Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

At any feet-up pace, however, th e wonkiness disappears, rep laced by di rect, neutral steerin g. If you give in to-the tem p tation to put th e Sport through its paces o n back roads, you 'll be pl eased not o nly by its steeri ng but by its brakes, as well. All three single pi ston calipers look lik e th ey were carved fro m bi llet by Fred Flintstone. The immense handleba r-m ounted front master cylinder would alm ost look at ho me under the hood of a car, pr actically as much as the brake pedal seems more sui ted to the cab of an old pickup tru ck. Nevert heless, grab a fo ur -fingered h andful of front brak e, and the porky FLHS will come to a smooth, controlled stop so fast yo u might not ge t your foot down in time to keep from tipping over. Forget what you 've heard abo ut Harley brakes in th e past - this one is strong. T he front fork's air supply reservoir is shared by an effective an ti-dive unit, and bo th are adjustab le via a Schraeder valve in the left end of the handle bar. The FLHS's saddlebags store goodies. but are not larg e enough for a two-person weekend; ,the battery bulge takes up room on the right side. glide, its meaty l 6-inch tires exh ib iring on ly a sligh t tende ncy to follow rain grooves. But on secondary roads or well-travelle d cit y streets, the Sport's accom modating demeanor can turn sur ly. H arley claims 4.6 inches of trav el for th e fork and 3.0 in ches for the shocks. With th e front and rear air suspension adjus ted to factory specs, the 700-po und Sport uses up enough of both a t rest so that it bottoms ou t over som e bumps tha t would barely dis turb ot her bikes in its class. T he Sport's handl in g, as distinct fr om its sus pe n sio n, is a n o th er matter. With 26 degrees of rake and a whopp ing 6.2 in ches of trail, the FL H S belies its size with surprising ag ility. It 's no 250 Ninja, but it steers with a directness and speed that goes against wh at most rid ers think they know of how H ar leys handle. A lin e drawn betwee n the Sport's fork tub es 'ru ns behind the steering head, not in front as is the case with most bi kes. Perhap s this is wh y the Sport feels a littl e wo nky at parki ng- lot speeds. At the heart of the FLHS is the 1340cc Evolution V -twin; the closest' thing to a maintenence free engine yet; traditional tune-ups don't apply. This H-D features a plush seat with plenty of lower back support. That same ha ndlebar sweeps back at a co m fo rtable angle toward a p lush seat wit h plenty of lower bac k support. On either side of th e engine is , a broad , flat , spring-m o u n ted floorboa rd. T he Sport's cockpi t is an inviti ng pl ace to whi le away a few hundred miles, thanks to these and a very effective di stortion-free windshield. For all th eir aerodynamic sty l i ng a n d w i nd tunn el -t est ed design , few luxo-touring bi ke fairings wa rd off the wind as well as th e Sport 's low-rentalternative, wh ich is adj ustable in a coup le of min u tes over a three-in ch range by loosen ing four easily accessible bo lts. Rounding ou t the Sport's touring amen ities is a pair of saddlebags that elicit mixed reactions . T hey're large eno ug h to sto w a weekend's worth of necessities, but only for the 'p ilot or th e passen ger, not both. The rightside bag sacrifices some of its volume to a large inward bul ge to acco m modat e the ba ttery , which nestles directl y behind it. In additio n, bo th bags sti n k a bo m in a b ly o f fresh fiberglass. Wash the bags, leave the lid s off overn igh t for two weeks The instrument panel on the FLHS is clean and functional. straig ht , it doesn' t mat ter - this smell just doesn 't want to go away, and it almost always saturates anythi ng left in the bags for long. And finall y, th e bags' unfinished inner surface, combined with th e pl entiful vibra tio n allowed by th e mounting system, scuffed several holes clear through a nylon too l bag, and can easily mar hard er surfaces. T here are a few ot her annoy ing nigg les scattered around the Spo rt. One is the feeble horn, mounted in such a way in th e vee of th e cylinders th at no one wh o isn 't strapped to the engine's primary case will ever hear it. Another is the time-h onored H arley turnsig nal switches, which o nly flash as long as th ey're held do wn. And finally, th e fuel ga uge on th is parti cul ar test bike would pl ay dead for the first 50 miles of a fu ll tank, then flutter back and forth as though indicat in g the fuel level on some other mo torcycle, an d finally get down to business around the halffu ll point. Experience wit h other bik es indicates th is isn't typical of H arley fuel ga uges, however. ' Typical of all Harleys, thou gh , is the Sport's presence in traffic. Li ttle kids wave from th e back seat of station wag ons , heads turn as you ride by, and th e class ic cop-bi ke look does to traffi c wh at Moses did to th e Red Sea. The torquey engine will plod along in top gear at 35 mph all day o r fly down the freeway at " G ood -m o rn i n g -Ju d ge" speeds from dawn to du sk. For reasons such as th ese, this Harley doesn 't need to be sporty in the usual sense of th e wo rd, because sport implies recreation. Wh atever that means to you , wh ether it' s touring, or back road cruising, or even co mm uting, the FL HS Sport is suited pretty well to your kind of recrea tio n . If you can' t have a goo d time on a bike li ke this, you' re j ust not trying hard enough , sport. • Harley-Davidson FLHS Electra Glide Sport Engine type Four-stroke , Rear suspension Dual-shock, ' swingarm 45-degree pushrod V-twin w ith overhead valves Rear wheel travel • • •.• : ••• NI A Bore x stroke .. .. . 88.8x1 08mm Front brakes • • • • . . Dual 11 .5 in . disc. Displacement .. . • .. . .. . 1340cc Compression ratio .•. . . • . . 8.5:1 Rear brake . •• . . . Single 11.5 in . disc. Carburetor .•. . • •. • . • • •. 38mm Ignition • .•. • • • •.•. •• • . Electric Front tire • .. •. • • .. MT90-16 in. Lubrication . •. . . .• . . . Dry sump Rear tire ....... .•. MT90-16 in. Clutch Wet, Multi-plate Claimed dry weight •• •• 692 Ibs. Transmission • . • . . . . Five-speed Overall length . • • • . .• •94.25 in. Frame • ... ... Mild steel. double Overall width • . . . ... . . . . .. NI A downtube Overall height .. .. •. . • • .. . NI A 26° Wheelbase 62.9 in . Rake Trail .. . .. • • . •. . . . . . . . . . 6 .2 in . Seat height • .• .• •• . . • • . . 28 in. NI A Front suspension Tele- Ground clearance scopic fork Fuel capacity • ••• •. •• . 6 .0 gaLl Fork tube diameter ... .. • • •N/A 0.7 res. ,Front wheel travel ••• •• •• • NI A Retail price ••. • • • •. •• • •$9360

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