jgcable

No offense taken. I am 50. I am in very good shape. I have no problem supporting the bike. I am at the low side of 5'8" and I weigh about 185. I have a short inseam. It runs in our family. The problem I typically have with big bikes is low speed or no speed maneuvering. Especially if I have to back into a space which is very common when parking with a bunch of bikes. I also have problems with stopping smooth when my wife is on the back and its really hairy when I stop on a road where there might be an uneven road where I can't reach the ground. When I sat on the RSTD last night it was on a flat driveway and I could flat foot the bike if I full extended my legs. The bike is all custom painted and has a Qaudzilla fairing and a large trunk (tourpack) along with the hard factory bags. My plan if I buy the bike is to remove the large trunk. It looks great but I won't need it unless I do a very long trip. I think removing the trunk is going to change the feel of the bike. I removed the tourpack on my Ultra Classic and it was no longer top heavy. I think the same applies here. I am waiting to hear from the seller to see if he is going to accept my offer. This guy has several custom bikes and I think he dumped a ton of money into this one because it is absolutely loaded and beautiful.

Hello, this is my first post. I am looking at a 2005 RSTD with 24K on it. It has a complete custom paint job, quadzilla fairing, hard bags a tour trunk, Supertrapps, K&N pods and probably every other thing you can think of. Here is my question... I am 5'8" tall with a 29-30" inseam. Yea.. I am a short guy. I have had many bikes over the years and although I feel more comfortable on smaller bikes I prefer the big touring bikes. Regarding big bikes.. I have owned 2000 Kawasaki Vulcan 1500FI 2001 Honda Valkyrie 1990 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic I sold the Valkyrie because I just couldn't flat foot the bike even after I had the seat shaved. I even dropped it once with my wife on it trying to park. I fit on the Vulcan 1500FI perfectly but I sold it because it has spokes and I got a flat on a rear tire once that took 9 hours for a tow truck to come. No more spokes for me. I also fit on the Ultra Classic perfectly after I cut down the seat. I sold it because it had an electrical issue and it was starting to leak. Great bike though. I checked out this 2005 RSTD. The original owner put 20K in to it. Its absolutely beautiful. I sat on it and I could flat foot the bike. I was shocked because the bike has gel inserts in the seats. It just didn't feel as heavy as the Ultra Classic or the Valkyrie but from what I have read its a bear for low speed maneuvering and it does weigh every bit as much as those bikes weigh and I will say.. its enormous!! I am concerned about things like backing into spaces. It was very difficult wih the Ultra Classic. That bike also felt very top heavy. So.. what I am asking is... and I know this is a fairly subjective question, is the 2005 RSTD all loaded up with a fairing and a tour trunk too big of a bike for a short guy? The reason I am asking is because before I bought the Valkyrie fellow riders told me that it doesn't matter about the size or my size.. I will get use to it. I joined the Valkyrie forum and found out that 90% of the owners were all big guys... 5'-10" to 6'-5" tall and that most of the short guys like me were scrambling around trying to find ways to lower the bike or the seat. I never did get used to that bike. Any insight or comments for a potential buyer are appreciated.