Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

What is all this blather about the Sportster being a beginner's bike?

The junk that you read online about the Sportster
paints this picture of the rider.

What follows is a bit of a rant and a dissertation about Sportster performance. 

Any late 60's or early '70's Sportster could easily run down the quarter mile in the mid to high 13 second range and top out at 110 mph! 

What a lot of "modern" Harley guys don't know, is that the Sportster was the "World's Fastest Motorcycle" for quite a few years. Yes, there were a few low production exotics like the Vincent, but the King of the production bikes was the Sporster of the late '60's. However, time and the evolving competition eclipsed the Sporty's thunder by the early 1970's. Then it was steadily de-tuned through the 1980's. Even though the displacement grew to 1,000 ccs in '72, that was done primarily because of the more restrictive modifications to the bike concerning noise standards. 

Bronson's bike had a big dual pipe and muffler set up. The separate staggered duals were still an option for the XLCH, but they were too noisy to pass muster in the early 1970's. Especially in California. HD eventually came out with a stamped and welded assembly that resembled Bronson's muffler set up, but was a single restrictive assembly. This became known as the "California " muffler. Other states still got the staggered duals, and California guys bought the bike and removed the offending muffler. Immediately!

Cycle World tested a '72 1,000cc XLCH.

Note the welded muffler, and the kick start lever.

As delivered, it turned the 1/4 mile in 13.38 seconds @ 97.71 mph. They substituted a straight pipe set up and rejetted the carbs and returned a 12.76 second @ 102.62 mph. Quite an improvement, and it shows how restrictive the OEM exhaust system was. Top speed for the stock set up was 116 mph. Fuel economy was 43 mpg. not too bad.

This was pretty representative of the best of stock Ironhead XL performance. This performance may pale in comparison with later Japanese big bore, multi cylinder superbikes, (think Kawasaki Z1, and later Suzuki multis) but it was still a pretty quick machine that could be improved by a serious hot rodder. 

Of course the Sportster's competition wasn't standing still. In 1970 Cycle World magazine did a Superbike Showdown and while the Sporty didn't win, it still was competitive in some areas. However this test marked the end of the Spotster's top performance crown.

Sportster performance declined steadily over the following years. 

Harley gave up on engineering a better performing exhaust system and went back to a very restrictive set of interconnected, shorty staggered duals.

Along the way, the air cleaner was sealed, with only a snorkel in the back. This eventually led to the chrome "Ham Can" filter of the late 1970s and early '80's with the little scoop built into the front. 

For 1977 a new two into one collector pipe and muffler was developed and that helped gain a bit of performance back, but the Bendix carb had been replaced by a Japanese Kehein unit. Years before, the Tillotson was replaced by the Bendix. This had been done in an attempt to improve kick starting, which was abysmal with that big Tillotson! 

Cycle World tested a '77 Sportster, equipped with an electric starter. 1979 would be the last year of the kick start XLCH. It sported the two into one collector exhaust system with as sealed air cleaner housing. It did the 1/4 mile in 14.22 seconds @ 92.68 mph. They pulled the muffler and recorded a time of 13.30 seconds, (no mph. noted) and a top speed run of 113 mph. sans muffler. 

1977 XLCR
When I saw this bike, I had to have one.
It's the only brand new bike that I ever bought.

My '77 XLCR, purchased new, had been tested by Cycle magazine and returned a 1/4 mile time of 13.08 seconds. The factory guys took the bike to a different strip and returned with a time slip of 12.79 seconds. How they achieved this was not disclosed in the article. The Cycle World test bike, if I recall correctly, was running 49 state mufflers. My California version had slightly more restrictive mufflers and would have been a bit slower. 

'79 Siamese exhaust with the Ham Can.
I think that it looks okay from this side.

1979 brought a single year adoption of the Siamese dual pipe system that debuted on the XLCR in 1977, probably the best exhaust of that period. Like the Big Twin FLH models, it allowed the engine to breathe through two interconnected pipes connected to two large mufflers. A definite improvement. But it was considered to be too ugly, and didn't fit in with the Sportster's image.

And as we all know, Sportsters are all about image.

Here is a photo of the last kick start model, the 1979 XLCH. I would guess that it saved about twenty five pounds over the electric start version.

These are extremely rare. Note that the Siamese duals are gone.

My buddy Rick bought a new XLS, it was a beautifully finished bike,
Could you live with that pipe hanging out there? 

Cycle World tested a '79 XLS model. It ran the quarter mile in 13.38 seconds @92.78 mph. Top speed after a 1/2 mile run was 104 mph. Fuel economy was 50 mpg. You can see that this set up was a definite improvement over the 1977 model. 

Harley again went back to a very restrictive set of interconnected shorty staggered duals. Choked down to pass noise emission standards. To hell with performance, they just had to get people to buy the bikes!

Road test riders usually find redeeming qualities
after initially being disdainful of the HD.

In 1984 Cycle tested an XLX 1000 model. It was the basic Sportster model that was eventually offered at a bargain price of 3,995. There were many improvements made to this model. A better clutch, an alternator replaced the separate generator, and braking had been substantially improved even with a single disc brake. 60-0 resulted in a stop of 112 ft. The 1/4 mile passed in 13.88 seconds @ 93.75 mph. Top speed was 108 mph after 1/2 mile and it returned 60 mpg. No more pulling the mufflers by magazine test riders.

The final Iron head models combined restricted exhaust systems with sealed air cleaners, a smaller carb (my XLCR had a 38 mm Kehein carb) and milder camshafts. No wonder the bikes were down on power. It was a dark period for the Sportster.

