Full ACK. OL doesn't ride on the passenger seat of the Sporty, since the stock seat isn't that good. She prefers her Moto Guzzi V7, bella figura. That 750 cc machine is still good to tour 1500 mi vacation trips today.

 

Also did my first longish ride this past weekend with new g/f of 330 km or 205 miles for the round trip.

The bike managed but, I was aware I did not have a lot of oomph left if I needed it. Also riding with other riders on much larger capacity bikes I found I was constantly trying to keep up.

We were the first to leave as we had other commitments & I found the ride home again to be a much less stressful trip as we were alone & could ride at my own pace which was maybe only 10km an hour slower than the ride out but made a big difference.

I guess the point of my post is : yes, the 883 can do 2 up all day, no problem ...but you notice the difference when all your riding buddies have twice the cubic capacity ....

 

I ride 2-up with my son all the time. Between the two of us, there's 350 lbs on the bike. Most of our rides are short hops -- school, grocery store, ice cream stand, etc -- although we occasionally go out on the longer ride of 100-200 miles. All three of us -- me, my son and Talulah -- could do this all day.

I have put on the stage 1 mods, a Sundowner seat and Progressive 412 shocks. To be honest with you folks, I have to keep reminding myself consciously that I have my kid on the back, because I can't tell it from Talulah's performance.

 

I have a different bike than the OP but the only problem I have riding two-up is the shocks on less than perfect roads, power/torque is there no matter if I'm solo or two up, mind you I still have the stock shocks and would upgrade them if I was going to be riding two-up a lot but I mainly ride solo.

 

Was reading my first 100miles with the gf on sunday. The power was fine as already reported (I have a 1200), but with her on the back I had to sit a little more forward which made it slightly uncomfortable to squeeze my 6'-3" on the bike. I have the feeling that for longer, multi-day trips I would need to upgrade to something bigger. However, it´s a good practice to learn on a smaller bike.

 

The 55 mph speed limit didn't start until 1973. Prior to 1973, speed limits were at or above those in use today for most states.

Before 1973, 750cc bikes were still considered "big bikes" and people still made cross-country trips.

The bike used in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a 305cc Honda CB77. Loaded down with two people and camping supplies for both it still hit 90+ (page 26 of the 1981 edition). Crossed the Rockies just fine too.

My old 450cc Honda will cruise at 75 mph all day long and run up over the ton without any complaint if I ask it to. It delivers power very differently from my Sportster, but it's certainly not underpowered. The idea of an 883 as a small bike is just ridiculous.

 

I weigh 240 and that makes 380 when the wife gets on the back. It's a comfortable ride with my progressive rear springs. Power is never an issue on my 883. Its doable but cramped for rear passengers.

 

I agree my old 82 Yamaha 650cc Special would smoke any of todays Harley Davidsons outside of the VROD,and in all honestly the ride was better than probably any model with the exception of maybe a tourer. What i love most about Harleys are the sound and styling. If performance was a top concern to me i probably wouldn't own a Harley Davidson.

 

What I like most about my Sporty is the power delivery. Even with the Sportster engine being higher-revving than the big twins, it's still all about torque in a nice, flat curve.

My 450 doesn't even really come on cam until about 5,000 RPM and peak power doesn't hit until 9,000 RPM (peak torque comes at "only" 7,800 RPM).

 

power is not necessarily the issue, obviously a bigger touring bike is going to have much better power than an 883 but the real issue is seat room, luggage capability, and weight capability. sure you might be able to get by with an 883, like those rural Chinese guys can get their whole family of 8 on a 50cc scooter, but the sportster is simply not designed to be a 2 person tourer. given the choice anyone would prefer a larger bike.