Hotshots
HOTSHOTS
Legendary
In the “Legends Revisited” article (CW, January), you show the Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 having maximum horsepower of 61 hp at 10,600 rpm!
Never knew a Sporty that could cross 10,000 rpm and not do an imitation of a hand grenade. Bruce Muggli
Gig Harbor, Washington
Boy, Harley sure slipped you a ringer! My Sportster sounds like it’s about to explode at anything over 9000 rpm...
Mike Graham Lockhart, Texas
Anyone attempting to spin a pushrod 45-degree V-Twin to over 10,000 rpm deserves the rear slug in the groin that would likely result. In the unlikely event that your comparison test figure is true, please be advised that your testing staff is going on report to Willie G. Davidson for its abusive treatment of his bikes. Guy J. Racette
Corpus Christi, Texas
Doh! That’s our bad for not catching the cock-up. The correct Sportster 1200 dyno numbers are 61.0 rear-wheel horsepower at 5600 rpm. Your good for finding it. Maybe we should hire you guys as proofreaders. Either that or invest in kevlar-reinforced cups...
Sporty vs. Bonnie
Happy to see the comparison between the Ducati, the H-D Sportster and the Triumph T100, since I recently traded my ’03 Triumph America for a new T100. However, I feel compelled to clear up your confusion: The Triumph, not the Sportster, should have been the winner.
Maybe it’s not as fast or as faithful a reproduction, but it’s got a cool factor that the Sportster lacks. I love Harleys and Ducatis (hey, I love them all) but my Bonneville makes me feel something that relegates the others to the background.
Tim Allbritton Pilesgrove, New Jersey
I currently ride a 2005 Sportster 1200 Roadster, the carbureted version of the bike in your test. Your line “...riding on a chassis that’s not hugely different than it was in 1957” is nonsense.
The 2004 rubber-mount redesign brought the Sportster into modern motorcycling, the one penalty being added weight. I agree with you about the $5 shocks-not enough travel, they will bottom.
Your ending remark, “But the Sportster has a valuable quantity the Bonneville does not: authenticity,” is also ridiculous. Any “authenticity” the Roadster has must be attributed to the hugely successful styling and marketing department at Harley-Davidson-second only to Wal-Mart.
Bill Doty West Branch, Iowa
It is strange for Senior Editor Paul Dean to say the Sportster 1200 is the “most faithful to the original” of the three bikes included in the article and compare it to the first 883 of 1957.1 doubt that Mr. Dean was even born in 1957. Certainly the 883 H-D was a hot-rod in ’57 and all young cyclists lusted after it. But it was not a 1200, didn’t have a five-speed transmission, rubberband drive or rubber motor mounts. It also didn’t have Japanese carbs and foreignmade forks and electronics.
Most faithful to the original? It has a V-Twin and goes pretty well in a straight line are the only things I see that connects it to a 1957 Sportster.
Karl Bloomquist Mason City, Illinois
Well, I’m not sure if Paul Dean is getting a little senile or perhaps he just knows nothing of motorcycle history. His article “Legends Revisited” should have been titled “History Revised.” I had to laugh when I read, “Harley-Davidson’s Sportster thundered onto the scene in the late 1950s as a fire-breathing, 883cc hotrod that could blow the sidecovers off anything else on two wheels.”
Gimme a break! Hey Paul, ever heard of a Vincent?
As far as originality, during the last 10 years of the Meridan factory Dean speaks of, Triumph built 750 Bonnevilles with five-speed gearboxes, not 650s with fourspeeds as Dean claims. Today’s Bonneville still has a vertical-Twin with real carburetors, still has a five-speed gearbox and is still air-cooled. The modern Sportster with its electronic fuel-injection and all-aluminum engine retains only the basic silhouette of the original.
Hey, I really don’t mind you having a Harley guy like Dean lambast Triumph in your articles, but first, get a history lesson, pal. Tony Cole
Paris, Kentucky >
Says Dean, “You ’re right; I wasn’t born in 1957. I was born in 1941. I learned to ride in 1956, had my first bike in ’57, bought a ’59 Sportster XLCH in ’61 and was general manager of a TriumphYamaha shop from ’67 to ’70. When referring to the Meridan factory, I was talking about the Triumphs of the '60s, the era in which the Bonneville became, as the test stated, “the most longed-for motorcycle on the planet.” I don’t need a history lesson; I was part of that history.”
I rode a 1989 Sportster for 14 years, and I currently own a Bonneville. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both bikes and the differences between them. However, I must ask this question: Why did you insist on using a 1200 Sportster instead of the 883 to go up against the 865cc Triumph? Why the bias toward Harley-Davidson?
