Selepas tiga tahun sejak memperkenalkan model konsep menerusi 1250 Custom, Harley-Davidson akhirnya merasmikan Sportser S, sebagai penyambung legasi model Sporster jenama itu.
Sportster S ini juga dilihat bakal sertai Pan America sebagai penyelamat jenama syarikat dari Milwaukee itu, ekoran saban tahun merekodkan penjualan yang kurang memberangsangkan.
Bernadikan 1250 Revolution Max, enjin 1,252cc V-Twin DOHC dengan penyejukan cecair itu menawarkan 121hp dan 127Nm sekaligus menjadikan model ini antara yang paling berkuasa dikalangan model Harley-Davidson.
Bagi meningkatkan lagi pengalaman menunggang, Sportster S turut dilengkapi ciri variable valve timing (VVT) dan ‘self-adjusting lifters, fungsi sama yang terdapat pada model ADV, Pan America.
Dalam usaha menghasilkan jentera yang ringan, bahagian enjin kini juga berfungsi sebagai bahagian yang menyerap tekanan (stressed member engine) yang bertindak sebagai elemen struktur aktif sekaligus mengetepikan fungsi kerangka konvensional.
Hasilnya, Sportster S ini hanya seberat 227 kilogram lantas meningkatkan kawalan tunggangan.
Antara ciri lain ditawarkan adalah penyerap hentakan belakang (jenis piggyback) Showa boleh laras dan fork USD 43mm juga dari Showa, paparan TFT 4″ dengan Bluetooth connectivity, lampu LED penuh dan tiga mod tunggangan dengan dua mod custom, port USB-C , tangki 11.8L dan cruise control.
Sistem membrek dikendalikan kaliper Brembo jenis radial yang dipadankan bersama cakera brek (tunggal) 320mm depan dan 260mm belakang. Namun, kami berasakan dengan tayar depan berukuran 160/70-17, Sportser S ini wajar diberikan cakera brek berkembar dengan dua kaliper monoblock Brembo.
Sportster S ini juga dilengkapi dengan fungsi moden antaranya 6-axis IMU yang menawarkan cornering ABS, traction control, Drag-Torque Slip Control dan tekanan angin tayar.
Harley-Davidson Sportster S ini didatangkan dengan pilihan warna Vivid Black, Stone Washed White Pearl, and Midnight Crimson dan ditawarkan pada harga bermula USD14,999.
The Harley-Davidson Sportster line-up has just gotten even more attractive in conjunction with Art of Speed 2019.
Harley-Davidson Sporter models are now produced CKD (complete knocked down) in Thailand. That qualifies them for NAFTA exemption, hence lower selling prices.
But lower selling price or otherwise, the Sportster still exudes a livelier and characterful ride compared to its bigger brethren. It’s not saying that the bigger Softail and Touring families are not good, but the Sportster 883 or Sportster 1200 models are lighter, more agile and accelerate quickly. Those qualities make them more practical for daily use.
Now, you can experience the Sportster through the special deal.
Get one at the Art of Speed 2019 and Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) will throw in a set of Screamin’ Eagle exhausts. On top of that, enjoy worry free 2-year, unlimited mileage warranty. Those are great reasons to just get a brand-new unit.
But hurry because the offer is only for a limited number of units.
Priced from RM 62,600, loans are arrangeable through HDPJ – up to 7 years repayment at 3.6% per annum.
You can view the new Harley-Davidson Sportsters at the Art of Speed 2019, happening on 27thand 28thJuly, at MAEPS Serdang.
Do you own a Harley-Davidson Sportster? Or do you know someone who does? Then this would be a good time to pay attention as you stand a chance to save some serious cash on maintenance cost, or possibly even help someone save some cash.
What’s happening?
Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) and Harley-Davidson of Penang (HDPG) are hosting a special Sportster service campaign specially for Sportster owners. It does not matter which year the bike is or where it was bought from, HDPJ and HDPG will be happy to welcome you and your Sportster for this service campaign.
When is it happening?
Now until 31st January 2019, HDPJ and HDPG are offering a special “buy one and get one free” service package.
Will it blow up my bank account?
No! What would usually cost close to RM900, is now available for just RM549. The package includes one Major Service (that involves a engine oil change, transmission oil change, filter change, a brake flush as well as a diagnostics and general inspection) as well as a Minor Service that also involves all of the above expect except for a transmission oil change.
If I buy the package now, do I have to use it immediately?
No! The best thing about this deal is that you can buy the package now or at any point before Jan 31st 2019, and use it anytime within 2019.
Wow, great deal! Where do I buy one of these packages?
Interested? For more information, you can call +60379559399 if you would like to visit Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya, or call +6045062200 for Harley-Davidson of Penang.
We would be bluffing if we said we didn’t drop our jaws at what could be the all-new Harley-Davidson Sportster for 2020. It looks like something Wolverine would ride right into the heat of battle. Whatever it is, the new Harley-Davidson 1,250cc Custom is stunning.
It features the classic cruiser design lingo with a low and long stance that gives it a hardcore roadster like stance. And powered by a 1,250cc, liquid-cooled, V-twin engine, you can expect this bike to be quite a beast.
Harley-Davidson has not released much details besides this photo and some information regarding its engine such as the fact that the engine uses a 60-degree V configuration. The cylinder heads are also unusually large and our source suggests that the engine could feature a dual-overhead-cam valve train. Also from the photo you can tell that the cylinders do not have any fins for cooling, which means the engine relies on a water-to-air radiator to keep the engine running at its ideal temperature.
The engine may look visually similar to the 975cc unit powering the Streetfighter (click to read about the new Streetfighter), but the displacement is obviously different, suggesting that Harley-Davidson could be building two variants of the same engine.
