Come on, even a bone stock big twin runs a 13 second and change qtr mi., can't get out of the way of mini vans?! Sounds like operator error to me...try twistin the throttle.

 

you're mistaken... sporty's went to rubber mount in 2004.

 

sorry the thing is slow as dogs***, my sportster would've ran circles around this thing. you can hit the throttle all you want but the engine is pretty s***ty and it simply flattens out. and 13 seconds (if that's even true) on a qtr mile is pretty pathetic for a motorcycle.

the bike is bone stock, nothing changed, and it is a complete dog. what is it 800 pounds and pushing a pathetic 65 horses? doesn't take a genius to figure out why a bike that weighs nearly half a ton and only 65 ponies doesn't move. no amount of operator magic is making that 88 ci engine move that fatboy quicker.

it's comfortable though...

 

see below.....


To the OP, no comparison. Jump on the Heritage, And they are not pigs but my 06 88 will blow the doors off the 09 96. Go figure.

 

My first Harley was a '98 1200 Sportster. I enjoyed it but soon realized we needed something bigger for 2 up riding. I found my '96 Heritage setting in a parking lot beckoning me like a mermaid calls to a sailor. I had to have it! I actually had 2 bike payments for about 6 months.
Anyway... After riding the Heritage for a month or so, my wife and I got back on the Sporty. Her comments was "Geez, this feels like a baby bike compaired to the other one".
I liked my Sporty but I really like my Heritage. I would do it!

 

In '99 I bought a '93 1200 Sportster that had 20k miles on it. I put a QuickBob tank on it, FatBoy rear wheel, HD LightningStar front wheel. I changed everything on it but the forks, frame, and motor/transmission. For a Harley, it ran like a raped ape, eating BigTwins for lunch.

I rode it 350 miles to MB Bike Week, bout the same to Panama City. Long trips didn't really bother me, although it shook like a 500 pound vibrator at highway speeds.

Last fall after over 80k miles the bottom end of the motor blew. After checking on the cost of rebuilding, 4k, or buying another motor, 2.5k, I decided to buy a Heritage.

In Jan. I found a very nice '02 Heritage and haven't looked back. The ONLY thing my Sportster did better than my Heritage is being faster off the line, and the last time I looked I rode on the highway and not the drag strip!

Since you're not having to sell your Sportster to get the Heritage, it should be easier for you. Trade your boat for the Heritage and you'll have both to 'test ride.' Then sell the one you like least and keep the other.

I'll bet your Sportster will be the bike you put a 'FOR SALE' sign on.



KISS

.

 

A stage I would wake it up, air filter & pipes, but even at 65 HP, wgt to HP ratio is the equiv. to a 260 HP auto, and you still can't beat a mini van out of the hole, lame...

 

hy·per·bo·le

   /haɪˈpɜrbəli/ Show Spelled[hahy-pur-buh-lee] Show IPA
–noun Rhetoric . 1. obvious and intentional exaggeration.

2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as “to wait an eternity

the bike is pathetically slow, the mini-van comparison was used as a literary device to really press home the fact that the bike is ridiculously slow, it's called hyperbole. i am not racing mini-vans or anyone else on that slow dog...

 

So you bought a Harley for it's SPEED? Even a SPORTSTER?

(Pssst....Harley's arent fast .... If you wanted fast you shoulda bought a BUSA)

And where you doing all this 'racing?'



KISS


.

 

no i don't buy a harley for speed, but an 800 pound cruiser and 65 horses is pathetic. every other crusier manufacturer has figured out how to make their heavyweight cruisers actually move like motorcycles. HD has SE heads, CAMS, CVO models etc... they have the know how to do it, they just know fools like you are content with your dog s*** slow cruiser and will pay 20 K for it without expecting even a modicum of performance.

and i'm not racing anyone as i've now stated several times, it was hyperbole, an exaggeration to push my point of view across...