Rlllln~ til' HIII,,-J.rMslI XLltllS S,.ltsll, Jtll S,'d
By
SCOTT ROUSSEAU
PHOTOS BY KINNEY JONES
quarter of 1999. How's that for evolution?
And speaking of Evolution, that's
a word that is already becoming a
distant, though revered, word around
the Harley-Davidson engine assembly plants these days - at least where
it pertains. The new Twin Cam 88
and TC88B are the headline stealers,
with the last remnants of "the little
engine that did" being found on the
production lines of the honorable
Sportster.
A long-standing member of the
Harley-Davidson clan,
the
Sportster line
nless you've been living in a
cave, you've certainly heard it,
that ever-growing rumble that has
been the trademark of the HarleyDavidson Motor Company for nearly
two decades. We're not talking
exhaust notes here, either; that particular rumble has been emanating
from the pipes of Milwaukee-made Vtwins for nearly a century.
No. The constantly swelling rumble that continues to power HarleyDavidson to greater successes can be
ascertained from its ever-increasing
sales numbers. In fact, between
Juneau Avenue and Wall Street, the
sky continues to be the limit, with
Harley-Davidson once again posting
_ record sales figures in the fourth
20
FEBRUARY 9. 2000'
eye
I
e
n
eVIl'S
has grown from a sometimes scoffedat entry-level motorcycle into a family of machines that has achieved its
own distinction within the scheme of
things, according to Harley-Davidson.
"The Sportster is no longer considered just an entry-level motorcycle
from our marketing perspective," a
Harley spokesman said. "The Sportster has a deep-rooted history in racing, and we feel that it has remained
true to those roots as a machine with
soul, an evolutionary hot rod with
raw-bone styling. While there are
models within the Sportster family
that could be
considered
entry-level, the
family
itself
should not be considered entry-level."
Least of those would have to be
the Harley-Davidson XL1200S Sportster 1200 Sport (phew!), Harley's
hottest of the hot in the Sportster
lineup. Based upon the XL1200
Sportster, the Sportster Sport clearly
represents a harkening back to the
racing heritage of the company, and
Harley engineers have modified or
revised several components in order
to ensure that the model would be
viewed in that fashion.
Starting with the Evo-based Sportster 1200cc engine, Harley engineers
have incorporated hotter cams,
stepped up the compression from
9.0:1 to 10.0:1, and added dual-plug
heads and a corresponding high-per-
