[Jessica]

Hey all....learning to ride and just completed my MSF class last week. I want to buy a Harley but I am not sure if that is a good idea. Everyone I have asked has told me that the Sportster is a good first bike.....any thoughts here?

Did anyone learn to ride on a Sportster? Thanks for any advice you can give.

[BigBird69]

Ya know if you ask 50 people this question you will get 50 answers. My wife rides an 883L model Sportster and she was extremely concerned about the center of gravity, the weight, the power and a hundred other things that people posted on internet boards.

Finally, she listened to me and realized that ANY bike when you are learning is going to be foreign and a little intimidating. You will get used to the weight, the height, the feel, the clutch etc.

We went shopping and found her a low mileage, nice 883L that she can flat foot easily and felt right to her. She loves it and won't part with it today.

Now some common sense always needs to be in play here, a giant bike or a super fast crotch might not be the bike to learn on but a Sportster would be fine for most people.

Have fun.

[Hammer107]

Jessica, my wife learned to ride on a Sportster too and it's been a great bike for her. Big Bird is right, you will get a lot of varied replies to this question and most of them have no idea what they are talking about.

Any bike you learn on is going to be one that takes adaptation and learning so I really don't think it much matters what you learn on. I'd simply buy the motorcycle that you want to own for a while and learn on that. If that's a Sportster then so be it.

Have fun and be careful.

[NeilVegas]

I agree with the rest. I learned to ride on a Sportster. I sold it and have a FXST now but I loved that bike and it was as good as any to learn to ride on.

The best part about a Sportster is that you can just about always get your money back out of them, so if you do decide to upgrade then you aren't upside down on the bike.

[07HDWG]

My wife is learning on a Nightster. It's a great little bike...low center of gravity and super cool looking.