Harley Davidson Classic: Harley Davidson 883 Roadster 2013

A soon as we saw the Bolt we knew it had to happen. There’s no disguising what bike Star Motorcycles had in its sights when the 2014 Bolt was released. And with good reason. The Sportster has been a best-selling model forHarley-Davidson for ages and has made it into the production line yearly since 1957. Currently Harley offers five variations, as one of the bike’s roles is as a gateway model to what The Motor Company hopes will be buyers investing in bigger and better Harleys somewhere down the road. Can’t blame Star for wanting to tap into that. The two cruisers also bear a striking resemblance, small tanks mounted high on backbones behind drag-style bars slinking back to a small solo seat, the tall pillars of a V-Twin nesting between the rails of dual downtubes. Pitting these two head-to-head was inevitable. They call it the Bolt and its Star Motorcycles newest urban cruiser. See how it stacks up against Harley's Iron 883 and the Triumph Bonneville in our 2014 Star Bolt Comparison video. But we decided to throw a wild card into the Urban Cruiser mix, the 2013 Triumph Bonneville. The Bonneville has been dueling with the Sportster on the sales floor for ages. First produced in 1959, the Bonneville has a history almost as tenured and venerable as the Sportster. Admittedly, Triumph’s standard motorcycle can’t quite match the Sportster’s record for continuous production, as there was a 13-year hiatus between the end of the Triumph Engineering Meriden models in 1988 and the Bonneville’s resurrection in 2001 by the Hinckley-based Triumph Motorcycles. And its use of a Parallel Twin as opposed to a V-Twin does make it the outlier in this shootout, but the motorcycle caters to primarily the same demographic (first bike buyers, urban commuters, new riders) and serves many of the same purposes. They share other bonds as well. Sportster conversions are a hot commodity right now. Just look at what Roland Sands is doing with them or check out the Burly Brand Café Racer we recently featured. And doing the ton-up on the Bonnie has been en vogue since the ‘60s and it’s hard to mention the café racer movement without mentioning Triumph. We’ve recognized the same potential with the Bolt and are hoping to give it the café treatment ourselves as a future project bike.

Harley Davidson 883 Roadster 2013

2012 Harley-Davidson Roadster 883 Specification.

IDENTIFICATION
Model Type	Standard
BASE MSRP(US)	$7,999.00
Warranty	24
ENGINE:
Engine Type	V Twin
Cylinders	2
Engine Stroke	4-Stroke
Cooling	Air
Valves	4
Valves Per Cylinder	2
Valve Configuration	OHV – Pushrod
Compression Ratio	8.9:1
Starter	Electric
Fuel Requirements	Regular
Fuel Type	Gas
TRANSMISSION:
Transmission Type	Manual
Number Of Speeds	5
Primary Drive (Rear Wheel)	Belt
WHEELS & TIRES:
Front Tire (Full Spec)	Michelin® Scorcher™ 100/90 R19 57H
Rear Tire (Full Spec)	Michelin® Scorcher™ 150/80 R16 71H

Jumat, 28 Juni 2013

Harley Davidson 883 Roadster 2013