It started when I realized that as track time was accumulating, it was less and less fun to ride my VTR on the road. It’s sucks to ride at legal speeds, and the lack of corner workers kept me from enjoying supralegal speeds on the street. I figured it was time to look for something that would slow me down.
Shadows and such left me underwhelmed, mostly because of forward controls. I hate forward controls, I don’t feel like I’m actually in charge of the bike. How do you weight a peg two feet in front of you? At one point I was actually going to hunt down a Shadow 750 with a mashed front end, and replace that with an F3 front end I have left over from an unfinished EX track project. Kind of a mini-power cruiser.
Oddly, the only cruiser/standard I could find with normal controls was the Harley Sportster. This wasn’t very appealing, as the last one I rode vibrated so bad I feared I wouldn’t make it around the block!
Then the ‘04s were intorduced...
And a confirmed sport bike guy and play racer (who's alway lusted after Allen Girdler's street going XR), fell in love with the rubber mount 1200R. Couldn't shake it. Kept buying magazines, stopping in at HD dealers as I drove around Texas. Finally got serious when I took a test ride.
Loved it. Far better than the last Sporty I rode (admiteddly 20 years ago +/-) and unlike some of the Shadows and things I've ridden, I could just say "Nice motorcycle" without having to add "for a cruiser" on the back side. I guess the basic nature of the Sporty appeals to me. I look at Dynas and FatBoys and such and see chromed show barges, but the Sporty tugs, making you think of the time when a K bike was the baddest thing on this side of the pond.
Also, the Sporty has some pedigree. What's a Dyna? A stretched Sporty! Where did the XR come from, the Sporty. Where’d the Bostrum brothers get there start? Racing Sportys!
I’m still a little in shock. I’m the last guy I ever thought would buy a Harley, but I surely do like this bike. Sweet spot appears to be 60-70, right where I need it.
It’s actually competitively priced against Japan Inc. A Shadow 1100 is only about $300 less MSRP. Both dealers in Austin will sell Sportys for list, at least in January
Trust me, the difference in paint and chrome quality is worth it. I looked at a Dyna Sport, but the extra weight and six grand weren’t that appealing.
The accessories can kill you, it’s easy to start going “I want this tank” (I did) and “I want this fender” (I did), but it’s also nice to have a bike that is truly your vision of what you want.
So, go to your local Harley barge store, and test ride one. It’s free, and it’s fun. Although in my case, a little expensive!
I think this is the bike Harley needs, in a bad way, as it can attract guys like me into the fold. In another way, I think it’s also a bike the industry needs...just a plain unassuming motorcycle. It’s not Miguel’s bike, it’s not a show barge, it’s just a motorcycle. Somewhere in the era of specialization, we lost that. Is it dawn yet?
Daryl
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