The Harley-Davidson XR1200 Sportster is a tribute to Jay Springsteen, the flat-track racing legend who muscled the big, heavy XR750 racer to numerous titles and hundreds of race wins on tracks all over the Good ol' US of A. The styling is awesome, beautifully reminiscent of the old XR750 with its clean lines and retro-sport emphasis. It will win many hearts. The bike itself also just happens to be the best Sportster ever to have emerged from Milwaukee, but I couldn't help thinking it could have been a little better.

The XR750 race bike is arguably the winningest ever machine in the history of motorcycle racing. And although it’s been updated along the way in its close to four-decade history XRs still line up on the dirt tracks in the USA, so there’s no doubting this bike’s heritage. That’s not to say Harley-Davidson has put lights on its race bike and sold it to its eager punters. Far from it, the designers have taken the base Sportster 1200, given it more power, a different look, fatter wheels, better suspension and the gorgeous twin exhaust.

Longing to be Cool

I love big naked bikes for their simplicity and their riding positions, you can go hard or just cruise along. So on that fact I was very keen to throw a leg over an XR1200. My first impressions when straddling the bike was it’s heavy to lift off the stand, the handlebars and the footpegs seem just about right, but the seat is a little too low.
It's no wonder the machine is heavy to lift off the sidestand; the bike still uses the 1203cc cast iron 45-degree V-twin engine. Even though the engine is heavy – it would have been nice for Harley-Davidson to build a new all-alloy engine but then the cost of the bike would have been much more you would expect – but it does look cool for cats. Hang on, the whole bike looks cool! Back to the air-cooled engine. It has a real ’50s or even slightly Art Deco look to it. I love Art Deco, it has to be the pinnacle of design and style for me. I keep digressing but this is the bike Steve McQueen would be riding if he were still with us, it would suit his image perfectly.

With 90hp, give or take a couple, the XR1200 goes like no other Sportster I’ve ever ridden. This thing cracks, 200km/h plus, cracks. The sweet spot for the fuel-injected donk is in the 4-5000rpm range, this is where it seems to like being – over that and it starts to be all revs and no extra go – but there’s plenty of torque on tap so the XR can lift its skirt and propel you into the horizon just off idle. Happy days. Did the Fonz ride a Sportster? I can’t remember (he rode both Harleys and Triumphs in general – NP) but a modern style Arthur Fonzarelli would be on an XR1200. Did I mention it’s really cool?

To keep with the minimalist look, the bike didn’t need to have a monstrous air-box covering up the right hand side of the engine. How to fix this? Simply incorporate the airbox into the plastic fuel tank to hide as much of it as possible.
The chassis is based on the standard Sportster but has been reworked to cater for the longer travel suspension and provide quicker steering. Larger twin discs up front, longer twin shocks and a thinly padded seat are all changes over the standard Sportster.

Ride time

The bike judders and shudders beneath you. It’s oddly calming though, sort of like one of those massage chairs you see in the shopping centre, sending low frequency vibes through your body. The twin exhaust emits a lovely restrained yet healthy note, but the ends have rust stains on them already and the hose clamps holding on the heat shields look like Harley bought thousands of them from the two dollar shop and left them sitting out in the open to discolour before they were fitted. What’s that about?

The bike surges forward when you twist the throttle, a quick glance in a shop front window: “damn I look cool on this thing.”
Through suburbia I go, held up on the outskirts by some Bogan in a clapped out VN Commodore who has three teeth in his head and aspirations of driving like Brocky. I don’t need to pass him, he’s looking in his mirror at me, no doubt wishing it was him on the XR and not me.
I blast past this fool and tip into the first decent corner at speed, quite a bit quicker than I would have if riding a regular Sportster.

Through we go without any issues. This thing does handle, it steers and it goes. Out on the highway we cruise at 100 and just soak up the sunshine, looking at the scenery. It’s happy to crack along but it’s happy at this pace too. I turn off to sample the bike in the tight, bumpy stuff. Into the 25-45km corners and the bike behaves much better than I expected, sure you have to muscle the bike into the corner a little when pushing hard but I don’t think of it much, I grew up riding big heavy early ’80s machines anyway. The ground clearance is a revelation, for Harley owners anyway, no other Harley-Davidson I’ve ridden can be leaned over anywhere near this far. The bumps catch out the suspension, both ends are underdamped, and while the brakes are powerful enough they can struggle trying to pull up a wayward front wheel as it bounces along on dodgy surfaces. There’s no need to overwork the five speed ’box, there’s enough torque on tap to hold one gear for ages, but you can catch out the fuelling if you twist the throttle hard from low revs, the engine giving a slight cough asking you to wait up a little.

Time to settle down again and go back to cruise mode. I pull up at my mate’s place. “How cool does that look”! he says.

Final thoughts

I really liked this bike though I thought the finish could have been better. Many of the fasteners looked cheap and agricultural, and for Sportster riders in general the power and handling of the XR1200 will be a revelation. If I owned one I’d rework the forks and turf the shocks for better damped units. That doesn’t mean many riders won’t be totally happy with the suspension as is, they will, but if you like to push hard you would need to look at it.
Fuel range isn’t huge, but if you are easier on the throttle you will see 150-170 kilometres.

It looks awesome, is fun to ride, and at $15,995 is a bargain.