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First question: Are you a rider, or are you a poser?
Grizzled Bear = Harley Fat Boy
what year is the FLSTF?
i also drive a 1 ton dually Silverado and two years ago I went shopping for a good sized bike with an excellent maintenance record or at least mostly trouble free, affordable and with great fuel mileage.
I bought the Yamaha Star 1300 Tourer, much easier to buy than a traditional name brand, I don’t pose at all, the bike gets 50mpg. I love it. Its a water cooled V-twin, fuel injected, belt drive, great styling, lots of power and just plain looks cool.
GB, I fare better in Florida riding my Harley. Not sure about Texas. JMHO.
Check out the mileage they get (or don’t) you might be surprised.
Which are you more comfortable riding? Let your butt decide.
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I really love my Victory Vegas
Oh yeah, I get 45-50 mpg combined on my Softail Custom (not stock).
Commute to work: 45 miles round 4 days / week 48 weeks / year. Just under 9,000 miles per year. My 1997 S-10 gets 25 mpg. 360 gallons of gas per year. @ $3 per, that's $1,080 per year for fuel. Add in two additional oil changes per year at $30 each (I do my own maintenance). Tires last about 40k, so add the cost of 1/4 of a set of tires ($100). Total per year for commute costs: $1,240.
My Honda gets 50 mpg. 180 gallons of fuel per year @ $3 per is $540. Add in three oil changes at $50 each ($150). Tires on the Honda last about 10k, so add one set of tires per year @ $300. Total per year for commute costs: $990.
The absolute maximum you can save is $350, about the cost of the insurance you will have to pay on the bike. If you have any maintenance on the bike, it will cost 3-5 times as much as equivalent maintenance on your truck. And it will be required about twice as often.
If you want the bike, go ahead and buy the bike. But you will not save enough money on fuel to make a dent in your finances.
Just my 2¢.
K1600 CC and blow right all of them
I see great deals of last years or even two year old showroom models being sold at really great prices, well below half the cost of the “other” brand.
If you want lots of power I would go with the Raider, if you want something thats new go with the Stryker(same engine as the XVS1300), I chose mine because I wanted a cruiser that was also partially a tourer and not massively overweight.
If I were to buy another bike I would probably do some serious looky see into Victory. They are ahead of the curve in many ways. But for the money Yamaha seems to have the best deal,Honda seems stuck in a rut and the others are out there but they don’t seem to have much attention.
Where I live right now in Alaska the local Craigslist is jammed with LOTS of used Harleys, I have never seen so many for sale before.
If you’re a new rider, avoid the fat boy due to the solid front wheel. It looks cool but every cross breeze catches it and if you aren’t experienced riding, it can be unsettling as you end up fighting the bike to stay in your lane.
I picked up a KLR 650 for near the same reasons you describe. I picked a dual sport because I like to trail ride as well. The KLR is a great bike but it’s not the easiest to ride. You sit high on the bike and if you’re short at all, you may have problems.
It sounds like you are more interested in a street bike than anything so I’d probably recommend either a Harley 1200 sportster or a soft tail.
Best of luck!
I'd recommend something like this. Seriesly.
2011 Honda Silver Wing with ABS.
yamaha
BMW!
Riding a bike is way more expensive than driving a car or truck. But if you need to sell that idea to a certain higher authority I understand............
I’ve got a 1995 Triumph Thunderbird...inline, water cooled 3 cylinder 900...LOVE IT.