It’s like Woody Allen says, 90-percent of success is showing up. And the Sportster’s been showing up since 1957. However you feel about it or the Motor Company or post-WW2 America, you have to respect it like you have to respect the `57 Chevy profile or Tony Bennett leaving his heart in San Francisco. Whether TB has gotten better with age is a topic for some late night over a tumbler of fine Scotch, but there’s no question the Sportster’s now about as refined as a motorcycle can get.
It’s the same as it ever was, a raw-boned rock-and-roller that delivers a distinctly vintage experience, but one with all the rough edges removed and polished. Heck, my first Sportster was an `89 four-speed with solid-mount engine and a tiny gas tank. This new Custom is a Rolls-Royce by comparison. What its voice has lost in power and decibels over the years, relative to other motorcycles anyway, is made up for in its phrasing and emotion. On this one, Harley has chipped away everything that is not Sportster, leaving a place to sit 28 inches from the pavement, an( optional) Mini-ape handlebar to hang onto, and a torquey 1200cc, five-speed 45-degree V-Twin to fly you to the moon.
