REVIEW: ‘12 Harley-Davidson Sportster 72 The Sportster is the Duca Monster of the H-D family – entry level. Although you can trace the Sportster’s roots back to the 1952 Model K, it was the 1957 XL with its overhead valves that started the Sportster family tree for real. Now THAT, is a long producon run; for even though the engine has evolved over the years it’s sll prey much the same dimensions and layout as the 1957 original. And talk about versale, it’s been successfully used for flat track racing and road racing, spawned the first Buells and has been a corner stone of the H.O.G. family for nearly fiy years. This, the 72, is the latest edion to the sporty saga and it takes its styling cues from the late 60’s, early 70’s West Coast choppers with ape hangers, forward controls, a super-skinny front end with a 21inch front wheel and a peanut tank. In the flesh it looks more like something out of a custom builder’s shed than a Milwaukee producon line. Nice! It feels ridiculously slim with no tank to grip with your inner knees and even with those full-stretch bars it’s supremely easy to hurl from side to side. The motor’s faster to rev up too and because it carries less flab (247kgs), the 72 feels altogether livelier and more responsive than its bigger Soail relaves. Distant, forward control footrests feel strange at first but once you stop looking for pegs where you insncvely expect them to be, it starts to make sense. The footrests are quite a bit higher than the footboards of the Slim so there’s much more cornering ground clearance allowing me, when the opportunity arose, to try out its cornering abilies. This would not have been possible on the Slim just because of its low footboards that kiss the tarmac a lot sooner. The 72 doesn’t have any trick suspension. Rear shock travel is limited, to say the least, but the spring rates and damping qualies are well chosen and surprisingly firm. 30 The narrowly spaced forks are the same – well matched to the conservavely dimensioned chassis. Put simply, for a bike like this it’s as good as you need. I’d say it handles well enough to keep up with most of your buddies for a ride out if you’ve got some experience. Unl your buddies choose to sit at 160km/h on a freeway, that is. The 72 just isn’t cut out for this kind of riding. Well, with that human-parachute riding posion that’s an obvious statement isn’t it? If you’re going to ride all day on fast roads, 120 is probably your limit but if you’ve got penalty points on your licence and have no self-control that may not be a bad thing? Brakes? You’ll need three fingers to operate the font stopper but if you’re riding it how it wants to be ridden (smooth use of massive engine braking) the brakes are kind of unessenal for anything other than stopping at juncons. The punchy 1200cc motor and five speed box scoops up enough oomph to make overtaking safe and there’s enough on tap to have some fun with. She shakes and jostles a bit at ck over (you can see the whole engine jiggling about on its rubber mounts) but not many unpleasant vibes get through to the rider when you’re on the move. This motor is all about torque and even this ‘lile’ Harley engine produces a whopping 96Nm at just 3,500rpm. To be honest, with this kind of power, five gears is probably one gear too many. The gear lever doesn’t get much use at all. Considering the riding posion that throws all your weight onto your crouch, the 7.9-litre tank is about as big as you’d want. The fuel range will be just about as long as you’d want to travel before stopping to fill up and give your bu cheeks a well-earned rest. Nope, the 72 is not a bike for those who want to ride to Jo’burg in a day. It’s made for bopping about, having fun, making nice noises and being seen on. I should imagine it would also be a beauful thing to just look at and clean as it cks and pings itself cool in your garage. But its ace up the proverbial sleeve is that it’s so easy to ride. It doesn’t really maer what gear you’re in, it’ll pull hard if you just open the taps. It’s really easy to manage at low speeds too, with a very low centre of gravity and one of the lowest seat heights in the business at 710mm. Even Napoleon could ride a 72, if he wasn’t dead. In summary I liked the 72. It looks stunning and is probably most suited to someone who likes to ride an hour somewhere and back again. Either that, or someone who never leaves the city and wants a bike that is easy to ride, is un-inmidang and for a Harley it’s cheap too. Priced at R118 000.00 - Incl. 14% VAT HALREY-DAVIDSON DURBAN Tel: (031) 566 5222 329 Umhlanga Rocks Drive, Umhlanga Ridge
Prices valid while stock last and Include 14% VAT. Terms & Condions Apply | © <strong>Bike</strong> <strong>Talk</strong> This 1200 is not for the faint-hearted The lifestyle keeps on geng beer. FEARLESS RESOURCES A perfect “all day and everyday” ride ‘11 RSV4 DEMO MODEL R99 500 EXTRAS INCLUDED - Akrapovic Slip-On THIS IS YOURS DORSODURO SHIVER 750 RSV1000R 10 Meridian Drive, Umhlanga Ridge Tel: 031 566 3024 R129 995 The last one in the country
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