Wilsons Sandbox

I have always had a fondness for Sportsters beginning in high school when they were the hot ticket. I liked the look and the sound. But over the years they were not improved much and weren't so bad anymore (or good either). A friend had a 1976 Sportster. What a piece of crap that was. I got the new Cycle World yesterday and lo and behold, Harley has a bike that I might want besides a Buell. The testers raved about it as it actually handled well due to stuff like inverted 43 mm Showa forks and a well researched rake angle on the front end and looks to be a much better swing arm. Plus help from Buell boost power to almost 80 ponies. Seating position is upright and neutral which all us dual sporters know is the best riding position. You can even get it with luggage and windshield. The styling is ala flat track style. Scott Parker had a lot of input on this bike they said. The sad part is they made this bike for the Euro market and it won't be available in the US at least for a while. Price???? E 9495 (that's Euro dollars). A negative is weight - 590 pounds gassed up. That is pretty heavy for a twin with no real bodywork. Why are Harley's so heavy? That is getting close to my full bodied inline four drive shaft Concourse. My old Triumph Bonneville (a similar kind of bike) weighed under 400 pounds if I remember correctly. And the new V Max is out. Baaaaaaddd Boy!!!! Do I really need 175 ponies? Some guy will put a nitrous tank on one with supercharger I suppose. I saw an older one rigged as such once. Criswell