By Lance Oliver and Peter Kaye
Smart or stupid? That sort of summarizes the range of reactions, from reflection to criticism to praise, in reaction to Harley-Davidson’s announcement on social media that the last Evolution-powered Sportster had rolled off the assembly line in the H-D plant in York, Pennsylvania. The reactions should come as no surprise. When you’ve been building Sportsters with essentially the same engine — updated now and then, and produced in various displacements, but always looking about the same from the outside — since 1986, people tend to get attached to it. Or really tired of it. Or nostalgic about the idea of it no longer being around.
The Sportster line dates back to 1957, but huge changes arrived in the 1986 model year, when the Ironhead engine was replaced by the new, alloy, Evolution engine, which ran cooler, quieter, and more reliably, and had hydraulic valves for reduced maintenance. That first year, you could get a Sportster in either 883 cc or 1,100 cc displacements. The 883-version cost just $3,995 and in 1987 Harley-Davidson offered a “Ride Free” promotion that guaranteed Sportster owners they’d get $3,995 in trade-in value for up to two years if they later traded in the 883 on a bigger Harley.
From the words of the Harley-Davidson archives: “The motorcycling public met a new motorcycle called the Sportster®. It premiered as a 55 cubic inch overhead valve engine, and within one year of its debut, becomes known as the first of the “Superbikes.” Another Harley-Davidson tradition and legend is born.”
Sportster models were designated in Harley-Davidson’s product code by beginning with “XL”. In 1952, the predecessors to the Sportster, the Model K Sport and Sport Solo motorcycles, were introduced. These models K, KK, KH, and KHK of 1952 to 1956 had a side valve (‘flat head’) engine, whereas the later XL Sportster models use an overhead valve engine. The first Sportster in 1957 had many of the same details of the KH including the frame, fenders, large gas tank and front suspension.
The original Sportster line was discontinued in Europe in 2020 because the engine failed to meet the stricter Euro 5 emissions standards. An all-new model, called the Sportster S and equipped with the Revolution Max engine, was introduced in 2021. It was the first motorcycle under the Sportster nameplate to receive a new engine since 1986, and the first Sportster to have an engine not derived from the Model K.
Sportster motorcycles are powered by a four-stroke, 45° V-twin engine in which both connecting rods, of the “fork and blade” or “knife & fork” design, share a common crank pin. The original Sportster engine was the Ironhead engine, which was replaced with the Evolution engine in 1986. Sportster engines, the 45-cubic-inch R, D, G & W Models 1929 side-valve motors, and the ‘Big Twin’ side-valve motors, which were: the flathead 74.0 cu in (1,213 cc) Models V, VL etc. (1930–1936), Models U and UL (1937–1948), and the 80.0 cu in (1,311 cc) models VH and VLH (1935–1936), models UH and ULH (1937–1941), have four separate cams, sporting one lobe per cam.
The “cam” followers used in Sportster engines, K models, big twin side-valve models, and the side-valve W model series, were a slightly shorter version of the followers used in the larger motors but featured the same 0.731-inch (18.6 mm) diameter body and 0.855-inch (21.7 mm) diameter roller follower used since 1929. The company used similar cam followers for decades, with minor changes, from 1929 to the 1980s.
Sportster engines retained the K/KH design crankcase design, in which the transmission is contained in the same casting as the engine and driven by the engine with a triple-row #35 chain primary drive and a multi-plate cable-operated clutch. Models since 1991 have five speeds; 1990 and earlier models had four speeds.
The engine was mounted directly to the frame from 1957 through the 2003 model year. While this system allows the bike to be somewhat lighter with more precise handling, it also transmits engine vibration directly to the rider. In 2003, Harley Davidson produced a limited number of 100th anniversary model sportsters. They are identified by the 100th anniversary paint schemes and plaques attached to the Sheetmetal, speedometer housing, and engine. Sportsters released in 2004 and later use rubber isolation mounts and tie links to limit engine movement to a single plane, which greatly reduces vibration felt by the rider. Buell motorcycles built with variants of the Sportster engine have used a rubber mount system since 1987.
The Model K, from which the Sportster evolved, was the first civilian motorcycle produced by Harley-Davidson with hydraulic shock absorbers on both wheels. Common usage calls this a K Model.
The Evo Sportsters got a five-speed transmission and belt final drive in the 1990s and fuel injection and rubber mounting for the engine in the 2000s. Many versions were produced by the factory, from an XL1200C Custom with 21-inch front wheel and cruiser style to the XL1200S Sport with upgraded suspension. There were SuperLow versions, Roadster versions, and Anniversary editions. And that’s just what came out of the factory. The real variety started exploding when Sportsters got into owners’ hands.
You can easily modify a Sportster because it’s been around so long and has huge aftermarket support… That versatility was one attribute that made the Sportster so popular with some of the most knowledgeable Harley fans in the industry, such as Buzz Kanter, who was at the helm of American Iron magazine for three decades.
“Harley’s Evo Sportster must be the most versatile motorcycle in the MOCO’s long and varied history,” Kanter said, following the news of the final Evo. “An Evo Sportster could be modified by most owners as a dragracer, sport bike, chopper, café racer, tourer, or even a dual-sport machine. Whatever parts Harley did not offer, the expansive aftermarket did to customize it to almost any tastes.
“I have personally modified, raced, and ridden a number of Evo Sportsters over the years. I am sure I will not be the only enthusiast to miss this versatile machine.”
Another Sportster fan with extensive experience is Common Tread’s own Patrick Garvin, who wrote an essay at J&P Cycles asserting that the Sportster is the best Harley-Davidson ever made. Granted, his undying love for Evo Sportsters is focused on the 2003 and earlier models, before the engine was rubber-mounted in 2004 and the Sportsters began gaining weight, adding features that didn’t fit with the tradition of simplicity and sturdiness, and focusing on styling licks.
“So why would anyone spend $9,000 and up on a brand new Sportster when you can scoop up an Evo Sportster on Facebook Marketplace for $3,500, throw another $2,000 to $3,000 at it, and have a bit**in’ customized ride that’s tailored to your style and will outperform the ones on the showroom floor?” Patrick asked in an article from two years ago. And it’s not $9,000 anymore, either. That last Iron 883 that rolled off the assembly line lists for $11,249.
“I will profess my love of the Evo Sportster until my dying day, but I feel like the Sportster’s epic run may be over,” Patrick wrote in that piece from 2020, and it now appears he was only a little ahead of his time.
Of course, plenty of people didn’t like the Evo Sportster, too. Some Evo Big Twin riders sneeringly called the Sportster the “girl’s bike” in Harley-Davidson’s lineup, even in the years when an XL1200 was the fastest Harley in the quarter mile in stock form. They said you couldn’t ride long distances on a Sportster even after people finished the Iron Butt Rally on one. They said you needed to buy a “big” bike. Uncounted thousands of riders — I was an Evo Sportster owner myself for about seven years and 35,000 miles — ignored that and enjoyed their Evo Sportsters in almost every way you can enjoy a motorcycle, short of trials or motocross.
Harley has a new, more modern Sportster S and Nightster to sell you now, and no doubt other Sportster models are coming with the new Revolution Max engine. But given the number of Evo Sportsters still rolling around and the huge aftermarket support available to keep them going, the Evo Sportster era isn’t ending, exactly. It’s just starting the next chapter, which will be written by riders, not the manufacturer.