Which is better the Honda VTX 1300c or the Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 low?

apples and oranges. If you want to compare the VTX to a Harley, you'd have to compare to the softails or dynas. But either way I'd take the Harley. Less plastic, better fit and finish, and VERY close performance, but in my personal experience, the Harley edges it out just a little. The only advantage to the VTX is going to be cost. unless you compare it to a sporty, it'll be bigger, so may be more comfortable, depending on your preference.

The thing about answerers of these questions, is that those who ride american will answer 1 way, and those who ride japanese or don't ride & never have/never will - will answer the other I've owned/ridden both 100% with no question, my advice says go for the Sportster Price wise, you're right, they're about the same, but resale wise, the Harley will win, hands down. A used harley is always worth a good 20% more than a used japanese bike. So when it comes to pricing, the Harley wins Looks wise, it's purely subjective there, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, nobody can argue that one, so your preference will be your preference. Though the tie-breaker here is that a harley has about a million different ways you can customise it with parts from harley or the aftermarket. You can easily make it unique and make it your own, a japanese bike is just a coocki cutter clone where they all look the same. Sure you can buy a few do-dads from honda, but it won't change its look much unless you go pretty drastic (and in the cases that guys work hard to make them look different, they look like a harley, so what's that say) Chalk another win for harley Gauges, yep honda's are bigger. Honda wins that round Shaft drive vs belt drive... again, it's subjective, purley an opinion thing. Both are maintenance free so they claim. Neither requiring routine maintenance or adjustment. A shaft drive can get out of adjustment, just like your rear diff in your pickup can start to howl so that one's bull, and a harley belt can have road debris wreck it, so it's not guaranteed to be for life. But in the end, a belt is cheaper, quicker, and easier to repair than a shaft drive. I'd call that a harley win. Reliability. Again, purely subjective, and mostly a matter of opinion. Both are built by man, so both can fail. Both have decent warranty and both have decent history. My 2 cents says that back to that million ways to customize a harley, you will always find parts for your harley.... keep it 20 years and they'll still make em, the honda... i doubt it. Another win for the harley And finally, the name/reputation.... no explanation needed, harley wins hands down.... why else does honda try their best to make their bikes look like harleys. so you do the score and decide who wins, its your money, but i think harley has way more compelling reasons than the honda ever will - regardless of how many posts show up from posers who have never ridden a harley or an import for that matter for more than 10 miles in any 1 direction. PS and the one who hated her sportster and traded for a buell and loves it... that's the stupidest thing in this whole thread... every buell is based off a sportster, do some homework

I like Harley's but just never felt comfortable on a Sporty. That is totally a personal thing though. Harley certainly has the cool factor but I have to say the VTX1300 is a really nice bike. Unless you just really want a Harley, the VTX is more bike for the money. A couple years ago I had to decide between a 2007 VTX1300C and a Harley Softail Deluxe. I went with the Harley, but between the Sportster and the VTX I would lean toward the Honda.

The one that is better is the one you like the best. I'm partial to the Sportster because it is my favorite bike. But man you just can't beat that Honda dependability. But the Sportster is a more versatile bike. You can customize it and personalize it to your taste. Everyone makes performance parts and custom parts for the Sportster. You can make it faster, more comfortable and cooler than any bike around. And it holds it's value better than a Honda. But if you just want to get on and ride and you like it the way it is and don't care about customizing or better performance in the future get the Honda. You can't go wrong with either.

That's a decision you'll have to make on your own.

bluffmike, while I agree with you about a lot of things, I do take issue with the statement about leaks. They do not. I should know. Not only do I ride one, I work where we make some of the gaskets for them.

I have never said it here before because I don't get into the serious bashing, but you may find it interesting that my Hondas did.

the honda is the better enginered bike more modern,but nothing comes close to the kudos of owning a harley.buy a piece of history get the harley.

To begin with, H-D is a publicly traded company that was, recently, owned mostly by the French. Its manned by people who pay dues to the gangsters in the AFL-CIO which supports the socialist Obama and the Polosi gang.

The Sporsters is pretty much the s.o.s. with a paint job while the VTX was designed from the ground up. Water cooled engines are more efficient, reliable and long-lasting.

Honda sets the mark for quality and H-D falls short.

Harley leaks and the honest-to-God-metal parts break off or fall off. Its a fact. Wishing it was different don't make it so.

Those bikes are both about being a fashion accessory and the rider fulfilling his fantasy of being Fonzie. If you cared about performance you wouldn't be thinking of a cruiser. Honda sets the benchmark for reliability. But Harley is the icon. You will pay alot more for the Harley, and any teenager with a $3k used sportbike is going to make you look like you are riding a moped. But if you want to buy status among crusier riders you have to get the Harley or better yet a Victory.

Here is a good site for comparing numbers.

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/technical/200801perfinde...

Answers from here are gonna be based on purely biased opinion and nothing more... this place is useless for decision making, the only good answers for motorcycle questions here are related to very specific questions, like

what's the fluid capacity of...

what's the torque spec on...

what grade of oil for a...

where can i find a....

the rest here is useless dribble

Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 low

More chill, relaxed, and safe.