Pulled out my 1976 KZ900 Kaw was a show bike back in the 70's and 80's then parked for 20 years, My son wanted to learn how to ride, so I tought him on it> asked my advise on what bike to buy, I said a sportster and he bought one, a new 2005 883 custom sportster. We put a set of vance and hines straight shots and a dyna jet kit along with the air cleaner kit Must say I like it very much even at my age of 54. I'm now into this harley kick with him and found my Z1, still as fast as a raped ape but just to uncomfortable for me, my back just can't take it for more than an hour or two. I test rode a 2002 road king today and the vance and hines pipes did sound good but the power was just not there. Also I shook the steering at about 50mph and the response felt rubbery. Is this the way these bikes are??? Maybe I should buy a sportster instead, I like the response of my sons. At 54 a road king should be the bike for me. I just don't know if I could get used to the lack of power and the sluggish front end. I realy like to roll the power on in the turns but I also need comfort too. Any recommendations for me on which harley I should be looking at. Tomorrow I', going to look at a 1977 electra glide touring FLH it's a shovelhead 1200 and the owner say's it realy got some power, ??? only 18,000 miles and $7,500 help please

 

the kz 900 is one of my first bikes too, preceeded only by a honda hawk 400, i too ran only sport bikes since 15 till now(36) and own a 97 electraglide classic with plenty of extras and power. i would not go older than the evolution engines only for reliability, i got my bike with 16k on the clock for $12k i will check where you are but here in NY there are so many people who buy and then want something else it's crazy.i saw a 2003 fat boy with an HD 97" engine and all sorts of chrome for 16k maybe it had 4k on the clock . if you look you will find a gem.on this site is HD trader and there are loads of places to look.someone here may even be selling a nice machine wait for reply, you never know

 

Since your main riding will be with you son (and that's great) maybe you should try a 1200 Sportster. I've heard the shaking is to a minimum now. It should have enough power and handling to satisfy you and with all the H-D options could be made comfy for your 54 year old butt. What a great experience it must be to ride with your kid...teach him well.

Oh yeah, I had a Superglide once. It handled great -- don't know how the power stacks up to the 1200 though.