Motorcycle Profile of the Month: Harley-Davidson Sportster
If you want to learn something surprising about the motorcycle industry, talk to a motorcycle dealer. They know consumer trends and whims better than anyone. Here’s a tidbit I wouldn’t have expected—the hottest used motorcycle, according to a Pennsylvania Harley dealer I spoke to recently, is the ageless air-cooled Harley-Davidson Sportster. He can’t get nearly as many used models as he’d like onto his showroom floor. All this from the very motorcycle dismissed by company management and discontinued in 2022, and in news no-one expected, due for a comeback as early as 2027 as part of the Motor Company’s Back to the Bricks strategy.
A Long Legacy of Consistency
While the Sportster can’t compare with the Chevrolet Suburban—launched in 1934—in terms of length of tenure, it isn’t so far behind. From 1957, the Sportster has been prowling the streets with a remarkably consistent mechanical formula while offering an astounding array of variations through the decades.
What hasn’t changed is this: a pair of pushrod-operated valves per cylinder, a 45-degree V-angle to the cylinders, and a less expensive entry point to the Harley-Davidson mystique than the brand’s big twin models.
From Iron-Head Roots to the Evo Era
For nearly the first 30 years (until 1985) the Sportster remained surprisingly consistent. (No-one can accuse Harley of change for the sake of change.) These were the iron-head years, with an engine—you guessed it—with cylinders and heads of cast iron. Big changes came in 1985 with the advent of the Sportster Evo, a much-modernized engine that slowly dragged the model out of its iron-age past. But it wasn’t until 1991 that the model began to take on the form that we know of today.
The Shift to a Five-Speed Transmission
By the 1990s many rival manufacturers had embraced the now-common six-speed transmission, while Harley soldiered on with a very retro four-speed. However, in 1991 Harley capitulated to the forces of change and split the difference with a modern-ish five speed. Truthfully, the Sportster’s engine, in either 883 cc or 1,200 cc guise, is so flexible and easy-going that if any engine out there can make do without a sixth cog, it’s this one.
Rubber Mounting Changes the Ride
The final chapter in the Sportster’s evolution came in 2004, when the vibratory engine was rubber mounted. This change divided the Sportster’s rabid fanbase into two groups. Traditionalists lamented the 65 lb weight gain and less surefooted handling brought about by rubber mounting, while everyone else rejoiced that long rides would no longer be plagued by numb fingers, toes and tailbones.
Which Sportster Is Right for You?
Now that you’re intrigued by one of the 2,164 Sportsters currently available on Cycle Trader, which variant is right for you? That’s a complicated question. Because while the basic architecture of the bike remained consistent, Harley—true to form—created an array of models so diverse that it dramatically changed the character of the bike. Take the Sportster Forty-Eight and Sportster 72, for example. Two drastically different approaches to the same basic platform.
Sportster Models to Consider
The Sportster is often thought of as a beginner bike simply because its seat, on most models, is exceptionally low. (They even had a model called the Sportster Low and Super Low—which were really low.) But your view of the model shouldn’t be tainted by the beginner moniker. A few models of note include the Iron 1200 (produced from ’09 to ’13), which, despite its moniker, didn’t reprise the ancient cast-iron engine, and one of the quirkiest of them all, the Sportster 72 (’12 to ’16), which featured a skinny front wheel, a buckhorn handlebar and metal-flake paint. It was exactly the kind of bike you’d find plying the roads in, say, 1972. A few other models worth considering are the bare-bones Sportster Forty-Eight (’10 to ’21), with its snub-nosed visage and chunky front tire, and the XR1200 (’08 to ’13), an upright roadster with dirt-track inspired bodywork.
What the Sportster Does Best
Irrespective of the model, it’s important to note what the Sportster is and what it isn’t. If you’re a six-feet or more, finding a model that fits can be a challenge—it’s an ideal motorcycle for the inseam challenged. And even in 1,200 cc form its power is sufficient though modest. But as an around-town or low-key Sunday morning cruiser the Sportster—any Sportster—has few rivals. Something the mother corp. has come to realize just a little too late.
A Comeback in the Works
Harley’s previous management team pulled the plug on the air-cooled Sportster in 2022 and refocused resources onto more expensive, higher-margin machines. With it, they killed its most popular model. But what can be done can be undone.
Harley’s new CEO has announced that the air-cooled Sportster is returning. We don’t know what it’ll look like and no date for its release has been announced, but it goes to show what the bike’s fans have always known—simple, charming, soulful motorcycles never go out of style.
Marketplace Inventory
Neil Graham
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