Triumph American vs Harley Sportster 2007.?

Does anyone out there have an opinion which bike is a better bike? Or, is it just a trade off. I've got the money - I'm just not sure which would be the best buy. Reliability vs what... I've been riding dirt bikes all my life. . Now I'm taking to the streets.

i like both quite alot myself.... have a sportster 1200. sounds like a tough decision.... this one is probably gonna be a pure preference thing on your own part, any other answers from here will only come from bias.

my 2 cents say that if you like to monkey around with your ride yourself alot, the sportster might be the choice that gives you more options because of all the aftermarket choices available to it over the triumph.... other than that, it'd be a pretty close call.... both have well respected names and histories, both price comparably, both will have good resale, neither are japanese.
harley will likely be faster to get parts/service around the country just because of a better dealer infrastructure, but if there is a triumph dealer in your city and you don't tour anywhere it's irrelevant..
good choices!

I'm not sure you can get a purely unbiased answer to this question because motorcycle brand allegiance can be intense and too impassioned. This comes from a Sportster rider who loves his bike, but also likes Triumphs. I don't have much riding experience with Trumps however, so I suggest you follow this link for a pretty good perspective of the bikes side by side (Sportster vs. Bonneville in this case).

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/rideand...

If I just had to ride either bike for the next year my deciding factor would be that when you buy a Harley it comes with this whole corny subculture. It's almost like joining a cult. Sorry but I would take the lesser bike to not be associated with any of that. And I have no reason to think the Triumph is in any way the lesser bike.

Also Harley has been the #1 seller for years and with all the copy cats, these bikes look generic. In the 70's the Japanese straight 4 was the generic bike, now it's the V-twin cruiser, boring. If you don't wanna be part of the herd you gotta look at something other than a v-twin cruiser.

Harley dealerships are about as plentiful as beauty shops now days, but Triumph dealers are few and far between. To me this would be a major point. If you are a few hundred miles from home and break down???????

test ride both of them until your butt makes up its mind. If you have your endorsement and they won't let you test ride, go some where else, even another town if need be. Ride for as long as you can too.

for myself,its a harley,'cause thats what i ride,what you ride is completely up to you,you're paying for it and pretty well have to live with your own decision

the sportster is a top heavy ill handling machine,
and the seat is like sitting on a board..
just getting a name...