Harley XR1200. Any good?

**BIG DOUG** · 30th January 2010, 15:00

Will I have one ,an orange one there faster I have done a few mods ohlins rear shocks ,xr1200x big piston forks,niterod special bars ,my one off 2-1 ex with yoshi muffler and pipercross filter and the flapper valve from the airbox removed and a pro tuner and upped the rev limit to 7500 it has just clicked over 20k's and has been to the burt munro and did a 980k return trip in one go and you get use to the seat as for handling I have done 2 track days and its a blast excellent brakes so you can outbrake jappers lol and if you get to welly m/c's they have just put an xr1200x with vance + hines widow exaust on as a demo my only gripe would be fuel range if you hammer it I have had the light come on at 150k's but this was after sitting on 140-160k's but I can still get from wgtn to wanganui on a tank .

**Movistar** · 30th January 2010, 16:01

I've been having a sneaky look at these too...not bad value for your $$$ either just quietly...

**firefighter** · 30th January 2010, 16:10

Originally Posted by Big Dave

I like the first exhausts much better.

Me too. I imagine the new pipe would have my tinitus up to a level 10 rather than the 6 it is now within a 1/4 mile!

Besides the volume I reackon even the sound was nicer.

**Big Dave** · 30th January 2010, 19:00

Well atchally I like the sound of the first ones and the look of the remus.

But then I also think it sounds 'just dandy' stock. Shame about the mini camera listhp. You get that. But you can hear the engine kinda cool.

**martybabe** · 8th March 2010, 21:19

I had a run out to Hamihole today and took an XR1200x for a test ride in the countryside around the city.

I'm not about to do a full review but there are a few things that struck me whilst scooting around: Firstly it says Harley on the tank, the switchgear was all Harley familiar and it came from a Harley shop but it feels more like it was one of Eric Buell's projects re-badged and dare I say it, refined by Mr H and Mr D.

There are a few odd things, I couldn't locate the rear brake pedal first time every time ,I don't know why it just never seemed to be where my size nine was looking for it, the seat seemed uncomfortably hard, at first, and the speedo (reminiscent of an eighties digital watch) seemed totally overwhelmed by it's near neighbour, the kitchen clock/Rev counter.

As it turned out, after five or ten minutes, all but the rear brake lever issue, had become familiar enough to concentrate on the ride...and what a ride it was.

Plenty of effortless go from nothing, great handling,real good brakes, good gearbox, even the seat turned out to be quite comfy. The most important thing though, for me at least, is not how it compares to other Harleys or other makes even, it's about how good it feels to be riding it and I thought it was an absolute hoot, a smilefest from start to finish. Is it as fast as or does it handle as well as an xx1350rrr? , I don't give a toss, it's simply the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time.
How impressed was I? I bought one there and then. Not the X though, I couldn't reconcile my self to the matt black minimal graphic look, it's in the eye of the beholder I know, but it looked like it had been sanded down awaiting the final clearcote which was never going to come. So, one more sleep will see me with a shiny dayglow orange Harley Davidson XR1200 to love and cherish, bring on the twisties.

**98tls** · 8th March 2010, 21:33

Had the pleasure(yea me to)of riding one of these this afternoon,Comfortable,fun and way cool.i thought i had long since given up any motorcycling brand prejudice but this bike reminded me that like most mortals ive skeletons in a closet ive forgotten i had,it promptly shook them up and threw them out the window.Loved it.No wonder Fonzie doesnt age.

**martybabe** · 8th March 2010, 21:42

Originally Posted by 98tls

Had the pleasure(yea me to)of riding one of these this afternoon,Comfortable,fun and way cool.i thought i had long since given up any motorcycling brand prejudice but this bike reminded me that like most mortals ive skeletons in a closet ive forgotten i had,it promptly shook them up and threw them out the window.Loved it.No wonder Fonzie doesnt age.

Well said. Sometimes I need an injection of simple, pure, motorcycling pleasure to remind me why this jaded old fart hasn't hung up his helmet for good, today I got just that, loads of fun and left me wanting more. Character and fun in spades for $16-ishK, that'll do me.

**98tls** · 8th March 2010, 21:54

Originally Posted by martybabe

Well said. Sometimes I need an injection of simple, pure, motorcycling pleasure to remind me why this jaded old fart hasn't hung up his helmet for good, today I got just that, loads of fun and left me wanting more. Character and fun in spades for $16-ishK, that'll do me.

