In North America the longest continuously produced vehicle model is the Harley-Davidson Sportster.. Not just motorcycles but all vehicles. The first Sportster produced in 1957, was the called XL Sportster. Yea, I can hear the Corvette lovers talking already “We have been around since 1953”, but the Corvette was not made in the 1983 model year. A lot has changed over the years with the Sportster, but along the way the Sportster has maintained almost as much as it has changed.
With the introduction of the 1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL, Harley-Davidson had an instance hit. The Sportster was a fine lined motorcycle that never even had a pillion seat to take away from its sleek features. The motorcycle featured a 883cc overhead-valve engine that produced 40 bhp and had a top speed of 95 mph. The 438 pounds it weighed back then is actually less than the 2014 Sportster Iron which weighs in at 540 lbs but still has an 883cc engine.
The motorcycles performance improved in the 1960s with the introduction of the XLCH model. The CH quickly was known as Competition Hot, but the CH really meant Competition High-compression. The XLCH came with the Sportsters famous Peanut Tank for the first time. The tank held 1.8 gallons of fuel while the standard XL held 3.5 gallons of fuel. By the mid 1960s the bike was capable of speeds in excess of 110 mph and produced 58bhp. It was also the model that eventually saw Harley-Davidson bring the push start to the Sportster in 1967. Push start motorcycles were a big deal in 1967. Harley-Davidson promoted with the new technology with the motto “Push the button ZAP and away you go”.
The XR-750 was introduced in 1970, the bike was created when the AMA Grand National Championship changed its rules to allow the British and Japanese motorcycle be more competitive with Harley-Davidson. Ironically the XR-750 would go on to become the winningest race bike in the history of the American Motorcyclist Association. From 1970 to 1971 Harley-Davidson sponsored Evel Knievil for his motorcycle jumps. The XR-750 was the motorcycle of choice for Evel’s jumps. The XR-750 is one of most iconic of all the Sportster models.
In 1970 Cal Rayborn took a modified sportster to the Bonneville Salt Flats and shattered land speed record for his class of motorcycle. The modified 1480cc Sportster originally set the record at an unbelievable 254.84 mph. Even more unbelievable was that he destroyed that record and set the new mark at 265.49 mph.
In 1971 the Sportster transformed from a dry clutch system to a wet clutch. It was only one year later in 1972 that the Sportster produced its first 1000cc motorcycles, which then offered around 60bhp.
Harley-Davidson attempted to introduce the Sportster into a touring model in 1977 with the XLT model. The XLT came with saddlebags, a higher more relaxed handlebars, and a thicker more comfortable seat. They made over a thousand of the XLTs in 1977. The Sportster touring model had a very short life span. Harley only made 6 XLT motorcycles in 1978.
In 1985 Harley-Davidson retired the Ironhead overhead-valve engine. Harley-Davidson introduced the Evolution models in 1986 with an 883 and an 1100 engine. The Sportster 883 model is still in production today while the 1100cc model only lasted two years. The 1200cc engine replaced the short lived 1100cc engine.
The next 18 years Harley-Davidson would make several improvements to the Sportster. In 1991 the five speed transmission replaced the four speed transmission. Then in 1993 saw the belt drive become standard on all Sportster models not just the Deluxe models, 1995 brought the electronic speedometer, and 1996 introduced the XL1200C model.
The next big change came in 2004, the frame mounted Evolution engine was changed to a rubber mounted engine. This dramatically cut down the vibrations that the motorcycle produced. They overhauled the look at the same time, covering the battery with a side panel that matched the oil tank, moved the exhaust pipe that had previously run under the air filter, introduced the push and turn dip stick, as well they eliminated the transmission trap door.
Harley-Davidson has continued to make improvements to the Sportster. In 2005 they increased the rear axle. Starting in 2007 all the Sportster models used fuel injection. The 2008 Sportster introduced an enlarged front axel while slightly reducing the rear axle.. One of my favorites happened in 2010 when they allowed side mounted license plates on some models (where laws permitted). The 2014 models have come out with Keyless Entry, ABS Brakes (which should be mandatory in my personal opinion on new bikes), catalytic converter, increased compression ratio, and new speedometer that has a gear indicator/tachometer.
Since the Sportster was first introduced in 1957 it has come along ways.. Yet, it is still one of the easiest bikes to pick out from any era. I have owned many motorcycles over the years, and in 2007 I bought a Sportster XL883. The engine was the same size 883cc that the bike first came out with. Although, now a much more advanced 883cc then it was in 1957. The Peanut tank is something I have always loved, I needed to make sure I owned one at some point in my life. After all the peanut tank has been around almost since the beginning. I kept the Sportster for just 2 years but today I still look back and think riding the Sportster was the most fun I’ve had on a motorcycle.