![]() A pull of the choke knob, mounted adjacent to the ignition switch and just above the horn cover, immediately inboard from the rider's left shin, and a poke at the starter button, rumbles it to life. to the delight of the ear, also delivering that characteristic, charismatic, Harley exhaust note. The bike’s heart, the 1200cc V-Twin engine bolted solidly to the frame, remains its sturdy old self, delivering torque from the very basement of its rev range, and. And, as they concern both the chassis and the engine, they are absolutely basic. Its rugged simplicity, for example, the very characteristic that keeps its price affordable and gives the bike its you-ean'tbust-it feel, imposes on the Sportster some very real limitations. But as with much of life, the flip-side of the Sporty’s strengths serves to illustrate what some might consider its weaknesses. We hasten to note that that kind of character can be considered, at least by some, to be a strength. Which is to say, frankly, that it's a bit agricultural, reminding us of nothing so much as an old parallel-Twin, external-flywheel, John Deere tractor. The ’9 1 Sportster looks like Sportsters always have looked, and it rides mostly like Sportsters always have ridden. But Harley’s hog-handlers have been able to disguise what amount to substantial developments of an American motorcycling tradition. So there have been changes to the outwardly unchanging Harley-元avidson monolith. One final addition for 1991 is the use on all Sportsters- and indeed, on all Harleys, except the Heritage Softail Classic and the Fatboy-of Dunlop Elite S/T 401 rubber, essentially identical to Dunlop's K491 line. On the Sportster 883 and Hugger models, chain drive has been preserved as a way to keep the costs down on what H-D considers its entry-level bikes. It must be noted that only Sportster 883 Deluxe and 1200 models get belted. Use of the 1.125-inch-wide toothed belt in place of the traditional Sportster chain meant modifications to the frame, swingarm, shocks and sprocket covers. It’s a half-inch wider, includes the revamped clutch that the Big Twins got last year, improved valve lifters, a simplified oil pump, and an alternator relocated to be driven off the left side of the crankshaft and said to be capable of increased output at lower rpm than last year's unit, which was located on the back of the clutch hub. To be sure, the engine package looks the same. Addition of that fifth gear-a much needed addition, by the way-brought with it a chance for Milwaukee’s engineering team to substantially redraw the Sporty’s engine to the extent that the only parts left unchanged are the carburetor, cylinders, pistons and connecting rods. No big deal, right? Unbolt the old sprockets, bolt on the new unplug the old transmission cluster and plug in a new one. Change has resulted from two things: The move to belt final drive, and the addition of a fifth gear to the bike’s transmission. The '91 Sportster, 1200cc edition, looks just like last year’s bike, but in fact it has been significantly changed. But as with all things, that's at once good, and at the same time, perhaps not so good. One look- and you don’t have to look hard-will tell you that the Sportster tradition, the great Harley-Davidson continuum, presses on unabated. ![]() So it is with the 1991 XLH Sportster 1200. in spite of continuing development and improvement, basically as unchanging as the presidential visages carved into Mt. one thing remains the same: Harley-Davidsons, those visions of V-Twin virility, those minimalist motorcycles for manly men, are. In the midst of these unrelenting attacks on traditionalism. and that many of the cars in the dealerships of domestic manufacturers are built, well, Elsewhere. Never mind that everywhere you look, people are wearing weird clothes, that you understand little of what these days passes for pop music, that foreigners seem to be purchasing large chunks of the U.S. THOSE OF YOU WHO CONSIDER YOURSELVES TRADItionalists, relax.
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