Watch Harley-Davidson’s promotional video below, showcasing its past, future plans, and the 4 new models it plans to introduce next year.
Just like the Streetfighter, the engine is mounted inside a blacked-out tubular steel frame, with multiple engine-mounts located in front and behind the cylinder heads. The swing-arm has obviously been stretched and elongated to accommodate the massive 16-inch Pirelli tyre. The rear suspension is kept out of view but the front is obviously managed by an inverted fork with a 17-inch front rim kept in check by a pair of hydraulic disc brakes.
The sitting position appears to be a mix of performance and comfort, suggested by the forward-mounted foot controls and the tracker-style handlebars.
From the photo, you can also make out other aesthetic features such as the cable-actuated clutch, Fat-Bob style LED headlights, and dropped mirrors positioned beneath the handle bars.
Harley-Davidson has confirmed that it plans to introduce this bike as a production model in 2020 alongside the Pan America and Streetfighter.
The Harley-Davidson Sportster is the oldest continuously produced motorcycle. It has been in production since 1957, and though a lot has changed, park new and original together and you will still be able to pick out some similarities through 60 years of evolution.
This is something the geeks in product development call ‘product continuation’, it is the retention of the DNA of a particular model so it can develop and evolve but yet stay true to the original. Sometimes in design, sometimes in purpose.
But the Sportster is special because it is one of the few motorcycles that is perfectly adaptable to being multiple versions of the same bike.
And that is what has made it immensely successful, because it can be a bike to ride up to the mountains or go touring with. It has spawned variants that were absolutely devilish in corners yet perfectly friendly for newbies to get started with.
The popularity of the Sportster grew at about the same time as the Triumph Bonneville’s, the Norton’s and the Enfield’s. The rise of today’s modern retro machine is considered to be a revival of this era, and the Sportster Iron 1200 is the perfect salute with its classic styling.
Fast and stylish with radical chopper styling, the Sportster Iron 1200 we rode in Croatia is everything Harley-Davidsons were meant to be from the start, fast and stylish.
To the uninitiated, the Iron 1200 may look just like an Iron 883 with taller mini-ape handle bars instead of the usual flat-bend handle bars on the regular Iron. But the Iron 1200 is not just the same motorcycle with a bigger engine, it is very much its own motorcycle.
It has plenty of style to begin, it could have been on the cover of U2’s Achung Baby and would have fit right in with the AMF-era tank stripes.
And just like the original Sportster intended, the Iron 1200 is brilliantly fun in corners. It shares the same chassis as the Iron 883 so it has the same frame, wheels, suspension and just about everything else. In fact, despite the fact that the it has a bigger engine and taller handle bars, it manages to be less than a kilogram heavier than the Iron 883, which is a feat by itself.
So the two are clearly siblings, just with different characters. You sit with your fists in the wind, the mid-set foot pegs giving you a perfectly adapted peg-scrapping sitting position, and the big 19-inch front wheel makes this Sportster one of the best handling in its class. It also has an amazingly comfortable seat, much much more comfortable than the 48 Special.
But it is that engine that suddenly makes this Sportster Iron everything it should have been right from the start. The Iron 883 was great but it was also very much an “entry-level” model at one point of time so it felt limited when it came to performance. The Iron 1200 obviously built around the fun package of the 883, but with heaps more fun.
So it all begins with a new air-cooled evolution engine which has 30% more capacity than the 883 and produces about 100Nm of torque. The engine is connected to the same 5-speed gearbox as the 883 though with different gear ratios. As with most Harley-Davidsons, the best way to ride the 1202cc engine is just to leave it in a higher gear and ride the mountain of torque is offers through the corners. Of course, you could bang down the gears and catapult out of corners too. Either way the Iron 1200 is happy to oblige.
But as fun as that sounds, there’s an unnerving feel as you get on the throttle though. Just as the bike piles on some speed, the front goes into a mini-wobble as the bike squats on maximum acceleration. It is not very noticeable but it is there everytime you blast out of a corner.
And matching all the fun and power is some fantastic handling. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t have fun with Harley-Davidsons because the Iron 1200 is brilliant in corners. Purists will love the fact that it does not come with a lot of electronics like ABS (optional) and traction control. And the entire meter cluster has been flushed down to the bare necessities, giving you only the most important information. And don’t let that headlight cover fool you, it sucks at deflecting the onslaught of wind, the Sportster Iron 1200 is still very much a city bike than it is a highway cruiser.
But despite the new herculean engine, the brakes and suspension are the same as the Iron 883, which means the same dual-piston calipers front and rear with a single disc keeping you in check. But this just means adjusting your riding style to allow for more foot-peg scrapping fun as you get to carry more speed into corners.
And because there is no electronic interference to control the wheel from slipping, you have to be gentle with the throttle, ask for too much and you risk lighting up the rear on exit. Which can be fun in experienced hands, but scary for the rest.
We spent the entire day literally carving up mountain roads, scrapping foot pegs on both the Iron 1200 and the new Sportster 48 Special (which we will get to in a later article). There is no doubt that the Iron 1200 is one of the greatest Sportster’s to date, just a pity that it has not made it to the Malaysian market as yet, but when it does, pay attention as only a few bikes have the talent to back up good looks, and this Iron 1200 is more than just talented.
Do you prefer a bigger bike? How about something like a Road Glide? Click here to read our review and to watch a video on it. Or do you prefer the classic styling of the Street Glide? We rode that too! Watch our video review here.
American bikes maker Harley-Davidson may not have a new model or two in its 2014 range, but the brand have opted to give some well-deserved upgrades for its touring range under its ‘Project Rushmore’ initiative. (more…)
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