New Rider Advice
Are you a novice rider or just new to Harley?
Last edited by cggorman; Sep 29, 2016 at 11:30 PM.
My son just started riding. He listened to me, and bought a cheap metric. It's a very nice 2007 Suzuki C50, $2,700 with new tires, 10k miles. Lot easier to recover from mistakes on a 450 lb. bike.
Pretty sure your wife would be happy you spent $10k less on your first bike. You could ride it for a year and sell it for what you bought it for. And then you would have a better idea what kind of Harley you want.
I don't expect you to listen. 99% of new posters don't.
I'd ask yourself if dual disc is a good trade for the 103". Stock front brake on a street bob sucks but the motor will make more power. Brakes can be upgraded but so can the 96" motor.
Harleys are like Legos, just need to find the right pieces and put them together.
Just remember whatever you get you'll probably end up changing it. So I'd say get what you aesthetically like the best and change out what physically you dont (bars, seat, etc...). My reasoning for that is the bigger items are more costly to change. Like, upgrading the 96 to a 103 (or 106/107). Or converting single to dual disc. Bars, seat, and stage 1 mods are all easy.
My son just started riding. He listened to me, and bought a cheap metric. It's a very nice 2007 Suzuki C50, $2,700 with new tires, 10k miles. Lot easier to recover from mistakes on a 450 lb. bike.
Pretty sure your wife would be happy you spent $10k less on your first bike. You could ride it for a year and sell it for what you bought it for. And then you would have a better idea what kind of Harley you want.
I don't expect you to listen. 99% of new posters don't.
The bike was light, narrow, and nimble. I made a ton of new rider mistakes that if I had been on a bigger bike or Supersport bike I would have laid it down 3x more times.
I learned how to ride on the bike. Made all the new rider mistakes on that bike. Only after having mastered that bike and my skill advanced further than what the bike could handle did I upgrade to something bigger, faster.

Quite frankly I love the look and feel of the Street Bob. Love the ape hangers, the looks, the sound, etc. Its what I always envisioned as my "perfect Harley ride." I found a great street bob from a private party, with most of the mods Id consider, including thunder header exhaust, gel seat, power commander, etc, for a good price, and quite low miles. 2014 with around 2-3k miles, approx 11k.
However I also found a stock 2001 Sport Touring (FXDXT) for around 8.5k from a local dealer (no bags). Quite tempting as I know these are highly sought after bikes with a TON of versatility. Only 20k miles. It would be great to save 3k but I wonder if Id be left wanting the newer, modified Street Bob.
Id really value any thoughts or opinion from you all. Thanks in advance.
The FXDXT on the other hand at 8.5K IMHO is probably priced 4K over what it should bring and is not the bike of your dreams as you state the Street Bob is
ETA I see I was late to the party with the above post and you are looking at a Fat Bob as compared to the Street Bob. I think the price on the Fat Bob is in line although I did not see you rave about it like you did the street Bob in your OP. IMHO both would serve you well, the price on both are in line with the bike. One has most of the mods you would add, the other is stock but the price leave you enough savings to add the exact mods you like. I would say ride both and see which speaks to you, you are the only one that can tell. From what I see I would probably opt for the Street Bob as it is what you called the bike of your dreams, it is a 2012 with the 103 and has virtually no miles on it.
In the end both can be set up over time to please you from a looks perspective as well as performance and comfort. I think either would be a good choice but it all comes down really to which one calls your name
Last edited by Mxdad; Sep 30, 2016 at 05:33 AM.
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