Girl I know is taking the MFS next week, and she has been looking around for a "first motorcycle". She wanted something that would keep up with the pack if she went riding with some of us, but didn't want to buy a Harley until she got a little more experience under her belt.

Anyway, she found a very nice 2002 (I think) Honda Shadow American Classic Edition 750, so I ended up going with her to pick it up, and riding it back to her house.

I had no idea what to expect, as I know nothing about Honda's, but it's a pretty nice little bike. Looks like a little Harley, right at 500 pounds, 3-value dual plug heads, dual 36mm CV carbs, chain final drive, and it has that "blacked out look".

I drove it about 45 miles, and it ran great. No problem at all cruising at 70, and it had sufficient reserve power, even at that speed. Not a bad little "first bike"...

Only has 1,800 miles on the odometer, and she got it for a great price. Her goal is to get a 1200C Sportster next Spring, but wanted something initially that she could use during the possible "ding and bruise" beginning rider stage.

 

Should've got a honda rebel. Them suckers have some snort!

 

Good scoot. Like the pipe, but that is a Huge A/C!

Does the 'ding and bruise' period ever end?

 

Oh and hey, make sure she keeps up on the cleaning of those rear spokes. Chain grease + rear spokes = lots of cleaning.

 

It's got a pretty good size filter to feed those dual CV carbs.

The 'Ding And Bruise" period only lasts for 12month/6,000 miles, whichever comes first.

After that period you are no longer allowed to ding or buise a bike.

 

At the risk of getting flamed, the metric cruisers are pretty good bikes. My wife rides a Suzuki Intruder and loves the bike. Right now, there's not an HD she would want. When we bought her Intruder, we also looked at Shadows. The Intruder won out because it is a shaft drive and you don't have the chain mess.

 

I liked riding the Shadow. It has wide bars which are comfortable, and the bike is very smooth at cruising speeds.

The majority of the Harley's I've owned used a final chain drive (and they have all had spoked wheels), so I'll show her how to keep the chain in shape without "over doing it"...

 

Very cool first bike. Looks like it would serve any new rider well.

 

At the risk of also getting flamed, I have to say that the Shadow Aero (very similar to this) was the frontrunner in my list of bikes to look at when I went shopping after my MSF class. This ended up being one of those things where it all looked better on paper. I liked the "fatboy" look of the Aero (and on the Yamaha side the VStar Classic). However, after actually going to the dealerships and sitting on each bike, the Sportster just looked and felt more solid than the Honda and Yamaha.

After thinking back on this post, I realized I might come off as insulting to the Shadow and whatnot, which was not my intent. I still think it's a sweet looking bike, but my original dream in owning a motorcycle was to have a Harley, and it just won me over when I shopped around.

In any case, this is a great looking ride that should be a lot of fun.

 

Good choice, one of my freinds rode her shadow for 3 years and then got a Road King! Congrats on the bike!