Bike for bike and engine for engine. Not taking in to account one is a "Harley" I'm not a fan boy, I want the best bike for my money.

 

Nighster: 1200cc 562lbs running weight
Fury: 1312cc 663lbs running weight

On paper it looks like the nightster is faster.
Reliability wise honda has it's reputation.

 

Well the Fury is a bigger bike over all, but looks like a toy or something in IMO. THe bike just looks cheap and fake. Honda's and all 4 jap brands run good and last, but I only like jap bikes for sport bikes. For me there is nothing like a HD

 

The Furry is a pretty sweet bike! It definitely turns heads. I was at the Indianapolis Motorcycle Expo this past weekend and they had the grey Furry there and people were swarming around it. They have cleaned it up a lot for this year. Last year I though it looked kind of funky with the radiator up front, and I swear it looks like they put a smaller one on there because it is not visible from the side like it usually is. The motor also has a single pin crank just like Harley motors, so it is going to have a very similar sound. The only difference will be the sound will be a bit smoother sounding since the pistons are at 52 degrees instead of 45. The Furry has slightly less compression, but it looks like the heads might flow better because it has 3 valves/cylinder instead of just 2. More flow plus more displacement probably means it has a bit more power, but it might not be enough power to make up for the added weight when compared to the Nightster.

Long story short, I would buy one, but I wouldn't trade my Nightster for one. Go ride both and see which one you like more. I think all motorcycle companies have some pretty sweet bikes now. The Harley dealer on the North side of Indianapolis is also a Honda dealer. If they sell them there the Hondas must be pretty good bikes.

 

The Honda is more of a chopper. The Sportster is the perfect balance of form and function IMHO.

 

I put a few miles on a Fury, not my 'cup of tea', but it wasn't a bad bike.

Guy that owned it said he paid $12,500. It had the 5-speed, EFI, shaft drive, 45mm front, and 38 degree rake giving it a somewhat long 71.26" wheelbase.

I did notice that the welds on it weren't very good, which was kind of surprising as Honda's usually have good quality control on their bikes.

He told me that in stock condition it put out 58 horsepower to the rear wheel, which is 7 or so horsepower less than the average 'stock 1200'.

It ran good but to each their own. I just wasn't that impressed.


((Stock Picture))

 

Wow! I would have really thought it would be more than that! With a stage 1 1200 you would put 12 or so more HP to the rear wheel and have less weight. That means a 1200 Sportster stock would smoke this thing!

 

1) What do you think the resale value on the Honda will be vs. the HD in a fer years?
2) Manufacturer/after market accesories Honda vs. HD? Unless you plan on keeping it all stock...the HD acc. catalog alone has over 60 pages dedicated to Sportys, plus other offerings (J&P Cycles, Kury,ect.) metric vs. HD.
3) Instant acceptance. HD accepted & respected by most any crowd.
4) Buy American
5) "If I gotta explain it, you just won't understand."

 

Plastic....

 

A factory custom? Not a fan.