I have a 01 883c and I have done 300-400 mile trips and it's not as bad as some on here are saying, it vibrates but after awhile you don't notice it . Before the sporty I had only big twins and touring bikes

 

My wife can ride 200 plus miles on her 01 solid mount and be happier than if she was on the back of my brand new Road King. I have ridden the new rubber mounts, and they are smoother at speed. But not enough to justify a newer model than our 01. If and when she ever wears out the bottom end of this bike, I may look at a rubber mountfor her. But if she's not complaining, then I'm happy with the solid mounts.

 

I had a 1997 883 sportster with a windshield that i purchased new that below 50mph was no problem and the ride was cool.
Above 50mph i could see nothing in the rear view mirrors, arms would tingle and had to wear gel padded gloves because the handlebars had vibrations.
I actually had to keep mouth tightly shut to keep teeth from grinding.
Butt would fall asleep also.
I took it on several overnight trips but replaced the bike with a road king less than a year later.
Again. it really depended on conditions...interstate/super slab sucked but twisties, back roads and below 50mph all was OK.

 

My 2013 Forty Eight (rubber mounts) shakes like you wouldn't believe at idle. Not too bad on the road though.

 

My 04 sportster vibrates less than my 08 fatbob. The 04 sportster has no felt vibration in the bike at idle or speed. You can see clearly out of the mirrors at any speed. Now my fatbob you can not even tell what is behind you in the mirrors. I had a 1995 an 2002 sportster both would vibrate an put my hands to sleep. Loved the bikes but the vibration was terrible, run 70 mph an it was really bad. That is why I decided to try the 04 sportster.

 

My 02 sporty vibes a little but not enough to bother me or make body parts fall asleep. I can ride it all day and feel just fine. I think there are to many variables between different bikes and riders to really get a definitive answer on a Internet forum. You really gotta just get out there and ride a few of them to see for yourself, even two identical bikes won't feel the same as they each have their own personality.

 

I just replaced the riser bushings from my Ironhead with these urethane ones:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B007KP...f=ya_aw_oh_pit

I haven't had a chance to try them out yet so I can't say whether or not they reduce vibrations, but they're supposed to.

 

Thanks for all the input guys, we went with the 03 for the wife and she loves it.. Not a lot of vibration but we will have to see what happens when we take a long trip

 

I rode Highway 1 here in Northern CA yesterday morning. No vibration in mid to high-mid RPMs. Ended up getting stuck behind a old-timer in a big truck and a family out on a "sunday drive". Turned into vibration city.

1 is super tight and twisty (one of the best rides on planet earth). So getting stuck behind those guys I was stuck in a low gear at high RPM, going up twisty hills for an extended period of time. Low gear+high RPM+extended time= numb hands/fingers. It felt like all the descriptions of the old bone-jarring sportsters. Had to eventually pull over for a bit.

I do a good amount of regular highway driving without a any vibration problems though.

 

I have a 2000 XL1200 and it does vibrate. I was aware of this when purchasing that year but dollars dictated the year. My 1st season with it i knumbed out a few times on longer trips but that could have been due to my over zelouse grip. Several seasons on it now and it isn't as bad or i've gotten use to it. Hard part for me is at 70-80 i can't see much in the mirrors and anything over 85 it will start to knumb out the body. Love my baby just wished i had a 6th gear