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Harley Sportster....any experience of them here?


oldenough

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The 883 is a great starter bike, its just as fast as the 1200 sporty. The gearing is somewhat higher to make up for the lower horsepower & torque difference.

The bikes are dependable until you start tinkering with upgrades & such, then it depends on whats installed and done correctly or not.

I believe this applies to everything mechanical, If someone takes the time to do it right it will last and be dependable, If someone is a hack good luck ever using it again

I have unfortunately followed both :angry:

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The 883 is a great starter bike, its just as fast as the 1200 sporty. The gearing is somewhat higher to make up for the lower horsepower & torque difference.

The bikes are dependable until you start tinkering with upgrades & such, then it depends on whats installed and done correctly or not.

I believe this applies to everything mechanical, If someone takes the time to do it right it will last and be dependable, If someone is a hack good luck ever using it again

I have unfortunately followed both :angry:

Absolutely, couldn't agree more. I spent every weekend at Great lakes dragway racing whatever i was working on (mostly Olds & Mopar) and if my cars were apart there was always Mom or Dad's car.

Worked great until dad found some time slips in the glovebox, woopsie. :lol:

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Nice rick,

I wish i still had mine but life had other ideas.

I worked for along time and in 2002 i walked into the local harley dealer with 7100.00 cash and loaded the sporty on the truck (they would not let me ride it out without a license) I took it home, unloaded it fired it up and went for a ride, (First bike i had owned), I never did get a license put over 10000 miles on it over the next couple years, sold it to buy an flh, sold that to buy a road king, sold the road king to buy a house. bought and sold 3 more bikes after that. after all that I liked the sporty the best (its the only one i miss)

Joe

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Glad your enjoying your Sportster Rick, I think I have convinced myself to hold on to the one I got. I too would like to experience a Harley and just hope the experience is better this time around, just gotta wait for the weather to break.

I hear ya on the weather!! In 2012, I rode up until Nov 26 before storing it at my mother's for the winter (I didn't have a place to keep it where I lived at the time). In 2013, I rode up until Nov 10th before the weather turned here. But I now live where I can keep it stored inside, and thought for sure we'd get at least a couple of mild winter days to ride. It hasn't happened, and I'm sooo ready for spring... :emotion-21:

Edited by Rick
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Nice rick,

I wish i still had mine but life had other ideas.

I worked for along time and in 2002 i walked into the local harley dealer with 7100.00 cash and loaded the sporty on the truck (they would not let me ride it out without a license) I took it home, unloaded it fired it up and went for a ride, (First bike i had owned), I never did get a license put over 10000 miles on it over the next couple years, sold it to buy an flh, sold that to buy a road king, sold the road king to buy a house. bought and sold 3 more bikes after that. after all that I liked the sporty the best (its the only one i miss)

Joe

Hey Joe (hmm, makes me want to play some Hendrix now :) ),

I've always figured you must own or have owned a sportster with your username...

The only thing I regret is trying to save money on the luggage rack. The one I got was $50, and there was another one for $100. The more expensive one is the same, but it is longer, going all the way to the rear seat mounting bolt. I think mine looks funny with that gap in between it and the seat. I'm going to get the longer one soon...

Just curious, did you ever get that motorcycle license? :P

11-18-12017.jpg?t=1392058469

Edited by Rick
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Rick if you want to get rid of the smaller rack let me know ok...

Will do. I'll likely order the longer one in the next few weeks. I'm not sure how much it would cost to ship it to you in B.C., but I'd sell it to you for $25 plus shipping. Does that sound reasonable?

Here's a view of the rack from the top:

11-18-12015.jpg

Edited by Rick
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Hey rick

No never got that license, I thought you could remove the seat tab, and bolt the front of the rack to the seat which allowed the rear luggage rack mount hole to line up with the fender hole. i used solo seats only myself, I have pics somewhere but i think they are all film ill have to take a look and see if i can find some

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I just sold a custom Street Glide. Before that I had two fatboys and two sportsters. The 883 will be very underpowered for you.

As for the earlier comment about the 883 being as fast as the 1200, that is ridiculous.

Shakey

The 883 will keep up with the 1200 til about 75-80 MPH. The motor has less power but its geared higher.

Its all in the gearing.

Look around on the Harley forum if theres any doubt about my claim.

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