Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126828
o .-. Speedometer was accurate: indicated 60 mph was actually 59.28 mph, indicated 30 mph was 31.63. The Harley-Davidson 883 Evolution Sportster By Jim Wolcott Throw a leg over the seat of the new 883, a n d there 's little doubt that yo u' re aboard .a Harley-Davidson Sportster; the bike feels heavy, low and narrow, the engine still growIs an d rumb les wit h Ha rley 's li ff b d pecu Jar 0 - eat ca e n ce, a nd th e air cleaner still pokes yo ur ri gh t kn ee awkwardly into th e 30 airstream. Though th e ma chine has never been co ns ide red a ligh tweigh t, other motorcycles in its displa cement class weig h co nsidera bly more than th e" 883 Sportster' s 446-pou nd dry weight - m a ki ng th e bike seem, by comparison , a sma ll an d easy-to-ride m otorcycle. What's interesting a bo ut th e 883 Sportster is th at for a ll th e h oopla surro un di ng its int ro ducti on , very littl e of the bike - o ther than th e en gine - h as ch a nged from previous in ca rn a tions of Harley's XL-series mo to rc ycles . In fa c t the w he els, bra kes, fron t suspension, rear shoc ks, fen ders, seat a nd speedomete r - as well as ma ny o ther detail bit s - are directl y intercha ngea ble with last yea r's iron -h ead XL X-61 Sportster. T herefore, th e sh ortcomings of the 883 Sports ter are the same shortcomings shared by a ll Sportsters. T he gas tank holds on ly 2\4 gallons incl udi ng reserve - a fuel supp ly that, depending on rid in g co nd itions, will p ow er the machine a bo ut 100 m iles. T he gas tank is al so n arrow and slopes steep ly, a llowing noroomfora ta n kbagor a m ap p ouch . Sportsters ha ve a lways been ma rg inalfor carryi ng passe ngers over lo ng distan ces, and since they ~a v~ little room for lu ggage and lim ited fuel ra nge ma ke a p oor ch oice as a touring mount. Th e news for th e 883 is its engine, and th e Evolution engine has changed the cha racter o f th e Sportster . Turn o n th e gas with th e m ech anical pet coc k, pull ou t the choke, hit th e starter, a nd the 883 Sportster will instantly rumble to life. Cold starting woes h ave never been a part of Sports ter o wne rsh ip , but th e new en gine uses an a lumin um inta ke manifo ld (wh ich he lps th e intak e tract warm quick ly), and positions the carbure tor closer to the cylin ders. In m oderat e so u th ern Cal ifornia tempera tures, cold sta rts req ui red a bo ut h alf-ch ok e; within seco nds the engine was war med up enoug h to ride. T he tra ns miss ion sti ll moves from gear-to -gear with a decisive "clun k." T ho ugh H a rl ey cl aims im proved sh if ting due to tig hter ma n ufactu ring tolera nces, th e 883's gearbox felt sti ffer a nd harder to shift tha n those of pas t Sports ter s. The th ro w at the sh ift lever is long , a nd th e relati o n ~ " ship of th e footpeg to the sh ifter m akes for awkward , uncertai n gear ch an ges. Our particu la r test machine popped ou t of seco nd gear o n severa l occa sio n s - pro ba bly d ue to in co m pl ete gear engageme nt as a result of th e ba lk y shifti ng. The 883 ma kes u se o f th e same diaphragm-sp ri ng cl u tch introduce d on la st year 's Sportster. Ty p ica l o f th e diaphragm design, the un i t provid es a ligh ter pull at the cl u tch lever as well as stronger cla mping o n the cl utch stac k. U n like H arley's pas t co il-sp ring des igns, th e n ew clu tch doesn ' t drag whe n di sen gaged , mak in g it easy to find n eu tra l. T he neu tral in dicator light mounted below the speedome ter comple tes th e packa ge; go ne forever is th e ri tua l of ro wing fro m first -to-s econd in search of neutral. Su rprisingly, clu tch adj us tme nt is cri tical. An tici patin g dragstri p a buse, Harley mechanics adj usted the cl u tch ca ble of our test m achine a bit loo se: di aph ragm cl utches are particularl y prone to sli p if th e ca b le is too ti ght. Also, th e cl u tch pl a tes tend to wear a nd seat wit hi n the first few hundred mi les , wh ich , in tu rn , ta kes u p cable slack. Fo ur-hundred miles into o ur test th e ca ble wa s sti ll a bi t loose, a nd whi le upshifti ng on a freewa y ramp the en d o f th e ca ble fell o u t of th e cl u tch lever. Si nce Sp ortsters are still so ld withou t any kind of a too l ki t, o u r test rider had to smash an d bangsh ift th e ma chine to th e n ea rest Harley dea ler for repairs. Since th e major suspension co m p on en ts are unchanged from la st year' s m od el, it's not surprising that th e 883 Sportster 's h an dling is also u nchanged. T h e frame unde rwent a maj or rev isio n back in 1982, resulting in reduced weight and dramatica ll y im proved h andlin g. T he fra me of th e new 883 has on ly m inor revisions to th at 1982 design - changes made to acco mmodate th e dimen sional differen ces o f the new engine. More than a few ride rs unfamil iar with th ese la te-m od el Sportsters are su rprised to find tha t th e machi ne will corner withou t wo bbl e or comp la int. T houg h far from th e handl ing sta n dards set by th e la test cro p o f performance -dedicate d sport bikes, the Sports ter won 't be humiliat ed when pressed into service for an occasio na l back- road skirmish . T he sea t height chec ks a t a low 29 inc hes, a nd th e bik e is n arrow ; short ride rs will find th ey ca n sto p th e 883 Sportster with both feet flat o n th e gro u nd. Th e so lo seat posi tio ns the ri de r in one spot - short riders will find th e seat / foot peg/ hand leba r relatio ns h ip abo u t right , wh ile ta lle r (over about 5' 10") riders will wi sh th ey could scoo t back on th e seat. Ta ll rid ers ca n slide back a n inc h or two for co mf or t wit h th e op tiona l stepped "Pillow-look " sea t ($84.95) , which als o allows room for a p assen ge r. Optional footpegs ($24.95) ca n co m p lete th e 883's passen ger acco m m odatio ns. The brakes are exac tly th e same as used on last year 's XLX Sports ter; in the name of eco n omy , th e 883's front wheel is fitted with a single disc bra ke . Stopping power up front is merel y ade q uate; it tak es a h earty pull on th e brak e lever to slow th e bi ke. At th e rea r, the d isc ca lipe r leversaga inst th e swingarm , wh ich tends to m ak e th e rear wheel br eak tracti on a nd chatte r wh en br aking on uneven surfaces . T he addition of a floatin g rear ca liper woul d reduce th is tende n cy, a nd wo u ld definitely improv e the rear brak e. T he front a n d rear brake pads are a sem i-metallic co mp ositio n, wh ich work eq ua lly well whe n wet or dry. As one wou ld expec t, th e smalle r 883cc Sportster is slo wer th an th e old 1000cc version. Since H arley-Dav idso n wo n 't co m m it to horsepow er figures for th eir engi nes, we had to co u n t on th e quarter-mile clocks to tell the p erformance sto ry for th e 883. Acknow ledgi ng th at acc u ra te dr agstri p co m parisons are a product of back-to-back ru n s co nd uc ted on the same track, we took the liberty of flo ggin g our test mach in e before th e light s o f Ca rls ba d Racew a y, a n d (ro ugh ly) co m paring th e resu lts with th ose obtai ned from sim ila r m ot orcycles. On a variety of dr agstrips, th e o ld cast-iron XL ser ies Sp ortsters