I bought my sportster after having not ridden for 30 years. I found it was very awkward for me. I fell over once just sitting on it
I went out and found myself a junker kawasaki 250 to get my bike legs back and relearn balance. I then took the 2 day motorcycle safety school. After a month of riding the kawasaki I was able to hop on the sportster and ride with confidence. I have the 1200 so it is a very heavy bike. But I have learned it's not so much about the weight but about the balance and confidence.
Good Luck to you

I sat on a ton of bikes and tried lifting and stabilizing them myself, and moving them around a bit, and found a few models that were more comfortable for me. I'd suggest getting a talented sales team to help you get a bike that works best for you, based on a wide range of things, not just one thing or the other.

Beware the high center of gravity on a sportster. I don't like that. I'm only 5'3" on a stretch day and my Dyna Low Rider is fine with lowered shocks. Fat boys and softtails are comfortable, too.

- Munky

I bought my sporty 1200c straight off of the showroom floor. I learned in a school parking lot. Then took the rider course.
It is a heavy bike! Last summer I was taking it out of a friends garage, which is on a steep hill, and she started to fall! I was by myself. For a mini second I thought, "this bike is running if I get cought under it, no one will hear me scream" So, I pushed her from a few inches from the ground up. I was totally out of breath. I had to put the kickstand up and catch my breath. I thought of the grinch who stole christmas and knew how he felt when he lifted that big sled! that's how i felt!
everyday is a learning experience. i love it!!

I am one who also bought my bike (a Low rider) brand new. I agree, take the course tha Harley Davidson has. It is well worth the money and time spent.

i got my '06 deluxe after just taking the safety course. i've had it a couple of months now, and those first few rides were a little scary, and i wouldn't probably be able to lift it if it goes down, but i wouldn't trade it for anything smaller now that i've had it out on some country highways and really gotten a feel for it.

don't think for a second that i don't have days when i wish i had started with something smaller, but my girlfriends are all really supportive, and so are the guys with whom i ride, and they all said i should just get the bike i want right out of the gate, and i decided to go with that theory too.

the key to having a heavier bike and being a smaller gal is just not dropping it in the first place.

in all seriousness, however, there is a technique to lifting it if you have to do that, but the first bit of advice they give on that site is to let someone else help you if you can. if i can find the link to the web site that shows it, i'll post it for you.

go with your gut, and you'll make the right choice for yourself. it's all about personal preference and knowing the limits of your comfort zone. good luck!

I accidently laid my sportster down in the garage one day by not making sure the kick stand was all the way down.
I remembered my man telling his son how to lift the bike and it works.
You kneel down and put your hands under the seat. Lift the bike with your legs.
After I got it part way up I was able to turn around and right the bike, threw my leg over the seat and got the kick stand ALL the way down. It was scary being all alone that day in the garage with gas leaking out.
Hope that helps.

I'm exactly 5ft.

But where I come from, we have to go thru lessons and test to ride any bike below 200cc for the first year. Then the 2nd year, to go thru lessons and test, to be licensed to ride any bike below 400cc.

And the 3rd year, then we are allowed to go for lessons & test to ride any bike above 400cc.

So we are all made to start small and progress to bigger bikes slowly.

My first ride was a Old near vintage vespa scooter. Then its a 200cc cruiser known as a Honda Phamtom 200cc.

Then its a Honda CB400 version S, its a naked bike.

I am still eye-ing a Harley Street Bob or a Sportster Low Rider & a Honda CB919 known as a Hornet 900.

Here's a picture of me on the Honda CB400 in Malaysia. Notice that my left heavy booted leg is on tip toe? The bike weighs 196kg dry weight.

cobralady wrote:I accidently laid my sportster down in the garage one day by not making sure the kick stand was all the way down.
I remembered my man telling his son how to lift the bike and it works.
You kneel down and put your hands under the seat. Lift the bike with your legs.
After I got it part way up I was able to turn around and right the bike, threw my leg over the seat and got the kick stand ALL the way down. It was scary being all alone that day in the garage with gas leaking out.
Hope that helps.

That's great! Good work. I'm sure it was a huge relief when you learned that you could do it by yourself.

I'm really meticulous about getting the kickstand down all the way before letting the bike rest on it, but I'm 5'7", 135#, and my Deluxe went over onto the right engine guard a week ago. I managed to catch it before it went any further, and I pulled it back upright, remembering a tip I'd read about being sure to hold the fronot brake lever firmly while lifting, so the front wheel doesn't turn. It was the trick that made all the difference for me. I couldn't do it without holding the brake lever.

Those sure are some scary moments when your baby's fallin' over. I think adrenalin makes it possible for us to do a whole lot more than we'd think we could.

I too am looking for a good chick bike. I was introduced to "RYDER" bikes. The store is in Post Falls Idaho. Bikes made for women and probably short men with small frames. I am going to go check them out. I was emailed photos of the bikes, and they look like custome HD's.

I may have misspelled the bikes. I think they are called "Rider". Sorry

My first bike was a honda trail 80!!!!! that was when I was 10
Now that I am older My first street bike is a Harley Davidson 2006 1200 Custom Sporster!
I am 5'3 and had the seat cut and lowered and gel inserted and now my feet are flat on the ground I love it. I out corner all the bigger bikes and it weighs around 575 and well balanced and plenty of pep. I think everyone who buys a bike should take a riding class either beginning or Advanced
Good luck and stay in the wind

My first bike was when I was 13, my dad bought me a Honda SL100 it was a "endro" type on road/off road type bike, I rode it off road until I was 15 1/2 when I got a learner permit and rode it to school and my little job, When I got out of the Navy I moved it to Van Nuys with me, where it was stole out of the garage some time around 1980/81

I didn't ride for almost 25 years, and then went out and got my Heritage Softail classic. When It came in I picked it up, took the "surface roads" home. It took me a while to get confortable with the freeway, but never seems to have a problem going out 126 to the 101 and up that...but a lot of the first rides would take the "surface roads" out of Santa Clarita, The first ride we took went to Santa Monica via Balboa then up Sepulveda over the hill out Wilshire to PCH, and then out to Malbu and up thru Oxnard, when we go to the 101, we jumped on it to the 23 and then stopped off at Simi Valley HD, to the 118 out to Balboa and then back to the surface roads to SCV.I should do that again and take pictures. LOL!

Anyways, I have found that the Heritage sits the lowest, the bike is heavy, but in the Delphi forum I host, There are a lot of women riders riding Heritages. Some mods that the shorter riders do is they lower the bike with the lowering kits both front and back, there is a seat mod that moves them forward towards the tank, so foot controls are not a problem, I think there is also a jiffy stand mod that allows them to get the kick stand up...Some of the women riders in the forum are less than 5 foot tall. The bike is about 750 lbs but once up off the jiffy stand, it does not feel like it. I would say that the Fatboy is also in the catagory. They are almost the same bike, and I had ordered the fatboy at first, I would say that you would love the Heritage the saddle bags give you lots of storage and the bike rides like a dream.

I do recommend the rider saftey course.

the sporter and Road Kings sits much higher than the Heritage Softail classic. Shorter people will have more trouble with them than the stock Heritage.