I would keep it and buy a bigger bike. I have a HD Street Glide for long trips and take the ol one lunger out when I want to have fun on the back roads

I am 6'2" and North of 250 (not Alaska but not Nevada either... I commute 28 miles to work one way on my 2012 S40 and have done a 3 hour trip to West L.A. for a weekend with the wife. I cannot find another bike that would do that for the same cost and economy as the S40. In Cali we can lane filter which you may know of as lane splitting or lane sharing. The S40 is phenomenal in this regard as well.

My wife recently purchased an 07 HD 1200 Custom. While almost as narrow as the S40 it is by no means as nimble nor economical and it turns out the S40 isn't the only bike with poor shocks. Now, the S40 is still my exclusive rider and the HD is what we take down to wine country 3-4 times a year.

If you have the money to spend to be competitive in the c0ck swinging contests at bike night then keep both bikes. Otherwise if anyone jokes about your bike you can ask how many times their HD has been in the shop or how much they have spend in repairs/mods/upgrades/fuel/oil/etc  

I have a had a whole lot of fun on motorcycles over the years....and I have never owned a Harley.  If you ride a Harley to a bike night - it is just like wearing an Izod shirt to the Country Club.  You will be granted permission to mingle and talk "Harley" with the rest of the folks - but you may not have all that much in common other than being a Harley owner.  I have ridden my Suzuki Cafe' bike to several events - some folks barely notice it and some think it is really cool.  About 95% of the folks at these events don't have anything in common with me......those other 5% of the folks and I get along great and I have met some really nice folks.  The last guy I met was a retired Police Officer and he rode his Harley Wide Glide to the event and showed me all the things he had done with it......but he also was a big fan of the Kawasaki 900 Z-1 bikes and the old H-2 triples, and we had a lot to talk about.

Harley makes some nice looking motorcycles.  I can't comment on the durability or expense of them - I rented a Ultra Classic in Florida for a day ride and put a couple hundred miles on it.  It was a bit cumbersome at slow speeds, cruised well, wasn't very quick....it had lots of chrome.  I rode MM's 883 Sportster for a few miles on the Dragon....it was nimble and a nice riding bike. MM rides his bike a lot and has not had any mechanical issues that I know of - however he also owned a 1200 Sporster and likes the 883 much better.

Some folks are pretty narrow minded and think that Harley is the only bike to have - and there are other folks just as narrow minded about BMW, Ducati, Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, etc.  Just don't worry about who you are or aren't impressing.  I bought a Kawasaki Ninja 250 early this year and I have had a whole summer of fun on it.......and the rest of the world could care less.

I have honestly "loved" every motorcycle I have ever owned.  They all have their good and bad points - but just about every one of them does something very well.  Dirt, street, cafe', trials, cruiser, touring, sport touring, adventure touring, dual sport, motard.....they all have a purpose and some do a bit of cross over.

You have a hundreds of motorcycles to pick and choose from....you might as well go try a few on for size!  Ride some Cruisers, touring bikes, Adventure Tourers....see what feels good to you.  The used bike market is huge right now.....you have plenty to choose from.  If you give us an idea of what kind of riding you expect to do....we might be able to make some suggestions about what bikes to go look at....and what bikes to avoid.    

eruby wrote on 11/06/14 at 08:01:05:


Give wife some $$ to go buy her own Harley, and you keep on riding whatever the hell makes you happy.  

For my money,... a Savage is the simplest, most efficient, bike for any task below 65mph and 400lbs...
...and I'm way below both...

A friend,... local MotoGuzzi fanatic, bought one to play with,... and confided... that while he still loves his Guzzi..... even on Guzzi Club rides, he prefers his Savage, for pure riding pleasure...

More, requires more... but, do you buy a tool that can handle any condition,... or one that handles 95% of all your needs?...

The sacrifice, is added storage, insurance, registration, maintenance, purchase price... for the 5% when you need more...

If, I rode 2k+ mile rides on Interstate several times a year.... I would consider a more powerful bike... but,, my rides are limited to 300 miles round trip... And I don't like speeds over 65mph for more than 10 minutes...

I also don't like any bike that I can't fix...
...and that requires a fairly simple machine...(a rare breed nowadays)...

If you need more,... buy it...
...But, paying double for 5% of your need, is not cost effective...
More costs more... and you can push this little sucker 5% of the time and still get away with it...

It's a lot like driving a Chevy Suburban every day, because twice a week you haul the soccer team 3 miles to practice...
Weight the need with the cost... (you could rent them a limo for what you pay extra in gas)...
...and don't worry about what other people think... somebody will hate you for whatever choice you make...
...

12Bravo wrote on 11/06/14 at 08:08:38:


Yup. As long as I have a Savage, I'll never run out of motorcycles.  

I take my Savages to mostly HD bike nights.They get more looks than the stock HD crowd gets.If I'm alonje,I'll ride my Savage all day long.I even have 1 for 2 up.I also have an 800 Vulcan 2 up and my HD Lowrider custom.I can't do a 1 ton bagger.If you need that much crap to take to bike night...Get a convertible.LOL.