I am looking to buy a 2007 1200 sporty low but when I test drove it the response of the transmission did not seem to be favorable. Meaning after shifting gears and applying throttle, mid or greater it seem to bonce, forgive my discription. If I gave it little or just enough throttle than it rode smooth. I could not really open it up without the boncing effect, not a hesitation resposne. I ride a 03 Roadking and i can open it up without a problem. This cycle only has 5800 miles. Is this normal? Any ideas on what would cause this if not normal? Thanks for you help in advance!

 

If you mean 'bounce', it may be that you are trying to ride at very low engine revs. Sportsters use higher engine revs than the big twins, so ride it in that smooth range and you will be fine! Once it is running smoothly open it up and enjoy. If you try to ride your RK at too low engine speeds it will do something similar.

 

thanks for your response GrBrown,

if i understand your response, I should give more throttle? If this is correct, i did try giving more throttle after shifting gears but this created more bounce, the only way the cycle responded favorably was when I gave it just enough thottle after shiting gears, then I could open it up. So this is what you meant, correct that I should have given it high throttle afer shifting gears?

 

I hope I have interpreted your original comments correctly! All engines have to run at a high enough crankshaft speed for them to run smoothly. It is different for every engine, so while a Sporty engine will happily idle at a similar speed to a big twin, as soon as we want to ride away on a Sporty, we have to use higher revs than with a big twin. If you are trying to use similar revs to your RK that probably explains the bouncing you refer to on the Sporty and why it runs smooth above that.

If I am right and you take a longer test ride, you will probably find it rides fine! Also talk things through with the owner (dealer?) as it is much easier to solve the sort of thing you found face to face!