huskerbob wrote:
I Ride a Road Star because I can get my walker up close to it and swing myself on it Because I am so OLD

Gotta steal that quote.

gfolkert wrote:
RCStephenson wrote:
When I bought my R* I actually said "I hope this cures the Harley itch.", it has.
My Roadstar, it cured my bike envy. I have a VStar 1100 Silverado for the wife, she settled on it as well.

I've had two Vstar 1100's, they are good bikes too.

River wrote:
gfolkert wrote:
RCStephenson wrote:
When I bought my R* I actually said "I hope this cures the Harley itch.", it has.
My Roadstar, it cured my bike envy. I have a VStar 1100 Silverado for the wife, she settled on it as well.

I've had two Vstar 1100's, they are good bikes too.

I started out on a Yamaha 125 (I think) dirt bike and years ago owned an early 80s Yamaha Virago 750. So, I had history with Yamaha and knew their Rep. And felt good buying a Yamaha.

The bike I had prior to my 2003 Roadstar was a 1983 Harley Sportster. Fun bike, ran fine. But after 15 years out of the saddle, and to get the classic V twin look, I was looking at almost 3 times the money to own a Harley. I am happy with my Roadstar.

smokescreens wrote:
great. just great, im a 29 year old "old guy" Maybe just wise beyond your years

Great Bike for the money..... hope to have a Goldwing someday.
tt

Personally because it was larger than the 1100 I had and it was a good price point. Used these are a wonderful value. you can get a decent used bike for 5 or 6k.

Personally, I love threads like this. It gets people to post about their personal perspectives. My experience is much like many who have posted on the topic here.

On the topic of why "older" guys seem to be the majority owners of our beloved Road Stars, I believe "older" should be replaced with "wiser." If you have the time, I want to share my quick story as to how I wound up here.
I had been looking for years at buying a Harley. Many of my friends and family have Harley's. It did carry a certain sense of belonging or fitting in to have one. After looking for years at buying one and never having the funds, having 3 kids and a wife and mother to take care of, I started looking used. I happened to start a love affair with Victory's bikes as a great "American brand" cheaper than Harley- used, type bikes. For about two years I searched for a used Vic that fit what I had wanted. Prices were still high, but it did get me out of the brainwashing that I had that Harley was the only brand worth owning. Problem with Victory at that time was the dealer network in my area absolutely sucked at best and was non-existent at worst.

I took a short break from the search, and thought about things in general. Economy took a dump. As did most people's expendable income. On one level, "Buy American" seemed more important than ever. On the other hand, my responsibilities as a Father, Husband and Son took priority. Taking all this into account together made me realize the truth of my situation. I was going to have to buy used. The reality of the situation with used is, it doesn't really matter if it is Harley, Victory, Yamaha or Honda. The only difference is in the initial purchase from new. When a new Honda or Kawasaki is purchased, the initial profits from the sale might go to Japan or who know's where. Once that vehicle is already in this country and on the road, and a second owner buys it, the profits from the second sale either support an American small business or an American individual. At that point, (used) it doesn't matter what the brand is. That is an important point few people take the time to realize.

Knowing I was going to buy used, and the reality of the topic becoming clear to me, I searched for the best value. The more "wise" you become the more weight you place on value in your life as opposed to what someone else thinks of your situation (or name on the side of your tank.)
This is when I stumbled upon the Road Star. I didn't know anything about them ahead of time. I had one friend who had a vstar 1100. I knew there were things I didn't like about the v-star cosmetically. After talking to him, he advised it sounded like I was looking for something like a Road Star. That was the first time I actually took the time to search one down and give it a look over. I have never looked back.

smokescreens wrote:
great. just great, im a 29 year old "old guy"

Just means you'll be around longer than some of us Smoke

slamllc wrote:
Knowing I was going to buy used, and the reality of the topic becoming clear to me, I searched for the best value. The more "wise" you become the more weight you place on value in your life as opposed to what someone else thinks of your situation.....

Very well said, slamlic.

Adding to my earlier post on this topic, I have been into riding bikes since my pre-teen years. When I was 15 my dad helped me buy a honda 175 which I used to get my MC license when I was 16. Later i bought a honda 350 but my eye was on the CB750. Finally bought one after high school and had it for years. But like many guys here, when I got married the bike went away, and I was fine with that, then started having kids. My wife and I have 6 kids (2 sons and 4 daughters), and they all knew my first love and passion was riding. The standing joke in our family was the way I'd stop and look (and become easily distracted) whenever bikes went by. They knew I loved riding and one day would want to own again.

They also realized another thing. How hard I work, and the sacrafices you make as parents for your kids. I guess it's no surprise that each of our kids have a very good work ethic today. Our oldest daughter, Bethany, used to tell me she wants to be able to be in a place in her life that she can buy me a motorcycle when I turn 50. I never knew what to make of that cuz I thought when kids are in high school all they say is "man, when I turn 18 I'm outta here"

During that same time, I got re-bit by the riding bug when a local place openned up here renting harleys. I could never afford owning a harley, but renting from time to time for a day or for an extended weekend refueled my love of riding, and introduced my to big V Twin bikes, and I was hooked again. I would "shop" at all the V Twin models but knew I could never afford a bike of any kind, but loved what I saw and learned about the roadstar. That became my dream bike.

Fast forward to 2005, Bethany is 22 the year I turned 50 and bless her heart she did what she always wanted to do and that dream bike became mine. She couldn't think of a better way to say "THANKS" dad....and boy was she right.