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In 1957, Harley-Davidson came from out of left field with the lean, mean Sportster XL. This bike appealed to the “hot rod” crowd of the day, it being a small, lightweight incarnation of the usually larger touring bikes. Ironically, it was a revamping of the KH (see the 1956 Elvis KH review), introduced in 1955. This steed, however, contained the burly, reliable, cast-iron head, V-twin that made more horsepower than the KH motor. In spite of this, the Sportster wasn’t an out-of-the-box road-ripper but indeed looked like performance personified. It’s certain that most Sportster owners promptly made the necessary modifications to correct that disparity.
This isn’t one of the most feature-rich of FM’s 1:10 motorcycle images. The only working pedal is the shift pedal. The front suspension doesn’t operate and the seat isn’t leather but molded plastic. Nevertheless, the paint job’s fine, there’re plenty of features and chrome, and the overall look of the image is decent. Sometimes I feel that FM should price images like these at $90 (or at least $120) instead of $135, considering the paucity of features (and the smaller size). Hopefully, what with some of the nifty lower prices we’ve been seeing from FM, this may come to pass.
I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: Harley-Davidson always seems to have its finger on the pulse of what revs the motorcycle fraternity’s motors. The Sportster XL was another of those seminal models that continues to this day. Sure, there were (and are) faster, more powerful bikes on the road but Harley holds the patent on class and tradition. The issue price is $135.
(10/22/2002)
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