You won’t be happy with the 1300. You will get bored with it and outgrow it in a few months. You should just go ahead and get the VMAX. Does that sound stupid? I am not sure what you after here. Engine power? Do you want a big rumble under your seat? Do you just want a pretty bike. If it is power you want, then maybe cruisers are not what you are looking for and maybe you should just get a track bike. You like the rumble, get a sportster. You want a pretty bike, sorry but mine is not for sale.
Basically, with a motorcycle, you are straddling a combustion engine kinda like Wiley Coyote stratling an Acme rocket. When you first start out you don’t want the moon or bust rocket, you want something more managable. We all know Wiley Coyote went with the bigger is better theory and he crashed every time. Honestly on a cruiser, you aren’t out to set any land speed records or to go out carving up twisties. A cruiser is going out for a nice comfortable, relaxing ride.
“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine