ALL CHANGE FOR THE SPORTSTER

Harley builds a 21st-Century Sportster …

WORDS NIGEL PATERSON

IS THIS really a Sportster? How could it be … liquid cooling, four-valve heads, even bloody Euro5 compliance. “... THE EARLY MACHINES SPAWNED THE RACING XR750 ...” The Harley-Davidson Sportster, born in 1957 and grudgingly updated as laws and consumer tastes changed, has never seen such a huge update. Until now all Sportsters were air-cooled 45-degree V-twins, and most models had a silhouette that could be confused for that original 1957 model, if only you squinted hard enough (and removed the back seat, and had one with laced rims, and ignored the disc brakes …). But not anymore. HOW DID WE GET HERE? In the mid-1950s Harley-Davidson was hurting. Lighter, quicker, better handling machines were being imported into the USA in huge numbers and Harley’s big twins were being seen…

You're reading a preview of

Retrobike (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 45

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.