do agree with some earlier posts, the new 1200 Nightster is Harley's coolest bike in years.
 
A lot depends on your riding preferences and if you are going to have a passenger often. I have a Road King Classic 105th anniversary. I find it a good compromise for touring or take the fairing off and cruise. I have windy roads and the road king, with the rear airshocks can be pumped up to handle the corners relatively well.
 
When I was shopping around, trying to decide which bike, the advice my friends gave me matched much of what I am seeing here. They knew me, and they new what kind of rider I would be, (or at least had a pretty good idea), they told me that I would not be happy on a sporster very long. I was looking real hard at the Dyna Low Rider, my brother had a super glide, but I ended up with a softail deuce. It came down to the fact that I really liked the looks of the deuce. Good luck!

Oh yeah, I gotta say, I really like the olive & black sporster, with black pipes, just something cool about that bike. Just ask Hobbit!
 
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Here's my humble opinions:

1) Do NOT surprise him with a bike. Make him an active part of the decision process (rentals/demos/etc) or you'll be stuck with trying to sell it or trade it in within a year.

2) The type of bike depends on what type of riding he'll do primarily - solo run to the Starbucks once a week, daily commute, two up overnight trips? No Harley does everything great so go with what you plan to do MOST of the time.

3) Do not fall for the hype about the Sportster being a great starter bike. It may have the lowest engine displacement but it's still a BIG bike with a higher center of gravity and definitely a bit of a challenge for a beginning rider. The bigger TC96 bikes are heavier but I think they're better balanced for even a new rider and most have lower seat heights than a Sporty as Hobbit pointed out.

4) If it's his first bike, as opposed to his first Harley, definitely take a safety course and take your time getting comfortable on the bike. No group rides, night riding, 80MPH canyon carving, etc. for quite a while.

5) Otherwise, relax and enjoy the wonderful world of motorcycling. he should be extremely grateful to have parents like you!
 
WoW..I'm just excited to see what she finely buys him...This has been one of the best post I've seen...Great responses by everyone here...this is cool I'm excited for the kid...BTW your a pretty darn cool Mom!
 
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