Harley's XR1200, Yeah It's A Real Sportbike

Regular visitors of the Asylum will already know that we're pretty smitten with Harley's XR, and what's not to love; the pile has the aggressive styling cues of a badass flat tracker coupled with enough motor, brakes and handling to be an utter blast (opps, unfortunate unintentional Buell reference, RIP) to ride. And when you get right down to it, as far as motorbikes are concerned, if it ain't puttin' a grin on your melon, it probably isn't worth the monthly payment.

Ryan thought Bear Creek road would be perfect, he was right

Gotta confess though, this is a bit of a "good news", "bad news" story. Sort of. We weren't able to wrap our oily mitts around the new 2011 XR-1200X, but rather we had to "settle" for it's predecessor, a 2010 XR (once again Ryan and the crew at McGuire Harley Davidson (http://www.mcguire-hd.com/) were kind enough to entrust me with one of their bikes, they may not employ sound judgement as far as who they let ride their bikes, but they run the best HD dealership on the planet). Trust me, this isn't a huge issue, we have zero doubt that "the '10" is every bit as capable and fun to point and shoot as its younger upstart sibling. Let's start with the differences shall we?

The main dif between the '10 and the '11 comes down to suspension components, with the newer machine bolting on fully adjustable lightweight Showa forks up front with a pair of adjustable nitrogen charged "piggyback" Showa's out back, the later being a visual shout-out to the '80's, hey it was good enough back then...Other than that, you've got a sexy wrinkle (there's a visual that'll scar you) black finish on the motor, orange pin stripe on the rims, and two color options for the bike (white hot denim or black denim) rounding out the XR1200X's enhancements. As you can see, not a ton of difference.

Don't get me wrong, the idea of being able to completely destroy a bikes inherent handling capabilities all by myself has a really strong appeal, after all, why leave so personal a thing to mere strangers in some far away factory, or local dealership? Come on, you know it's true, you can't tune a sportbike's suspension either. Other than maybe setting ride height, or "sag", and maybe, just maybe rebound, you're as lost as the rest of us as you click away in hopes of divining the perfect "race" set up. Not gonna happen Sunshine. The truth is, we'll fiddle with the settings once before the first ride, and providing we survive, we're done, moving on, fascination with suspension adjustability gone. Some things are better left to the pros. Follow the manual, leave the damn thing alone and just ride the thing.

The XR's signature oil cooled motor

And riding the damn thing is what the XR is all about. Ponder; its got a 1200cc mill with Buell performance cams (one of the things they did right), super beefy crank pins, it revs to seven grand, and the whole package is tougher than a two dollar steak. Now that's a recipe for some serious fun. The first thing you'll notice when you throw a leg over the beast is it's kinda tall. Not crazy BMW GS tall, but significantly more vertically inclined than say, your average Heritage Softail. You'll notice, trust me. The second thing you'll discover is that you can't find the footpegs. They're there alright, just not where you'd expect them. These babies are up high and back, I think the one-piece leather crowd calls 'em "rearsets", at least that's what I'm told. Not to worry, twenty minutes in and most of those episodes of stabbing at thin air desperately trying to find the pegs after taking off from a light will be but a distant embarrassment. Did I mention the pegs are high? I really picked a bad time to quit my low impact yoga class. Cramps!!

The stock exhaust looks good, and sounds pretty decent too

The XR is narrow at the waist, with wide, flat bars, not unlike that dirt bike gathering dust in your garage. And just like any good off-road machine the XR is nimble and willing accomplice when it comes to hustling its way through the twisty bits. Sure the sporty Sporty tips the Toledos at over 580 pounds, but it hides its heft well. Even under braking, the four piston calipers haul the Harley down from scary to sane with no drama and a constant, progressive feel. This is the first Harley I've ever ridden that I didn't feel compelled to upgrade the binders, they're that good. No doubt part of that confidence comes from the fact that the bike is shod with very trick Dunlop D209's (18" front, 17" rear). It's no secret that Dunlop works very closely with the Motor Company developing OE hoops for most of the line-up, and they knocked it out of the park with the tire combo on the XR. Perfect.

I have to confess that my 2010 model was a tad "divey" under hard braking, but I'm sure that's much less an issue with the fully adjustable forks on the '11 version, assuming, as we know, we don't botch our settings. The five speed transmission is fully up to the task with smooth and positive shifts every time. You've got to try to blow a shift, it's that good. Given the gearing we're thinking that not having a sixth gear is really no big deal, five is fine. My bike was equipped with a 13" quick release supersport windscreen, very handy for deflecting wind blast over your helmet (I'm 6'2") with a minimum of buffeting. The shorter 11" screen looks better, but if you're a practical sort, opt for the taller of the two. In an effort to enhance the XR's appeal as a sport tourer HD offers a complete line of luggage (we were pimping the optional sport saddlebags), that includes a tailpack and tank bag. OK, if the 3.5 gallon tank and kinda cramped ergonomics haven't sufficiently dissuaded you from doing the Hoka Hey on this beast, the combined capacity of all the aforementioned luggage isn't up to the average third graders book bag. Not a touring machine, OK?

OK Jim, I want one just like this

Is the XR fast? Uh, well, that depends. It ain't squash your orbs in the back of your noddle Diavel fast if that's what you mean. Simply put, the XR's objective numbers just aren't gonna impress your average local track day hero. The oil cooled 1200 is pumping out, at best, 75 to 80 horsepower at the rear wheel. Yawn. And with a top speed somewhere in the range of 125 (I think most 600's will see that number in third gear) the dyno chart crowd will merely sniff dismissively and move on. Big mistake.

While the spec sheet tells one story, actually riding the XR conveys quite another. This bike "feels" quick for lack of more poetic prose. The available torque (always an HD strong suit) and decent horsepower allow the Sporty to "punch above its weight". All the sensations are there, lean angle, throttle response, sheer grunt off the corners and more than competent brakes when you demand them. Add it all up, and you've got one hell of a sport bike, numbers be damned. You're gonna think you're Rayborn or Rapp when you put the jiffy stand down at the end of the day. And isn't that what it's really all about? Any bike that can delude me through its overall performance into thinking I'm a better rider than I truly am has got to be one incredible machine, and the XR delivers on that score.

Now that's a sexy rearend!

Verdict? I wanted one after the first ride, I want one way more after the second. It's what I crave in a sport bike; good power, handling and braking that makes me want to push it, within my limits, knowing that the bikes limits aren't gonna bite me. It's got enough of everything I need to have fun, a lot of fun. And for me, that old school, bad ass flat track inspired design is one of a kind cool, no one else has it. No cookie cutter, computer conspired design here, the XR's got soul, in spades.

And if I wanted to go just a little bit faster, well I've got a little plan for that. See, if I'm lucky enough to score one of these hot rods, I'm gonna send it off to my good buddy Jim Leonard at Vance & Hines for a little "workout". Since Jim and crew are the guys behind those wicked XR's tearing it up in the AMA XR1200 series, I figure they know just what to do to make a good thing even better, I'm just saying....