For those who started on a Rebel

Rebelrider1

Well-known member
Just wanted to see what bike you moved up to after your honda rebel. I love my rebel, I have been looking at many many bikes to move up to but none have given that Wow. Actually all roads keep leading to the HD Iron. But I fear that it's too much of a jump. I thought I would move up to a 650. The boulevard doesn't interest me much. Looked at Honda shadow RS and phantom.
What did you move up to?
 
The wife went from her 250 Rebel to an M600 Ducati Monster. She rode that until the fall of 2010 when she moved up to a 2011 M796.
 
I do like cruisers but I have to say the Ducati Monster has caught my eye. There is one that parks near me at work and I have had to clean my drool off it a few times.
 
Just wanted to see what bike you moved up to after your honda rebel. I love my rebel, I have been looking at many many bikes to move up to but none have given that Wow. Actually all roads keep leading to the HD Iron. But I fear that it's too much of a jump. I thought I would move up to a 650. The boulevard doesn't interest me much. Looked at Honda shadow RS and phantom.
What did you move up to?

Why do you think that moving to an HD is to big a jump? If you are confident in your riding abilities and all that, you can move to anything. My brother started on an HD Ultra Classic. My second bike was a Goldwing 1100, moving from a 400cc Yamaha. Yes it takes getting used to, but after a few days you get a feel for it and then don't even notice the size.
 
The sportster is pretty small as far as cruisers go. That being said, any new bike will take some getting used to. Give it a few days and you'll be good to go.

I moved up from a 250 ninja last year, a small little 300 lb bike. New ride was a VFR800. About 200 lbs more weight and a significant amount of extra power. Way more than a sportster as well. Took me probably 3 days of just commuting to work before it felt "natural".
 
Going bigger doesn't mean you have to go new, stick with Honda but get an 83-83 Magna, you can pick them up regularliy on Kijiji for under 2 grand, and then you still have the look of a cruiser with the performance of a racing bike. Very fun bikes. I had v45 750 as my first bike and love it, i'm going to add a legendary v65 to my collection next. Totally fun and powerful bikes that will kick the crap out of any other cruiser on the roads today, and many sportbikes too.
 
Just wanted to see what bike you moved up to after your honda rebel. I love my rebel, I have been looking at many many bikes to move up to but none have given that Wow. Actually all roads keep leading to the HD Iron. But I fear that it's too much of a jump. I thought I would move up to a 650. The boulevard doesn't interest me much. Looked at Honda shadow RS and phantom.
What did you move up to?

I went from a 250 Rebel to an 1100cc Goldwing. Was fine. Took a few days but after that the bike seemed to shrink around me and I loved it. I became a much better rider as I had been so limited on my Rebel. Glad I made the change when I did. After a few years with the Goldwing I got a HD FLTRX.

If you want the HD Iron then go for it! Just be careful and take your time learning the bike and its limits.
 
Love the different options for me to look at. And it's true, shouldn't take too long to get use to the difference in size/power. Logic says - take it around the hood to get use to it.
Thank you for the ideas and encouragment. Can't wait to be able to go further and further!
 
So what you’re saying is that you’ll be planting your tukus on every available seat this weekend at the bike show.
 
I put about 7,000 km on my Rebel before upgrading to a KYMCO Venox 250. Put 31,000 km on that thing, it's a much, much, much better bike. The Rebel is a joke in comparison.

I had a Sportster. Unless you're going to put money into them to upgrade all of the shortfalls they come from factory with, they're junk too.
I've had a few Suzuki cruisers, the Marauder 800, or the Boulevard M50. Those are nice. Inverted front end can take a pounding.

Skip the 600 and 650 cruisers, they're almost as gutless on the highway as your Rebel. Don't go less than 750, though Suzuki's 800's beat the snot out of Honda's 750s.
 
Love the different options for me to look at. And it's true, shouldn't take too long to get use to the difference in size/power. Logic says - take it around the hood to get use to it.
Thank you for the ideas and encouragment. Can't wait to be able to go further and further!

The day I picked up my ninja, I had like a minute of my feet trying to look for the pegs in front of me n not below me. But after I made it to a gas station it all was fine n I was super happy.

My biggest issue the first few days was the height change and my fear of dropping her, but a few days of riding put that in away :-)
 
My Wife moved from her Rebel (After 4 years) to a Buell Blast (Back in 2000) she still has the blast today.

If you want to stay with a cruiser, Can I recomend the Kawasaki 500 (Vulcon) or the Yamaha 535 Virago
 
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