Harley-Davidson XL883 Sportster (1993-current)

.... ner.... ner ner neeeeeeeeeeer! Okay. This bike is rubbish, but that's not the point. When you ride one of these things you are on the lowest rung of a special ladder to a weird club. You are Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper from Born To Be Wild. You are a rebel, one of a kind. All other Hog riders are your brothers-in-arms. Jodie Kidd rides one too, how cools is that?!?! But as for an actually bike. Nah. Nop. Doesn't stack up too well, though not really bad or anything, just doesn't have the trousers to back up the mouth. Ride? Soft, but takes bends. Just about! Comfy, heavy. It goes like it looks. The engine is a bit of a relic. I mean, it's just shy of 900cc and it ain't ballsy. I did check to see if it took petrol or lumps of coal, but it has some charm where it lacks oomph. Tank? Capacity of a gnat's codpiece. But the world is a nice place from the back of an 883. If you ever get the chance to ride one on a sunny day when the sun is high then go for it, you WILL come back with a smile. It won't get me of my Japanese motor tho...

I have just bought an "883 Iron", that has been treated to a stage one and a set of Vance Hines Short Shots and what can I say? ITS FANTASTIC! I am amazed by the sheer number of people who ask me about the bike and seem drawn to it. Having ridden Japanese bikes for many years I can honestly say that I have never had so much fun on a bike. Looks amazing, sounds like the wrath of God and puts a smile on my face every time. I'm converted, Harley's Rule!

In 8 years and 17000 miles (24500 miles on the bike now) ownership of my 883 sportster hugger, I think I am well qualified in giving my opinion. In all this time, she has proved bulletproof, and the paint and general finish still looks like new. She is still on the original battery from 1997, in the winter she starts up every 2 months without complaint, and get this when I originally got her, rode her for 5 months before laying her up for winter, the next spring at service time got a call from the dealer telling me there was no gearbox oil at all period! I probably ran her for 5 months without gearbox oil and guess what, that gearbox is still running sweet to this day! Try that on your Jap bike! In 8 years of ownership, I only had 2 major problems, namely a battery terminal had corroded and perished, and this year the throttle cable snapped. Both wear and tear items and no big deal to sort out. The handling is safe and secure, sure it's no sportsbike but then it's nowhere near as bad as non Harley people like to make out. Brakes take some getting used to, especially 2 up, but you adjust to that fairly quickly. But the best bit is that engine. It may not be that fast, but it wasn't designed to be. To sum up, if you are thinking of buying a Sportster, go for it you will not regret it!

Well i've just got the Harley 883, 1st 100 miles coevered and love it. It's basic, it's not fast, but it looks good. For leisure riding and nipping out and about i cant fault it. As for heavy, not noticed but then again i do also ride a Z900.

After owning an 883r for several months now I have discovered them to be great fun. It vibrates your teeth out at anything above 60mph but that takes a back seat when your flying around on one, grinning from ear to ear. Just needed a new exhaust system to make it an even better bike as the stock ones strangle the sound and performance. An Ideal first time Harley and an ideal first bike too.

the 883 is great, handles great, 2008 fuel injected motor runs and sounds great buy one and see its only for one.

I hired the low version of the 2007 883 for a day over the summer, because that's all the dealer had available. Overall was very impressed, it was much faster than I expected it to be, pulls very hard in the first few gears, and if you keep the throttle open it gets up to 90mph in no time, with still some more to give (105mph sounds about right). Was very surprised with the easy handing considering the weight of the bike, though on the low model the pegs touch down in slow, tight corners.(but im sure the standard version is fine as you can visibly see how much higher it sits) Apart from that I couldnt fault it, the sound from the standard pipes is very impressive, even on tickover. I will definitely be buying the R version soon.

the 883 is a very underated machine, ok it does not have tyre ripping performance or the ride quatiliy of its bigger brothers or of the competition, it is a basic bare bones bike that chugs along with the HD heart beat, coming from a tweaked and tuned xvs1100 you can feel the lack of power but it still has ample to waft you along all day at motorway speeds, and is comfy enough for a full tank in the saddle and there is little worry of losing your license. It has better ground clearance than its bigger brothers but still not massive and the pipes will be the first to touch down if you get spirited, the brakes are best left in the bin and replaced with something that works they just about haul up the bike from motorway speeds with prodgius amounts of rear and is the bikes and any HD's down fall apart from maybe the Vrod, loads of bits out to make it your own and for short riders the low and custom are great bikes this is my 2nd sportster and 3rd HD, would i have other marquees? with out a doubt and they too would be the custom style, often imitated and often bettered by the Japenese but they still a great little bike

Bought second-hand with Stage 1 and not so silent SE exhausts. Just 5,000m and I've racked up another 1,000 this month. A great B' road tool. Not the fastest, not the quickest round a corner, but loadsa fun. A few coughs and backfires, but great noise on the road. And the chances are I might even get my money back when i sell it.

There is a huge problem with rocker cover oil leaks on these black engines. Mine has been back to the dealers 3 times for this problem alone and its still not fixed. The bike is 7 months old and has been back to the dealers 6 times in total with faults. Buyers be very aware. I'm asking for my money back!