I have to admit, Flat Track is pretty exciting. Kind of like Speedway on steroids.

As for the AMA XR1200 roadracing series...I think it's planned mostly to get guys in black T-shirts that say "Harley Davidson" on the back out to the races. That plus beer sales at the concession stands would quadruple.

Maybe they could get Jay Springsteen out of retirement. That would be a good thing.

 

By the way, I've seen a couple XR1200's out at Cooks Corner, and they look quite large up close. That stock exhaust looks like it weighs about 100 pounds. Perhaps a full Supertrapp system would lighten it up and improve looks.

 

I think it looks pretty good, especially with that big ol' motor in plain view...that said, 75 hp pushin' 600 lbs wet ain't cuttin' it for me...

 

One of the best looking bikes the motor company has ever built. They do look really good in person. The back seat is useless though. I wouldn't own one, but I do like it.

 

I completely understand your point, and without getting into a whole conversation about how and why Harley management does what they do, I've seen Mort's in person and he's already done some mods like custom supertrapp exhaust and ohlins shocks and the bike is pretty badass. While it may not be as fast as a Hayabusa it's just as cool as one & it's certainly a step in the right direction for Harley. He just bought an '05 superhawk as well, and hopefully he chimes in here.

 

I have had the XR1200 for over a year now. It has lost about 50 lbs due to exhaust change, etc. and tuned properly with the right exhaust is good for 90 hp @ 7,000rpm and 85 lbs torque(@ 4000 rpm). It essentially comes with a Buell top end. I have the upgraded Showa BPF fork and Ohlins rear shocks and it handles great. It is no Superhawk though- I just got my 2005 Superhawk a month ago (had a yellow one in 2000) and I love it. The XR is a great handling comfortable "sit up" bike and sounds great, but I sure enjoy the Superhawk when I want to go faster, especially around corners!!!!! I am enjoying working through my mods on the Superhawk and appreciate the help I have received from several members on the forum-It was entertaining to get a waive from Captaincaos one day and then meet him here on the forum when I joined soon after getting my hawk-Mort

 

I haven't seen an XR1200 with Supertrapp exhaust yet, but I'm sure it looks much better than that stock unit. That even outdoes the stock VTR exhaust for looking heavy. I wanted to put a Supertrapp on my VTR when I got it 5 years ago, but found out they are mostly catering to Harleys now.

In '86, when I'd put 600 miles on my new CB700SC Nighthawk, I put a full stainless Supertrapp 4 into 1 on it. I didn't weigh it , but I'm sure I saved close to 30 pounds.

 

I wonder who exactly the bike does appeal to... I mean, is this HD's aim at the Ducati Classics, Guzzi V7 and Bonnie Thruxton? In some way it's a lot more bike than a lot of these machines -- it certainly tries harder than the Triumph -- but in some ways it just misses the point.

That niche is fairly small -- mostly young Boomers between the age of, say, 45 and 52 who still can't quite get into cruisers because of the horrid image older boomers left on that type of machine, but don't want something ordinary like a Triumph Speed Triple or a (yawn) Ducati Monster. They like the status associated with HD, but they're not suckers; they know that cruisers suck.

There is no way someone under 30 will fall for these types of bikes, especially not when there are LOTS of cheap, well-built middleweight bikes like the SV out there. These types of bikes just are never going to resonate with young people... Most people under 30 don't even know what flat track is and have never heard of Eval Knievel.

Gen Xers will do a lot of spec-sheet racing and get something used like the SH. Our idea of retro is a Nighthawk and although we like the idea of something quirky and different, we hate the HD brand. (Generality alert, of course.) Hardly killed Buell and although few of us actually owned Buells, we were oddly drawn to the machines. But besides that, we see HD as an anti-status symbol. Owning a Harley means you're an fniggin idiot.

(Mort excluded, of course, but he owns a SH too. )

I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. I just don't see a market. And that's too bad since this is the only interesting machine they've made in my lifetime. I think a 'Guzzi Nevada probably does everything this bike does and lives in a similar universe for many thousands of dollars less.

It doesn't have the fake flat-track stuff going on, but I'm not sure that's enough. The Scrambler (slightly different market) and Buell TT (just a bad idea) didn't cash in on that look. I'm not sure this bike will, either.

CR