BikeTest: Harley-Davidson XL1200L In recent years Harley-Davidson has brought to the market not just the Buell range of sports bikes, but also the very advanced V-Rod machines and some rather special machines from their Custom Vehicle Operations which have caused not a few heads to turn and opinions to be revised.
The XL1200L, or as it is more easily known the "1200 Low", should reassure those who might have felt that Harley-Davidson had thrown a century of tradition to the winds.
It is as traditional as can be and apart from the disc brakes and belt drive looks like it could have been built anytime in the last 30 years. That is neither a criticism, nor a disadvantage.
The very timelessness means that it won't seem uncool by this time next year.
The specific selling point of the 1200 Low is that it is "low" - well, the seat height is low. At 667mm no other bikes and only a few other Harleys: the Street Bob (655mm), Night Train (638mm), Springer Classic (644mm), Fat Boy (647mm), Heritage Classic (644mm), V-Rod and Night Rod, (both 660mm) are lower. Which makes one wonder how come the XL1200 gets the credit for being low when others are lower? One should never be surprised at the mentality of the marketing men.
Harley-Davidson has long been a law unto itself and what makes sense to them doesn't mean it has to make sense to you and I. One good point in all this lowness is that the rider's footpegs are what Harley call "centre located". Now this does help those of short stature who often find that the forward set footpegs, so much an integral part of the American way of motorcycling, can be a stretch too far away.
But Harley's idea of centre-located is not mine. You would think centre located meant that the footpegs were vertically below the rider's seat?
They are not, they are a good way forward. Less so than on many a Harley, but still forward.
We would not mind that if we could be guaranteed billiard-table smooth roads but, with your feet far ahead of your posterior, when you hit a bump it sends shockwaves right up your spine.
An integral part of the easy rider concept!
In other respects the XL1200 is simply the 1,200cc version of the well tried and tested Sportster Roadster, regarded as being one of two of Harley-Davidson's entry-level machines. The other one is the 883cc Sportster.
And for all its 1200cc, it really can be an entry-level machine. Indeed our impression when riding it was that it is so well behaved, so well balanced with such a very low centre of gravity and a by no means too powerful engine that you could, given the right instruction, begin to learn to ride on this machine.
It does all it sets out to do and does it well. It is not meant to set the world alight with searing performance, simply to breeze along urged by that huge long-stroke engine, up hill and down dale with, thanks to that torque, hardly a gear change.
The controls are pleasingly light, the clutch is now 25 per cent lighter than it was before, but could still do with being hydraulic.
The brakes are effective given the riding style this bike encourages, which means they are sufficient rather than impressive.
Again, for an entry-level machine that is no bad thing, sharp brakes with a nervous learner on a wet surface can be a recipe for embarrassment, at the very least.
The bike does have some provision for a pillion passenger: Harley calls it a pillion "pad" which is what it is, more pad than seat. Partly sloping to the rear of the machine, not a grab handle in sight, it is an essay in precariousness.
In terms of performance the 1200 Low has been tested to 177km/h (110mph), though, trust me, at that kind of speed it doesn't feel at all happy and, unless you were born without any sense of self-preservation, nor will you.
It can achieve 0-100km/h in 5.94 seconds which is a long way short of breathtaking.
Forget the figures, this is for burbling happily along, not a care in the world, wind in your face, laid-back pure two-wheeled pleasure and recreation.
On that basis it is a nice enough machine carrying with it the whiff of legend, the nostalgic look and it is your passport to the Harley lifestyle.
With prices starting around €12,700 it is one of the more affordable ways of setting out on the Harley lifestyle which, if you are into that sort of thing, is fantastic value.
Tech specs
ENGINE: 1200CC 'Evolution' V-twin, bore 88.9mm x stroke 96.8mm, 9.7:1 compression, carburettor. 39.7kW (54 bhp). Torque 91Nm @ 3,300rpm. Staggered exhausts with dual silencers. Belt drive, 5-speed gearbox.
CHASSIS: Mild steel frame, 39mm telescopic forks, 104.6mm travel. Rear swinging arm, coil over dual adjustable preload shocks, 53.8mm travel.
Front brakes: single 292mm disc, dual-piston calliper. Rear, single 292mm disc, single-piston cal