The first 883 Evolution Sportsters were an improvement on the earlier XL engine in technical terms, but they were still down on power compared to the earlier bikes. 

Of course owners were free to modify their bikes for better performance. They changed out the air cleaners, and pipes almost immediately on purchase. Cams, carbs, and stroker kits followed for the hardcore. But there is only so much that can be done.

It is interesting that the Sportster's level of stock performance was set in the early 1970's and they didn't get any faster after that. Instead it was about gaining back what they could from the detuning necessary to pass emission requirements. 

Big Twin riders reading this shouldn't feel too smug, those big dressers were always much slower than any Sportster!

While the Sportster was never able to run with the Big Dogs after the 1970's, it was still a pretty fast bike in absolute terms. Plenty quick to get a novice rider into trouble. It really only suffers in comparison. Ride the bike by yourself, or with a group of Harley riders and you'll have a good time. Try to keep up with your buddies on newer sports bikes and you're likely to feel that your bike is underpowered and slow.

The Evolution Sportster 883 saw displacement increases to 1,100 ccs and finally to 1,200ccs. I don't know what the performance numbers are for my '06 1200, but, by the seat of the pants, it doesn't feel any quicker than my old '77. However the gearing is much better with the five speed, and it's definitely smoother with the belt drive and the rubber mounted engine. 

Sure, a beginner could get a Sportster as their first bike. It is smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the Big Twin models. Though I think that it would take longer for a new rider to develop confidence in their skills to where they could extract the maximum performance. 

My career on bikes started about as small as you could get; a 50cc Honda that my Dad brought home. I bought a 160 Honda as my first bike and it had the capabilities to allow me to ride it in different conditions, including the freeway, which exposed me to a broader learning curve. With smaller bikes you learn to wring out all the available power, all the time. Once I made it into the 300+ cc level of bikes, I was able to ride with a little bit left in reserve. 

I think that working your way up in size is the better idea. I've spoken to some prospective riders and suggested that they start with a smaller, older, cheaper, bike. I guarantee that they will drop their bike during the learning process, maybe even at higher street speeds. No need to subject a more expensive machine to such abuse. 

Besides you don't even know if you're going to like riding. Why spend so much money before you're certain? 

Of course, you might not look as cool as you want to. But you will end up as a more capable rider.

It kinda looks the business.

After I researched and wrote this post I found a couple of articles online about more recent 1200 Sportsters.

The first was a Cycle World test that dealt with the 2006 and newer XR1200. 

This was a model that was quite different from run of the mill Sportsters. It had a special intake system with an electrically controlled flapper valve that admitted more air, better oiling, and a trick two into one, into two, high rise exhaust system. Internally it had more work and it was the most powerful stock Sporty ever. It was rated at 79.2 HP with around 70 ft. lbs. of torque. It also had special forks and swing arm and specific chassis tuning for improved handling. 

Then there was another article, also from Cycle World, that described the 2015 XL1200 Roadster. This was of course the conventional 1200cc model. It was rated at 61 hp. and 69 ft.lbs. of torque.

What surprised me was the performance numbers of each bike. 

The standard Sporty ran pretty much like any Sportster since the '80's: 1/4 mile: 13.37 seconds. Top speed of 115 mph.

You might be expecting much better numbers from the XR 1200, but you might be a bit disappointed. I know that I was. All that trick stuff and it did the quarter mile in 12.42 seconds. Top speed was 122 mph. Braking from 60- 0 was 132 ft. True drag racing match results can be determined by one hundredths of a second, between winner and loser. Street riding usually has much wider margins.

Back in the '70's a fast bike was one thing. Today the fast bikes are so much quicker and faster. I remember when the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 back in the '90's could hit 160 mph. And the imported bikes have just gotten quicker and faster.

Of course these were factory stock motorcycles, they had to conform to noise and emission standards. If you look back at the info on the '72 1,000 cc model, the numbers are pretty close to the newer XR1200, if the '72 was running an open pipe. If you were to bore and stroke an old Ironhead, flow the heads, and add some really hot cams and a big racing carb, you could easily outperform the XR1200. Sportster drag racers like Leo Payne rode much quicker modified drag racing machines. 

Which is neither here, nor there.

As you can see, the Sportster has a "certain" level of performance. More can be coaxed out of it, but there are limits. 

Back when I was working at General Motors, one of the guys had a modified hot rod Sportster. I didn't know too much about Harleys back then, so I had no idea of how modified it was. One night after work we both got on the freeway. He accelerated to 70-75 mph. or so, and I thought I'd show him what was what. I blew past him on my '74 Honda CB750 stocker. Suddenly I heard a roar, and that Sporty shot past me! I downshifted into fourth and wound it up to 100 mph. That Sportster rocketed away from me until the tail light was just a receding red dot! My Honda ran up to 110 mph. and I gave it up. That bike was the fastest thing that I'd ever seen. Then, or since.

I later learned that the bike was a full race street hot rod: bored, stroked, cammed, carbed, and more. I have no idea how big the motor was, but 80 inches would have been a good guess. 

So what's the point of this whole discussion?

If you want a fast Sportster you can build one. Pretty much out of any older model. Of course it won't be as smooth, reliable, or refined as a later factory bike. But it's up to you. Will it be competitive against newer import bikes? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. The return on investment will be low.

But my whole point is that the Sportster is plenty fast as a street bike for the guy who's not interested in racing anyone. Buy one, modify it to taste and enjoy it. It's plenty of bike as it is.