About it really,i spent the weekend at the March Hare and at my age 2 nights of Bourbon and sleeping bags the word Jaded springs to mind,the last thing i could be bothered doing this arvo was pandering to a visitor on an Orange Harleys needs,i could have quite happily rode off into the sunset on this thing never to return,it was fun,pure and simple.Sadly a mortgage and hungry Border Collie meant i had to return and give it back.

**blackdog** · 8th March 2010, 21:55

Originally Posted by BIG DOUG

Will I have one ,an orange one there faster I have done a few mods ohlins rear shocks ,xr1200x big piston forks,niterod special bars ,my one off 2-1 ex with yoshi muffler and pipercross filter and the flapper valve from the airbox removed and a pro tuner and upped the rev limit to 7500 it has just clicked over 20k's and has been to the burt munro and did a 980k return trip in one go and you get use to the seat as for handling I have done 2 track days and its a blast excellent brakes so you can outbrake jappers lol and if you get to welly m/c's they have just put an xr1200x with vance + hines widow exaust on as a demo my only gripe would be fuel range if you hammer it I have had the light come on at 150k's but this was after sitting on 140-160k's but I can still get from wgtn to wanganui on a tank .

lol you've blown past me a cuppla times

have to admit having a little giggle when i caught you up at the lights and saw the jap can on the yank bike

sounded mint tho......

**TerminalAddict** · 8th March 2010, 22:30

congrats martybabe.

I took that matt black one out on Saturday (after the Ultra wide glide glide trike !! . .that's another story)
I loved it; it is the first time I have truly ground the pegs into the pavement on a test ride.
The handling just begged for the bike to be steered

I was truly surprised, and have raved about it since.
I'm not sure I could fork out the fund however as the pillion room is limited, but in saying that .. it is half the price of a VFR

Lovely bike .. I'm almost a convert !!!! at this rate I can definitely see a yankee in the garage in my future

**BIG DOUG** · 9th March 2010, 05:48

Yea stig the muffler was off a gsxr 1000 plenty of people come up and say jap muffler on american bike not right lol,but I have about $250.00 in the pipe so I don't care.

**Omega1** · 9th March 2010, 11:32

Excellent stuff ,keep buying em Guys I wanna see a few pristine second hand examples on TM later....

**avgas** · 9th March 2010, 11:39

I like em.
But I love the XB12R.........

**martybabe** · 9th March 2010, 15:28

Well the tangerine dream arrived this morning on schedule, Delivered by a nice young man by the name of Lester from road and sport Hamihole. It came with a free tee shirt, free ruck sack and loads of other reading bike porn. It looked great in the sun, all kind of gleemy and orangey and blacky and purposeful. Lester showed me all the bells and whistles and started it up, all good n nice, then he buggered off from whence he came.

If you've read some of my other crap on here you will know that nothing ever goes quite to plan in my life, so I wasn't overly surprised, when I wheeled it out into the glorious Taranaki sunshine, that the bloody thing flatly refused to start

I checked all the usual, kill switch, kick stand, mirror adjustment...nothing, dead as a bleedin Dodo. I'm fully togged up and sweating my bolix off in the midday heat and my new bike just doesn't want to play, not a great start eh.

Back in the garage I surmised that the battery was all but flat so I decided to charge her up, farks me what a pa larva that turned out to be, side panel off front seat off pillion seat off, seat pan removed all five bolts and I still couldn't get at both terminals, I'd virtually stripped my new bike down to just the frame and engine and I hadn't even travelled kilometre one.

Enough of the sob story....45 minutes latter she's put back together and rumbling like a goodun, shaking like a swingers house on party night and raring to go.

I've only had it a few hours but I'm already so over this running it in stuff, I wanna give it's boysenberries , 3500 rev limit and new tyres and brakes makes for less than exhilarating riding but I tell ya what, half an hour in and my cheeks are beginning to ache from the stupid cheesy permanent grin, it's a blast, it is to corners what fatMax is to pies,( just made for each other) I think It may be the beginning of a love affair

The only noticeable difference between the 'x' model and the standard that I bought is, it is noticeably bouncier and less refined up front in the none adjustable fork area, not annoyingly so but as you can buy the 'x' model front adjustable springy things straight out of the catalogue, it may be an upgrade worth thinking about in the future. For now I'm happy as a pig in poo and I'm off to see if you can actually wear the paint off a new bike just by staring at it all day long

Cheers me dears.