are sportsters slow? i ate a 600's lunch the other day but hell, i'm displacing twice the volume and it was a 50-mph start. the 1200n has such alooooow 1st gear that i'm doubting it'll be much fun between stop-lights but maybe some of you know tricks.

the dealer told me to run it high into the band because the N's heads breath fire when she's spun up. i wish i had a tach, even if for just a week.

out on the interstatewe pass with ease. merging is a gas. i aired her out on some old-school two-lane the other day and she was a real hoot. the road is 31E in ky, south of bardstown. smooth as silk with unmarked curves (80 mph no problem). i don't know when the road was built... they sure don't lay asphalt like that anymore. oops i'm rambling.

 

i got a 883 turned 1200 with some headwork, its fast and keeps up with a LOT of bikes. not slow at all.

easy to lose to a 600 if your starting at 50 mph, they make power up top. stop light to stop light is what sportsters are great at. Drag Racing haha, the torque from a v twin doesnt compare to the ability of 4 pistons being able to slip around really fast. some jap bikes can top out at 160, but youll never hit that on the street, if you do you're bound to hit more than that as well haha.

 

600 shortbike is a downshift or two into the meat and will eat a 1200 for lunch with even a bad driver.

 

Well thats why we all have our ducatis parked next to our sportsters! ..wait, you guys dont? well i guess thats why I got MY ducati parked next to a sportster.


this was a bad joke becuase the duck isnt running at the moment... no spark

 

Some guy on a Dyna and I raised a little hellgoing from a traffic light into a 55 mph zone today. It was pretty even, but I pulled on him a little... Both of us had **** eating grins on our faces looking back and forth at eachother till letting off around 80 mph, was a good time. As far as racing a sportbike, no... Ive ridden my buddies GSX-R 750with quite a few bolt ons, retune and downsized/lightweight sprockets and that thing would **** on my sportster at half throttle.

 

My dad used to have a '00 Buell M2Cyclone (1200 engine).
All he did was change the exhaust, put in some cams and port and polish the heads.
He got it up to 140mph once.

Could you just do the same with the sportsters now? Obviously a little slower due to more
wind resistance.

 

a buell is a sportster engine by passing glance only.

Everything is redesigned. its also about 30 lbs lighter. you could do the same performance mods to a stock sporty motor, and it would have its benefits. but you won't get the power of a buell..

I want to see harley incorporate that kind of performance into the sportster though, It may be the fastest stock harley this side of a V-Rod, but having Sport in the name and only 50 HP stock for 500 pounds? (883s.) not good enough, harley.

 

If it was any 600 sportbike, the guy must not have known you were racing or you would have been the one getting your lunch eaten.

 

You can do similar. My brother had a '98 XL with Buell heads, Andrews N8 cams, a SE ignition and a few other odds and ends. It made right at 100 hp.

 

Rule of thumb:

Any sportbike over a 750 with the letter R in its name will stomp your ***....not even worth trying.

Anything 650 or below.....PFF! Whatever. There are a couple exceptions, but not many. Hell half the time you can't even throttle wheelie a CBR 600, you gotta bounce em to get em up or pop the clutch. They're NOT that fast from a dead stop.