point? Don’t have one. What I do have is memory. I have been part of many threads that I have heard the same bull come from your pie hole. Including the one I posted. Or maybe you are that stupid to go test ride a st after the bad experience you had with the s. Try a Diablo, that red paint looks real comfy.
Just as I thought. No point at all. Sort of like your life: Pointless.
The switch to forward controls seems counterintuitive to the whole platform. It's meant to be ridden HARD. These bikes need a tall rear shock and a sticky tire. To each their own!
i could not agree more, BUT...i had no desire to buy an S or ST till i saw it in person. i knew just seeing MIDS would not work for me being 6-1.
but the bike and chassis has a lot more to offer, i just wanted to have a more modern day night train if you will.
long, low, and FAST,,,and fast it will be very soon. most likely a 124 ish with a knarly cam.
this was the best mod yet to my LRS...FORWARD CONTROLS
Quarter Fairing
new rear fender once i gets finalized and painted.
then the exhaust and tune
then the FOX shock
point is, no single bike is PERFECT for every person...the S had items i wanted, i was intending to purchase an older 200 rear night train and build it...then i saw the S sitting close by and in the end, it should save me some money and time...but we all know that is far from the truth.
Forward control difference for those wanting to see it
Rear fender, exhaust, lowered
Fox shock installed
Now we need a review on how you like that fancy Fox shock you just installed. After you put a good 500 miles on it though.
price
Quality
adjustability
any good tips for insulating
Last edited by Iron lHorse; 03-25-2023 at 09:11 PM.
So I drove an hour and a half to the dealer to test ride a 2023 Low Rider ST. I was seriously considering buying it and driving it off the floor that day, which was yesterday. I had read tons of reviews, loved the power-to-weight ratio, the fairing, the hard bags and especially the sleek looks. I loved the idea that to me it's sort of a powerful baby bagger.
Then I rode it. I hated it. I felt awkward from the moment I sat on it. When we actually got out on the street, I got gale-force wind in my face, my knees were up around my ears, my arms were stretched out to the bars like a cartoon character and the pipes - despite a stage 2 - were quiet as a church mouse. I didn't check but they were most likely Screamin' Eagle.
The sales gal who rode with me was stunned when we got back and I told her, thanks but no thanks. I would need to change the seat, the bars, the windshield and the foot controls to get comfortable. I would need an exhaust I could hear. I would have to spend a small fortune on top of the asking price, which we never even got around to discussing.
They were cool about it. No problem, they wanted me to have a bike I enjoyed riding. I'm bummed because, like I say, it is really a great-looking, performance-driven motorcycle. Just shows to go ya, better test ride before you buy.
The upside is that it gives me further proof that my M8 Heritage is the best HD - for me - in the lineup.
I had the same experience as you, after being seduced by the concept of a light Touring, stripped of the radio and GPS that I would not like to have I was one of the first in France to order one on the first of February 2022 just after its presentation, without having seen or tried.
In the months that followed while waiting for the delivery, I watched tons of videos and read almost all the tests, and the more I looked at it, the less I liked it, then I tried an LRS, I didn't like at all the driving position with the mid controls that caused me hip cramps and the handlebars too far. In fact this bike is very interesting but badly designed, I will explain why:
1. the saddlebags are too high and give it a weird look
2. the exhaust, they should have put a 2 into 1, on a sporty bike, it would have been more logical and would have allowed to mount the saddlebags lower.
3. the plate perched on the fender, we wonder what it's doing there, why they didn't do the same assembly as on the Sport Glide wich have a more sleek look
4. the speedo, again why not put the speedo of the LRS on its trigger guard, much easier to read, and which would fill up this empty fairing
5. the mid controls, not adapted for big people
6. the dusty bronze wheels.
7. the choice of colors in 2022, the black with all the black fittings is too dark I think, the Gunship grey too sad for me, in 2023 the white sand pearl is much better and I would have liked more vivid colors.
So that would be a lot of modifications to make it acceptable to my taste, and in May as my dealer was still not able to give me a delivery date, I cancelled my order.
It's a pity because the concept is interesting and it's true that the ST gives a little air in the harley range with its atypical and historical look (see the FXR police of 1984)
Today I ride a Heritage and I'm very happy with it, it ticks all the boxes for me.
Hd nailed it back then and one upped themselves with the fxlrs!
Originally Posted by tngarren
Very well said. I suspect H-D was intent on the "club / west coast style" and lost sight of the riding position. Or more likely, they realized the problem but had no solution the accountants would accept.
or maybe Hd realizes that anybody of average height and build such as myself (6’ 190lbs) will realize how simple it is to put different seat (Hd tall boy seat) that puts your knees level with your hips.6.5 pull back risers that are installed with factory wires and cables. Very common mods to any motorcycle.
Last edited by Durham man; 03-26-2023 at 06:34 AM.
And this is what happens when an iconic american motorcycle company who built their empire on core products of cruisers and tourers try to convert their steel framed hogs into sportbikes.
In 2019 (IIRC) I went to the HD dealership to test ride a FXDR thinking HD finally made a coolazz sportbike. I mean it looked cool and all but I can't recall ever swinging my leg over a bike so ergonomically retarded until I sat on a breakout a couple years later and didn't even bother going for the test ride. Both were utter abortions.
From what I've seen? Outside of the flat-track arena HD should avoid anything that includes the term "Sport" in it.
And that's the lecture I would give to my designing engineers if I were tasked with being the new CEO with firm instructions to focus on improving the company's core products.
I think HD deliberately design flaws into every bike to encourage you to visit the accessories catalogue. There isn't a single bike in the range that's completely perfect and I wouldn't change in some way, but that's been true of every bike of every make I've ever owned. My KTM 1190 Adv is the closest I've ever got to a do-everything bike and of all the bikes I've owned, it's the one I've modified the least. But if I really thought about it, there's a multitude of things I'd like to do to it, but I don't NEED to do any of them to enjoy it. I get the same vibe from the LRS.
I bought my LRS on performance and handling as they're the most expensive things to fix, and if a bike isn't fun to ride stock while I work out how I personalise it and make upgrades as I can afford them, I've bought the wrong bike. The LRS is fun stock. And it's a bike that makes me feel a bit naughty, which was what I wanted. It's not a polite bike. If I wanted a tourer, I'd have bought one. I'd like one as well as the LRS,but not instead of, and that may well happen yet. The ST doesn't do anything for me because I don't like that enormous fairing. I don't like the little headlight cowl on the LRS tbh, but I can't see it when I'm riding it. And if I want the ST's bags, I can fit them to the S with ease just buy changing the fender lugs.
I suppose my perfect Harley would have been a blacked-out Sport Glide with the LRS 117 engine spec. But they don't make one. For me, the ST doesn't provide that. It combines all the disadvantages of a bagger/touer with the uncompromising Low Rider posture without alleviating any of them. I'd rather have two bikes. Expensive I know, but what the hell, you're a long time dead.
I've fitted the Tallboy seat to my LRS and rolled the handlebars backwards a touch to lower them and bring them closer. It's still no armchair, but I can ride it all day without discomfort and it's given me a sound base that I can work on as I make performance upgrades.
I'm going with a Feuling 2 into 1 system, with a better breather (much as I like the look of the heavy breather, it isn't very efficient, it's heavy and in the way). Not sure which breather I'll go with yet, maybe a Trask Assault or a Stealth. But either way, I'll be losing the snorkel which will allow me to fit forward controls. Then I'll pair Kraus kick-back riser with drag bars. Then it's bring on the 131" kit..
Edit; Oh, and an Ohlins shock a fork cartridge kit..
03-25-2023, 07:47 PM
