david (04/19/83)
A friend of mine just bought a new Harley Sportster. This was his first road bike ever, and he did not consider any other make. He wanted a Harley. The bike is low, the sound is nice, and the price was 4100. Here in Portland, Ore. the pricing was interesting. Only three dealers in this area carry Harley. Beaverton, Vancouver Wa., and I think Columbia on the east side. Columbia, the only dealer who sells Harley exclusively, would not even talk at anything below the 4900 dollar list. Vancouver came down to 4200, and Beaverton came in at 4100 with an extra slightly different shape gas tank. It pays to shop around. At an idle the bike nearly shakes the front wheel off. The seat narrows to about 4-5 inches where the passenger is supposed to sit. It was also interesting to see the passenger foot pegs mounted directly to the swingarm, about 4 inches from the pivot. The last time I saw that was on a Honda 90 stepthru. At this writing the owner has about 135 miles of trouble free riding, except the Harley sunglasses that came with the bike broke after 3 days. They were probably made in Japan. Another friend summed it up saying he'd rather have a V-45 Magna that didn't shake and was only 3300 dollars. I still like my rice burner, David Hayes teklabs!tekid!david