Monster Cruiser Sportser S, Does It Rule The Road? 2024 Harley-Davidson Review

- All right, take everything you remember about the HD Sportster and throw it out the window because the Sportster S, which was first released in 2021, is a far cry away from the Sporty's we've been accustomed to over the last six decades. In the 64 years since the Sportster was first released, it's only seen two major revisions before the '21 model year. That first year of 1957 went right through to 1986 where we saw the era of the ironhead followed by the Evo from '86 to 2020 with rubber mount

ing for the motor introduced back in 2004. And while the Sportster might be one of Harley Davidson's biggest success stories and one of the longest continually produced motorcycles in history, you can imagine the surprise when the new Sportster S was released to the unsuspecting public a couple of years ago. And just as the original 1957 Sportster upended proceedings when it replaced the side valve K-Model, the Sportster S also marked a huge change for the motor company. Not only is it the first

water cooled Sporty, it also features the new Revolution Max motor, along with radically different styling to any of its predecessors. The star of the show is, no doubt, the Revolution Max 1250T motor. Not only does it have more punch than Tim Zu, pumping out a claim to 120 horsepower at 7,500 RPM, although some dyno tests have it coming in at around 110 and about 85 foot pounds of torque at 6,000 RPM. But it's still very impressive. It also sounds significantly different with the new 60-degree

v-twin, which features double overhead cams, a 90-degree firing order and four vowels per cylinder, as opposed to the 45-degree v-twin on the earlier EvOo models. Another important feature of the Sportster S is that the engine is a stressed member. The front-frame, mid-frame and subframe all bolt directly to the engine, which naturally reduces weight significantly. And the variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust cams ensures you've got plenty of grunt right on tap through the entir

e power curve. Match to this are the three preset riding modes of Sport, Road and Rain, along with two extra customizable modes, which allows you to change the parameters of the engine braking power delivery, ABS, and traction control. Naturally, the switch gear can get a little overwhelming when you first see just how many buttons there are, which includes stuff like the menu features, Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control, heated hand grips, but it doesn't take too long to work it all out. No

w, with all that extra performance on tap, you need the performance brakes to match and pulling the Sportster S up quickly with ease comes courtesy of the radial mount Brembo caliper, binding the single 320-millimeter front disc, accompanied with a 280-millimeter disc at the rear being chomped on by a powerful twin piston caliper. I do think that ultimate performance is slightly diminished with a single disc, though, but it'll still pull you up on a 10-cent piece if required. Now, the shallow su

spension, which includes hydraulic preload adjustment, was a bit of a letdown too, as it can get a little rough at times, especially with only two-inches of travel at the rear. This, no doubt, helps achieve that low stance of the bike that you see here, but it isn't something you wanna ride home to mum about as soon as you hit any potholes. Now, what was a little better is the ground clearance with 34-degrees of lean angle on both sides, which means you can really enjoy fast riding when the tigh

t corners start rolling in. I will say it's a great motorcycle for terrorizing the urban streets, but I'm not sure about a long trip away though, which, to be honest, isn't something the Sportster S was designed for. Instead, it was clearly designed to be a ball tearing muscular street bike with the aggression and the performance to match. For me, personally, it's not really my type of bike. Don't get me wrong, I've loved screaming around the city on it over the past week, but maybe I'm starting

to show my age and prefer a little more comfort. Having said that, it'll definitely attract some younger rev heads to the brand. So if this sounds like you, get on down to your local Harley Davidson dealership and organize yourself a test ride. (upbeat music)