J&P Community

 hi.   my wife is short 5' 1/2".  she can almost foot the new fatboy lo. that seat height is 24.25"  what is the lowest height i can go on a sporty? what years are the best for this conversion? she rides a 250 rebel now and i want to bring her up to a harley. just not ready to dump 20,000 on a new one for her yet.

                                                                           thanks in advance for any help given

 I believe the Nightsters are the lowest seat height sportsters right from dealer. However the stock seat isnt the most comfortable, and an upgraded seat can result in a slightly higher seat height, but not by too much. You can drop most any other stock sportster model a few inches with lowering parts, shocks etc. but who wants to go through all that. The Harley Davidson website should give the seat height figures for each of the models under "specs" or something like that. Oh yeah- the new 883 Iron is basically a NIghtster with an 883 motor instead of a 1200 and is also a few grand less!! Probably a good place to start. But leave a little growing room- even though shes going from a smaller lighter Rebel, it wont taker her long to get used to a bigger heavier and more powerfull bike. You dont want to be back a year later trying to trade up for something bigger when she gets bored with it. As for the years- i hate to say it but stick to something newer, preferably fuel injected. Im sure she doesnt want to have to fiddle around with it getting it started up. Women dont have the patience with mechanical issues as we do- Trust me!!!

 Jeff, I have seen ads for lowering kits for various Harley models.

They might be what you are looking for. These lowering kits lower the bike from 1 to about 3 inches,

Of course the trade off is if your girl will be riding quite aggressivly,

she might realize a slight reduction in available lean.

Check them out.

Good luck, Quiet Bear,