Words: Matthew Shields

Harley-Davidson’s new Roadster is its Sportiest of Sportsters. Living in a world with some stonking high-performance cruisers like Harley’s own water-cooled V-Rod, the Roadster is as sporty as cruisy gets before it gets sporty. Get me?

The Roadster doesn’t bother with things like 17-inch wheels, superbike-like brakes and tyre-shredding performance. Instead, it runs on a 19-inch front and 18-inch rear, has a comfortable yet lively handling dynamic, and has strong, useable power without the need for electronics to harness it all. It’s the perfect machine for riding any road comfortably, excitingly and enjoyably unless you are looking for racetrack speeds on the road.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

It’s like a sportsbike from the 1960s to ride in that sense. Smooth, calculated throttle openings and inch-perfect lines through the corners is the best way to get along a twisty piece of road quickly and have fun doing it. The experience is cruisy in comparison to a superbike, but it can still be at speeds that’ll take a bunch of points from your licence.

Weighing in at 259kg with a small 12.5 litres of fuel onboard, the twin 300mm disc front brakes have great stopping power and feel. Rarely does it call for the ABS to kick in and when it does you need it or a trying to ride it like a a four-cylinder sportsbike. It’ll easily deliver the sort of lean angles that are unfamiliar for me on a Sportster aside from the racebikes in Roaring Sporties series in Australia in the 90s.

The seat height is taller, ground clearance bigger and rake steeper than the 16-inch wheel shod Forty-Eight that the Roadster closely resembles in looks. As well as a longer wheelbase, you can see that the chassis design has been tuned towards a better handling package on the road than being more of a styling exercise as the forty-Eight is. The lean angles possible on the Roadster aren’t limited like they are on most cruisers and every now and then I’d forget and think a scrape or grind was coming.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

It takes a lot of lean angle to get anything to scrape and when it does it’s the hero knobs on the footpegs that were already removed on our testbike. After that it’s into the footpegs rubbers and there’s still nothing abrupt to hit the ground. The lean angles it allows make cornering a thrill and it’s then you turn your attention to getting the delivery of power spot-on.

A shorter ratio gearbox makes the best of the 1200cc Evo engine’s torque that comes coming higher in the rev range than the Forty-Eight. Power comes on strongly just off idle and there’s a nice urgency about the delivery through the midrange. In a high gear, low rpm situation the lack of acceleration is noticeable, but if you want more there’s a heap of Screamin Eagle engine parts available.

The ride position is less sporty, and therefore more comfortable, than it looks and if you are over six-feet tall I’d imagine it’d only feel sportier. Shorter riders may find it a struggle with a 785mm seat height though the bike does hold its weight very low. The footpegs are central and high, and feel almost heels-in-the-breeze but aren’t. Sitting so central to the ride position, they do get in the way when you set your feet down at the lights, but if you always keep them wide then you won’t have a problem.

Image: Alex Gobert (Foremost Media).

The quality of every surface is perfect. The way a few cables and lines flow isn’t to my liking, but something I’d enjoy changing anyway. The matt black paintwork is the richest, smoothest finish I’ve seen like it on a production bike and the occasional dash of chrome is a nice break from the more muted greys and blacks.

On a similar sort of note, I’m a big fan of the Street Bob and, as the name suggests, the Bobber style look. The Roadster takes those minimalistic elements and with slammed bars, rearset footpegs, and sporty chassis makes the equivalent, minimalistic yet purposeful but sporty machine – the very essence of what motorcycling is meant to be.

Specifications

Capacity: 1202cc
Power: NA
Torque: 97Nm @ 4250rpm
Wet weight: 259kg
Seat height: 785mm
Price: $19,495 ride away
Detailed specs: www.harley-davidson.com