Dan Henry Encinitas, California
I found your comparison to be rather insulting. You take a 1200cc Harley and an 865cc Triumph and boast the larger-displacement Sportster “won the Gold.” A better choice for your little game would have been the 883 Sportster. Your June, 2001, issue ran a similarly biased piece called “War of the Retros.” In that comparison, once again the deck was stacked in Harley’s favor, pitting the then-790cc Bonnie against the larger-by-90cc 883 Sportster.
When comparisons are done, I might suggest the playing field be a little more level. By the way, surprise me and actually print this letter, or won’t Harley-Davidson let you? Wally Atten
Redding, California
Simple economics rather than acquiescing to any manufacturer’s wishes dictated the Bonneville T100 vs. Sportster 1200 match-up. As noted in the article, our mildly factory-accessorized TWO came within $300 of the Sportster 1200’s sticker price. And, for the record, Kawasaki’s now-defunct W650 won the “War of the Retros.”
Thumbnail 2×2
Thought I would comment on your Ducati GTIOOO/Harley-Davidson Sportster/Triumph T100 comparison test, as I own both the T100 and GT1000.
When I bought the T100, I had not ridden in 25 years, and it was the British cool of the bike that got me back on two wheels. I never regretted the decision, and found the T100 to have good manners, adequate power (had it to an indicated 115 mph, still accelerating) and very little vibration. It’s comfortable around town but is not an all-day highway machine. Fit and finish are excellent, and nobody does chrome better than Triumph. I’ve had no reliability issues at all; it’s been a marvelous bike to ride, with lots of retro British style in a thoroughly modern package. I’ve had people follow me to a stop to have a look, thinking that it was a restored T120.1 have no regrets in having owned this bike, and indeed I’ve kept it after I bought the Ducati.
I bought the Ducati because it’s beautiful, knowing little about it before I rode it home. Where all aspects of the Triumph can be described as really good, the Due in comparison is excellent. As you correctly state in the test, the two are hardly comparable. The GT has an enormously powerful but controllable engine, and razor-sharp handling that is still quite forgiving. While the T100 is good in the twisties, the GT is inspired. Brakes on the GT are state-of-the-art. The GT has the best gearbox that I have ever ridden, with six speeds. It needs no second nudges “just to be sure.” I’d say that the quality of the two bikes is uniformly excellent, but Triumph has the better parts network. That said, I’ve needed very little for either bike, but you might have to wait for a back order on the Due. Whatever you need for the Triumph drop-ships from Georgia next day.
The GT is 50 pounds lighter, has 20 percent more displacement and gets 53 mpg vs. 38 for the T100. The EFI of the GT is amazing. Never a stumble, burble or pop; perfect idle when cold or hot. (The T100 gets EFI for 2008.)
It’s probably a real cop-out to say that you’ll love either bike, but you will. Still, the GT will raise your level of riding skill and enjoyment to new highs. I have a choice of which bike to ride, and I almost always choose the Ducati. I doubt if I’ve put 500 miles on the T100 this year. The GT? Five thousand. Howard Penley
El Paso, Texas
Oh great! First Muggli, Graham & Racette put us on the proofreading trailer, then you send in a concise, comprehensive comparison test in 8 column-inches! Please don’t take up action photography...
Wheelies on Meth
In your article on the Ducati Hypermotard 1100S (CW, December, 2007), I was disappointed to see photos of not one, but two unsafe riding actions. As a motorcycle safety instructor, in my view it does not help to promote safe riding (“Ridecraft: Be a Better Rider”) when in another issue a CIF-attired test rider performs both a stoppie and a wheelie. I realize that these images were probably taken in a closedtrack testing environment and might delight the marketing folks at Ducati. However, including these images in the article only condones performing these unsafe actions on public roadways.
Pete Foskaris
Plainfield, Illinois
Young Blake Conner is an idiot. His comment that the Hypermotard is a “Multistrada-on-meth” certifies this assertion.
Hey, young feller, “meth” is a seriously illegal substance. The cops’d just love to kick down the door to your cozy little Newport Beach offices all you middleclass white boys and Grandpa Dean off to the pokey while lookin’ for some “recreational” candy hidin’ in somebody’s desk.
I believe a man’s entitled to his poison. But if you use meth...or you know about meth, you keep it to yourself. You don’t write about it in a national publication, even if you’re just tryin’ to be cute.
Paco Pineda
Redondo Beach, California
Hey, you don’t think we can do those bitchin ’ illegal and unsafe wheelies on raw natural skill alone, do ya? □
