Harley’s new Iron 1200 tackles MCN’s super-tough test route
A cool sub-£10k Harley? That’s got to be worth a look...
The Sportster 883 has long been the most popular entry route to Harley-Davidson ownership. That’s partly thanks to its classic styling, air-cooled 45-degree V-twin and surprising affordability at £8895. With the arrival of the new 1200 version, Harley hope to broaden the Iron’s appeal while retaining its blacked-out cool and affordability. To do just that it’s got the 1202cc version of Harley’s V-twin which produces a useful 16 extra bhp and has a roomier riding position thanks to new mini-apehanger bars plus a smidge of weather protection and all for a smidge over nine grand.
But is it enough to extend the Iron’s appeal? And what does it all add up to on Britain’s most challenging test route, the MCN250?
To be honest, things weren’t looking great from the word go. Two hundred and fifty miles in a day is a reasonably decent mileage and yet, despite its growth into 1200 form, the new Iron is still a fairly dinky motorcycle. In fact, in some ways it’s even dinkier.
People sometimes assume 1200 Sportsters are larger bikes all round than their 883 siblings but they’re not. Both share the same crankcases, twin loop tubular steel frame and more. In the Iron’s case both 883 and 1200 have the same wheels (19in front, 16in rear), forks, shortened twin rear shocks and so on. Wheelbases are an identical 1515mm, for example. While the 1200’s mini-ape bars are higher and give the impression of added roominess and the little cowl gives weather-beating hope, it isn’t massively different. In fact, the 1200’s new café seat is actually thinner and lower than the 883’s, giving a seat height of just 735mm compared to the 883’s 760mm. On the plus side, the Iron 1200 doesn’t have as extreme a riding position as those bars and seat suggest. My first pot-pot-pottering out of MCN HQ is a surprisingly easy, roomy, natural delight. And after a pleasant, 60mph squirt down the country lanes to Elton I hit the A605 west where the test route officially starts. Maybe this was going to be easy, after all.
At first, life with the Iron 1200 is simple and evocative. A single speedo, an LCD panel switchable between twin odos, clock and gear/rev counter and that’s it. There are no gadgets, no modes, no complications and in these days of Starship Enterprise sportsbikes, that’s refreshing indeed. Instead just boot the Iron into top (fifth), wind on that fat Yankee throttle, let the Milwaukee Vee thump up to barely over three thou’ (about 60mph), lean back and rumble.
But as the roads of the MCN250 get bigger, the 1200 seems to get smaller. The twin lanes of the 605 become the four of the A45, speeds rise and the Iron shows its first signs of struggle. 60mph cruising is fine; 70, due to the riding position, exposed to the wind and with all your weight on your backside, starts to become demanding; 80 is real grin-andbear-it time. Some say the 1200 Sportster could do with a sixth gear but in this form you’d never use it.
‘A brief pose or pleasing rumble is soon cancelled out by aching extremities’
‘The cruise into and around Stratford brings back the smiles’
After 30 miles of the switchback bends, the swooping two lanes of the A508 after Northampton towards Roade is a blessed relief. But even then my cool cruise is interspersed with annoyances. More frequent bumps show up the short travel shocks and thin seat, jolting the back end (and mine). Sharp right-handers have the righthand peg (extended to escape the exhausts) grounding out all too easily and the air filter rubs my right thigh. Some of that, of course, is Harley ‘character’ but they also add to the irks on a long day’s ride. After 45 minutes I need my first leg stretch halt and it’s a chance to admire the Iron’s blacked-out class: the crinkle finish bar clamps, heavy metal class and glossy AMF era paint job. But, for me the mix of apes and nose cowling clashes, the inner console is a little crude and I’m already starting to loath the pretty, embroidered seat.
The four-lane A43 becomes a grind and, after my first 100-mile fuel stop, the 30-miles of M40 north is almost comedy, except it’s not very funny. But then the cruise into and around Stratford brings back the smiles. If all I wanted from a bike were transport I’d buy a Pan and shrivel in shame riding around a place so pretty. On the crowd-pleasing, attention-grabbing Harley I do an extra lap and bask in its reflected glory. Rejuvenated I enjoy some bendswinging into the Cotswolds but again, over these distances, the Iron’s more miss than hit: a brief pose or pleasing rumble is soon cancelled out by aching extremities. Fish Hill sees the Harley grinding out yet still being overtaken by cars. By the A40 I’m stopping every 30 minutes to ease my arse. Overall, to be completely honest, the last third of the journey is a painful chore.
That said, there are brief respites, highlights and smiles. A coffee and rest stop in Buckingham reminds that the Sportster is a great town bike and true attention-grabber. A thrash through Milton Keynes’ maze of 50mph dual carriageways and roundabouts is something the low, slim, nimble and fairly grunty Iron is actually pretty good at (it’d be even better if its bars were narrower) and on the gentle, bend-swinging B660 back home it’s as pleasing and charismatic as any Harley on a sundrenched summer’s day can be.