I know most of you like sportsbikes but just curious what you think about the new Sportster 48. Would you buy one?
yeah i like that, good thing about sporsters is the main harley/hog contingent dont recognise em and turn there nose up at em, pr1cks, lol
i do like the xr/flat tracker 1 too.
Yeah I am there with you…I love harleys and own a Sportster myself but not sure about all that HOG attitude…
can’t believe you’re even thinking about a Harley lol.
snobbery goes both ways i see, lol.
nothing wrong with harleys if thats your style of riding, not every1 wants to go about at top speed etc.
Like it 
I like it. Would have to do a few things to it, but it’s cool.
yep like it wont it:D
To be honest I like the look of it…but when I sat on it in Excel bike show I thought the little solo seat was very uncomfortable…:w00t:
Why would falling in love with an expensive pile of American pre-rusting bolts constitute snobbery?
There are some fun cruisers - quality made that is - by Buell, Moto Guzzi. HD are not one of those, not at the Sportster bottom end. Check out the specifications for a similar (cheaper) priced bike like a Moto Guzzi Griso. You’re not getting a great deal on a Harley; still paying top £ for brand name, rather than performance and quality.
i agree m8 when buying a harley you are paying for the name/lifestyle etc but there is no geting way from it they look nice, how they ride etc i dont know cos i never had 1.
ps. that guzzi griso is horrible and guzzi’s are not better in reliability.
I had a Sporty 883R, 02 model in orange for a couple of years, really wish I’d kept it!
Quick enough for me, all day comfortable, reliable, handling pretty good once you replace the crap Dunlops that come on the bike (I used Contis) and put in progressive fork springs & heavier oil.
It even had good brakes (twin discs on the “R”).
No rust even though I live by the sea (no I wasn’t cleaning it all the time!).
Did at least one 400 mile day and many 200 plus without any aches & pains (and actually the placement of the top shock mountings some moan about HELPED ease my coccyx problem…got a bad back, go for a ride!)
Oh and I was getting around 60mpg on a run…
Never, ever broke down.
Dunno about the rubbermount version as I haven’t ridden one, people go on about the vibes on the older bikes but you just ride round it to be honest.
I have sat on the XR and didn’t like the seat…also think it’s a bit fussy!
Didn’t get into the HoG/Big Twins v Sportsters thing…as with everything there’s pros and cons I guess.
If you really want to be in a club I found the Harley Davidson Riders’ Club of GB very welcoming with none of the bullsh*t. Down to earth people who RIDE their bikes!
Would I buy the bike featured…no, but only because I haven’t got £7k!
They do seem to have gone up a lot but then when I looked in my local jap & Triumph shop the other day so has everything else!
Must admit I’d rather spend the money on a decent, low mileage, older bike (best of all the 1200 Sport some versions of which have what is effectively a Buell engine) and upgrade the suspension, fit a larger tank, and buy petrol…lots of it!
Not sure about the nice thing??? :crazy:
The Moto Guzzi Griso is one phenomenal engine! Reliability is way up there with the best of the Italians - think Aprilia (and Piaggio, their parent company) and not Ducati. They might have had electronics issues in the 90’s - those days are long gone.
HD however…haven’t really innovated. They’ve just sat there putting on more weight 
Trouble is they don’t really have a great deal of incentive to innovate!
Their core product still sells in their biggest market (or at least did until recently) and a lot of Harley buyers don’t seem to like radical changes. It does seem that many (most?) of the developments that have happened to the range have been due more to things like emissions regs getting tighter than any other factor.
I seem to remember when the V-Rod first appeared that a lot of HD fans did not really accept it; probably a lot of them still don’t.
In some ways the same could be said for the Sportster, which was HDs answer to the Brit invasion post WW2…and that came out a mere 52 years ago!
If they got innovative they would risk alienating a lot of their customers, the attitude of some of whom is summed up neatly by the T-shirt/sticker that says “If I had to explain, you probably wouldn’t understand!”
That’s a beautiful bike. Wonder how reliable it is, being a Harley and all. Saw one on eBay not too long ago, something got loose in the gearbox, if I remember correctly it was a plastic pin, and destroyed it (after 10k miles).