sportster

It will upset some on here but I would never rubbish anyone on a Harley of any kind except maybe wannabe pirates. I have a lot of mates that ride Harley's hard. One has a 1200 sportster. The only place my Roadster will beat it is in a straight line, he can ride around me when I have everything on the deck leaning on it. In the corners where it counts light weight and ground clearance is hard to beat. Any hard ridden Dyna Glide can get away from a hard ridden Roadster in the mountains if he starts out infront. If the Roadster starts out infront you can use that power out of the corners to keep him behind you. As I've said on here before a hard ridden Goldwing will out corner a hard ridden Roadster. Don't know if that upsets anyone but that's the facts. Rockets are fast and have reasonable groundclearance Sportsters are slower but can go round corners faster and if your on Mt Lindsay road the Sportster will beat you.:ninja:
 
TOMCAT said:
A well ridden 1200 Sporty would give a poorly ridden Rocket a run for it's money through the twisties .. as Bruce said. Riders skill level makes a lot of difference .. and courage plays a part as well :thumbsup:
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Well, racing a Rocket is obviously a mixed bag. There is that weight of 800+ pounds, plus the engine is actually too brutal when accelerating out of tight corners. Cardan shaft and original suspension are also not optimal, for fast riding in the twisties.
It's clearly easier to kill yourself racing a Rocket there, than a Sportster.

But that's not the point IMHO. You better race a mammoth where racing a mammoth is due. And there she will even embarass sports bike riders. :cool:
 
bruce aussie said:
It will upset some on here but I would never rubbish anyone on a Harley of any kind except maybe wannabe pirates. I have a lot of mates that ride Harley's hard. One has a 1200 sportster. The only place my Roadster will beat it is in a straight line, he can ride around me when I have everything on the deck leaning on it. In the corners where it counts light weight and ground clearance is hard to beat. Any hard ridden Dyna Glide can get away from a hard ridden Roadster in the mountains if he starts out infront. If the Roadster starts out infront you can use that power out of the corners to keep him behind you. As I've said on here before a hard ridden Goldwing will out corner a hard ridden Roadster. Don't know if that upsets anyone but that's the facts. Rockets are fast and have reasonable groundclearance Sportsters are slower but can go round corners faster and if your on Mt Lindsay road the Sportster will beat you.:ninja:
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What about my gumboot ( car tire ) haha
 
Rocket65 said:
Sometimes I ride with a guy that has an 883 sportster. I don't rub his nose in it all the time, but I can't help running off and leaving him some. He is getting a 1200 kit put in and also a screaming eagle air filter. I suspect his plan is to be able to run with the rocket. I still won't have any problem with him I don't think. will follow up with results. Mine is stock except for tors and tors tune.
He doesn't say but I think he is paying a fortune for that 1200 kit install.
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I had an 883 Sportster. Until someone told me I looked like a pumpkin on a pimple.
 
ThingKing said:
Well, racing a Rocket is obviously a mixed bag. There is that weight of 800+ pounds, plus the engine is actually too brutal when accelerating out of tight corners. Cardan shaft and original suspension are also not optimal, for fast riding in the twisties.
It's clearly easier to kill yourself racing a Rocket there, than a Sportster.

But that's not the point IMHO. You better race a mammoth where racing a mammoth is due. And there she will even embarass sports bike riders. :cool:
Click to expand...

Can you please send that to Bruce Aussie and Canberra R3 as a PM .. obviously they are blistfully unaware of the inherent dangers of riding a Rocket at break-neck speed through twisting mountain ranges.... as I was trying to catch the mad buggers :roll:
 
First just have to throw this out there, R3R vs Wing - Not even the same kind of bike, compare the Wing to a Trophy not a rocket, those are closer in class.

Assuming all is bone stock straight from the dealer lets look at some things:

Tires: Stock 880s are far stickier than the garbage that comes on harleys.
Brakes: Brakes, not even a contest, extra weight be ****ed, the Rocket stops with an insane amount of force. Money that a single front disc XL1200 with more rear weight bias and much worse suspenders would add a huge amount to the R3R stopping distance.
Weight: XL1200 - 553 dry, Dyna 650 dry, R3R 704 dry.
Suspension: The base XL1200 and R3R have only rear pre-load adjustment, so that at least is even.

In the real world it will all come down to the rider, as usual. Same pilot, familiar with both bikes on a timed course, rocket is going to win every.. single.. time.


My anecdotal evidence:rolleyes: :
Considering I leave most of the locals with hopped up Thruxtons for dead around corners (straights they don't even try), I seriously doubt a XL1200 will put up a fight with anything less than well versed track rider in command. On the same note though, I usually leave the jap 1000 riders for dead on twisties on my Daytona 955, a "fat and slow" sports bike....

The real problem in comparing any HD to anything else even remotely sporty, is the vast majority of HD riders I know, have no desire to go corner fast, usually its 10-15 mph over the posted limit and that is fast for them. They are 40-60 hp bikes, sold on an image, to people looking to have a certain image. It doesn't lend itself to finding many who can or want to actually ride hard.

Start talking modified bikes, then I would hand the win to the XL1200 however. They have pretty much the entire list of mod parts available from mild bolt on, to wild 9 second drag bike, to flat track setups, to road racing setups etc at their disposal.
 

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