New Harley-Davidson Iron 1200
Harley-Davidson Iron 1200 gets more cubes to go with its undoubted cool
The Sportster has been a staple of the Harley line-up for a long time, but has not had the go to match the show. Until now. The new Sportster Iron loses the 883cc engine and gets a 1202cc air-cooled Evo engine. And boy does it make a big difference.
Power play
Harley have taken the 1202cc lump from the Forty-Eight and crammed it under the Iron’s bulging shirt. Bumping up the capacity by 30% has had an obvious effect on power. It now puts out 66bhp and 73ftlb of torque, while remaining A2-licence friendly. This gives it more drive out of corners and you can just leave it in third gear and ride everywhere on a wave of torque.
There’s little point in revving it until the valves pop out chasing peak power. So just sit back, relax and bring the noise.
The 32-year-old design of Harley’s Evolution engine is starting to show its age though. The gearbox is only five speed, with big gaps between ratios, even if the torque does a fair job of masking those jumps. It really thuds into gear, too. Even though the engine is rubber-mounted, it still transmits loads of vibes through the pegs. But the worst bit of all is the heat.
The modern Big Twins are oil or water-cooled but the Evo is still air-cooled, so once the speed drops the mercury rises. A slow battle through traffic will results in softboiled legs.
Same old chassis
When Harley stuck the big motor in the Iron, they didn’t update the rest of the chassis, suspension or brakes. Suddenly there’s a lot more speed to be gained between the corners but without any extra help to scrub the speed off or manage it when lent over. Without traction control, the extra torque makes the rear tyre much easier to spin up coming out of corners. But with traction control, you have to really crack the throttle hard to get the tyre squirming. Only a hamfisted rider would do this by accident, but there’s no doubting that you can get yourself in a pickle on the 1200 if the traction control is not on the right setting or the rider is not paying proper attention.
Better suspension would be beneficial (as would a second front disc) but the cost of the bike would then go through the roof. Harley argues that if you’re after such niceties, you’d be better off with a Roadster anyway.
If you’ve always fancied an Iron but wanted more go, then this is the bike you’ve been waiting for. While a smidge under £10k can hardly be called cheap, it is one of HarleyDavidson’s more affordable bikes with PCP deals at just £119 a month. But it doesn’t feel budget.