{"id":12126,"date":"2009-10-01T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2009-10-01T04:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/?p=12126"},"modified":"2020-04-06T15:35:23","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T19:35:23","slug":"2009-harley-davidson-xr1200","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/motorcyclemojo.com\/2009\/10\/2009-harley-davidson-xr1200\/","title":{"rendered":"2009 Harley-Davidson XR1200"},"content":{"rendered":"
During the 2008 riding season, there was a huge uproar from Harley-Davidson enthusiasts, dirt track fans and those just wanting a cool bike. The reason for the hullabaloo was the Sportster XR1200. Fashioned after the XR750, the most dominating flat-track motorcycle of all time, the XR1200 was released during the spring of 2008 in Europe with no plans of a North American debut. Imagine, a hot rod street version of the winningest dirt tracker in North American history, built by a North American company, who had no plans of a North American release. The crowd went wild!<\/p>\n
Rumour had it that Storz, a California company that specializes in performance and cosmetic upgrades for Sportsters, owned the name XR1200 in North America and therefore the Motor Company couldn\u2019t use it on this side of the pond. Harley-Davidson did, however, acquire the rights to use the name and it was then announced at the end of 2008 that the XR1200 would be released on these shores. And once again the crowd went wild!<\/p>\n
Due to all the hype in Europe about the newly designed Sportster, and all the pent-up demand for the XR in North America, hundreds of orders started pouring in when the announcement was made that the hot rod would be released here. This was even before Harley had a chance to really promote the product.<\/p>\n
That pent-up anxiety wasn\u2019t lost on the staff at Motorcycle Mojo either, as soon as I got word that I could pick up an XR1200 for a few days, I was out the door like a cat that just sat in turpentine.<\/p>\n
The new XR has had some dramatic changes to command such a following. The race inspired design actually had input from Harley-Davidson factory-sponsored dirt track racing legends Scott Parker and Rich King.<\/p>\n
First noticeable after thumbing the starter button is the vibration of the potent rubber-mounted air and oil cooled 1202 cc engine in the brand new frame. At idle, the front wheel shakes and it seems you can feel every power stroke from the pistons in the Evolution V-Twin engine through the seat of your pants and the handlebar. Once the throttle is twisted just off idle, the engine smoothes out to unveil a finely-tuned electronically controlled fuel injected power plant.<\/p>\n