Harley-Davidson is recalling over 4,000 Sportster motorcycles because their brake fluid warning labels may detach from the brake fluid reservoir caps.
If this occurs, then the motorcycles would fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 122, “Motorcycle Brake Systems” and thus need to be recalled with the NHTSA.
The next generation of the Harley-Davidson Sportster is here today, with the debut of the 2021 Harley-Davidson Sportster S.
Teased originally as the Harley-Davidson 1250 Custom, we learned recently that the new bike, with its very modern design, would be designated as the next Sportster, and the name suggests that Harley-Davidson hasn’t shown us the last of this sub-brand’s rebirth.
Tomorrow, we will see the next iteration of the Harley-Davidson Sportster – a move tipped by the Bar & Shield brand’s not to subtle “From Evolution to Revolution” premiere tagline.
That tagline is a nod to the names of the Evolution motor that powered the previous Sportster generation, as well as Revolution being the name of Harley-Davidson’s new motor platform, which also powers the Pan America 1250 adventure bike.
The new Sportster is tipped to look a lot like the Harley-Davidson 1250 Custom that Milwaukee has been teasing, and now the latest reports are saying that the new Sportster will have a potent 120hp on tap.
Harley-Davidson is recalling 31,346 motorcycles for a faulty headlight bulb, according to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The recall affects mostly bikes from the Sportster family of bikes, but the headlight assembly (with the faulty bulbs inside) were also sold as replacement headlights (roughly 800 unites) for bikes in the Softail, Dyna, and V-Rod families.
In case you missed the new, Harley-Davidson dropped a number of new model concepts on us today, all which are to go into production by the 2022 model year. We have already shown you the ADV concept, as well as the Streetfighter concept.
There are a bevy of electric bikes to see as well, along with an e-bike program, but right now we want to focus your attention on the Harley-Davidson Custom, a modern take on the Sportster platform. It might be the first cruiser that we have actually lusted over.
For the loyal Asphalt & Rubber readers on this page, that statement should certainly say something about how much we are digging this potent v-twin concept.
Oregon’s favorite motorcycle apparel brand has a custom motorcycle build for the holidays, the Icon 1000 “Iron Lung” Sportster. An homage to the bikes that Harley-Davidson used to build in the 1970’s, you know when the Bar & Shield brand did real racing, and was fairly good at it too.
Based around a 1991 Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 engine, the Iron Lung sees its lump bored out to 1,200cc, with a Supertrapp exhaust helping things breathe a bit better as well. The front-end has been lowered and widened with wide-glide forks and custom triple clamp. Similarly, the rear features a custom subframe with Progressive 970 shocks.
To make Iron Lung work visually, Icon widened the fairings, which gives the machine a bulldog like stance: low and wide. Fitted with the company’s own variety of Portlandian hipster chic, the Iron Lung sports paint by Garage 31 and a custom seat by New Church Moto — two local outfits in Portland, Oregon.
The design isn’t really our usual fare here at Asphalt & Rubber, but you have to appreciate the honesty in Icon’s retelling of the Iron Lung’s performance assessment:
“Once completed, we headed down to an oval in Southern Oregon and kicked ‘er in the guts to be featured along side of our Spring 2014 ICON 1000 apparel collection – coming soon. Her handling was as questionable as the grandstand snacks, but she bore the brunt of torture with aplomb. It wouldn’t be an ICON 1000 bike without a true trial by fire. In Iron Lung’s case this was literal as she burst into flame after her initial shakedown run just a few weeks prior.”
We find that worryingly appealing. Party on boys and girls.
Appropriately in time for the holidays with its deliciously red paint job, we bring you the Deus Ex Machina New Blood Sportster. Taking a 2004 Harley-Davidson 1200cc Sportster, the guys from down under have massaged their magic into this once dull v-twin, and made an eye-catching motorcycle (per usual). The most striking piece of the motorcycle is perhaps the hand-built exhaust pipe, which is half street-tracker, and half sportbike in inspiration. Then there is of course the matte blood red meets cream paint job that accents the otherwise blacked out bike. We think the effect is killer, and makes the Sportster design more palatable without going overboard.
Centered around capturing a younger demographic, the Brawler is the latest concept from Travis Clark. Hoping to engage younger riders with an actually sporty Sportster, Clark’s Brawler, in its finest trim, combines the high-powered Porsche designed motor in an attractive package that speaks more to a younger generation than anything that’s come out of Milwaukee…and it looks good too.
While Harley-Davidson has certainly been gaining some traction in younger markets with its different Sportster offerings, like the new Forty-Eight, the company still needs a major youth infusion. Clark thinks that his Brawler is the the ticket with its more modern design and performance-centered operation. Designed to come with two different suspension packages, the base Brawler features inverted forks and an 88ci air-cooled HD power plant, while the high-end brawler comes with the V-Rod motor and leading link front suspension.
The Harley-Davidson Sportster Forty-Eight (or is it 48?), has made its way out of Milwaukee in time for the 2010 model year. Based on the Sportster 1200 platform, the Forty-Eight is the latest addition to Harley’s “custom” offering. It differs from its Nightser et al counterparts with a bobber meets cafe racer appeal, but keeps the ubiquitous orange and black color schemes.
At the end of last year, we announced where if you bought a Sportster motorcycle (sadly, not the XR1200), you could receive the MSRP value of the bike if you traded it in the following year for “bigger” model.
The promotion was such a great success apparently, that now that it has ended, Harley-Davidson sales have slumped off.
Harley-Davidson is getting creative with selling motorcycles, and we here at Asphalt & Rubber like it. HD must really want to capitalize on those sales, as it’s just announced a unique incentive to purchase a new Sportster, or alternatively to trade in your recently purchased model.
All new 2008 and 2008 Sportsters, bought between December 26, 2008 and March 31, 2009, will be sold with a guarantee that Harley-Davidson will offer the full MSRP of the bike when traded in for a larger bike, within on year of the original purchase. The offer does not apply to the new XR1200, and the bike bought after the trade-in must be a Dyna, Softail, VRSC, or Touring model.
Economically, this is an interesting deal. Harley-Davidsons, unlike most other marquees, generally appreciate in value over-time. This is mostly a function of long-waiting lists, and difficulty of purchasing abroad. Regardless, its a bonus point for buying the Milwaukee brand. The Sportster line, being at the bottom of the Harley totem pole, is the most susceptible to having this trend end with the economic crisis. This promotion, effectively squashes that possibility for the time being. Anyways, for the average consumer, revile in the fact that an otherwise depreciating object will hold its value for the next year minus the rate of inflation, and in the event of deflation in the value of the dollar, will actually be a decent investment. Booyaca!
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