I was out riding with the wife today since the weather was nice. We stopped at the Woodlands Harley dealer in Texas because my wife wanted to look at a shirt. I'm strolling the store looking at a coffee mug of all things and I see my wife across the floor sitting on a sportster. A purple flake sportster. My wife who never showed any interest in owning her own motorcycle. I've offered to buy her a sportster a couple of years ago to which she replied she was happy to ride on the back of mine. I walk over and we chat with the saleman who happens to be from the same state I'm from. We chat a while and my wife doesnt care for the outreached arms of the Iron. It has the short handlebars. She sits on the low which has the pulled back handlebars and was more comfortable but what attracted her was the color. The sales guy says they can swap out the handlebars of course. He suggests she sit on another bike. We walk over to a Softail Deluxe in Cancun Blue Flake. She likes the feel better. It has a lower center of gravity than the sportster and she loves the color. This bike of course is over twice the price. The salesman says he wasnt trying to push the more expensive bike, he was trying to give her a better idea of what another bike would feel likie. He also said she would most likely want to trade up in a year. The loss taken on a sporty is pretty steep. So she wants the Softail. He will take $1000 off the list price but they add $995 for freight and prep. He said if I get the 5 year ESP they waive the freight and prep. The ESP is $1700, so effectively for $700 more he throws in the extended warranty. We told him we'd think about it and left. I called Cowboy Harley where I bought my ultra and they quoted me $300 more out the door. Cowboy Harley is also 4 hours away from where I live. Plus Woodlands Harley will throw in the riding course for my wife. Freight and prep sounds high but bad time to buy I know. My other concern is whether it's a bad first bike for my wife. I sat on it and was surprised at how different it feels from my Ultra. The Ultra is very top heavy. What say ye?

 

If this is her first bike, I would try and steer her towards a cheap Honda or something along that line. A 10 year old Honda laying on it's side is alot less painfull then a new Harley laying on it's side. I'm not saying it will turn out that way, But my wife dropped her Sporty twice on the first ride out. The thought of what happened still makes me cringe.,,,

 

The deluxe is really cool, she's gotta good eye

 

She was standing over my shoulder and laughed at the good eye comment. She says she has good taste. I will add expensive ones as well. I could get a used sportster and flip it for what I paid but the color is what has her hooked. The sportster felt top heavy to me even though it is a very light bike. She's not small by any means. She's 5'7" and plants both feet while on the deluxe. She couldnt do that on my Ultra. The dealer prep and freight bugs the snot out of me BUT I've never heard of a dealer selling a current model year bike for anything less than list. It's a numbers game, I could say the bike is list with no freight and prep and the bottom line is the same.

 

Its a nice bike, but for a first bike? Just to be safe put front and rear engine guards on. Good luck.

 

Go for it and make her happy!

 

I was a returning rider after a 25+ year break. I did the MSF and bought a 1200C Sportster. After 8 weeks I traded it for a Heritage. Just saying that for me it was too buzzy and uncomfortable and I preferred the lower center of gravity of the Softail. I should have bought a Softail first but I thought it would be too big for me.

Maybe she should do the MSF first and then decide. It would be a terrible waste of money if she didn't like riding.

 

I have been shopping for a new bike over the past couple weeks. See my thread "I dread the buying process". I got some good advice on that thread. I am just about ready to close a deal. I went to 6 dealerships. Two of the six dealers were willing to negociate. Two other dealerships were borderline rude when I made them an offer. For some reason I am wired to react much different with people who show a willingness to be flexible and work with me. Sometimes even a small gesture will win my loyalty. In the end those people will get way more of my dollars in the long run. Those who are my way or the highway types, not so much. I am 65 and I guess I have finally gotten tired of being taken advantage of. Remember when you couldn't get a bike even if you were willing to pay way over MRSP. Well today you can still find 14's on the floor and the 16's will be out soon. There is more competition than ever and there are more bikes than ever. My advice is to be polite, be reasonable, be fair, but don't hesitate to ask for a little off. Good luck.

 

My suggestion would be to have your wife take a motorcycle rider safety course first and get her motorcycle endorsement on her license and go from there. We all know new is nice, you can always look for a used Deluxe in the color she likes down the road after she outgrows a nice used Sportster to fine tune her riding skills.


Plan B: The Mrs rocks the safety course and is confident enough and ready for a bigger bike.


Go slow, take your time.


As far as pricing from the salesman, $1000 off sticker and $995 for freight and prep or I bet they would offer sticker and no freight and prep, lol. I'm not really feeling it. I'm waiting for delivery on a 2015 CVO Streetglide, purchase price is MSRP and they wouldn't budge on freight and prep which is the same price they gave you, another $995.

 

not to discount the 'buy a cheap metric and sell it later after she gets some experience' replies, but there have been more than a few people (not just women) who have insisted on getting a sportster as a first bike, found it to be difficult to ride, drop it a couple of times, and then give up.

if she likes the deluxe, and you guys are financially secure enough to get it, i would go for that vs the sportster. and i did buy the sportster as my first bike.

my wife is my riding partner. as in she rides her own, too. it's an awesome thing to be able to ride with her. if you buy the deluxe, and your wife finds that riding is not for her, you could still sell the deluxe. sure, you'd take a financial hit, but you would be doing that no matter what you buy. or you could keep it as your second bike

i guess i was totally no helpl, eh?