The Sporty suspension sucks from the factory, plain and simple. The 1200 makes okay power, but the 883 is a dog for its displacement in an air cooled engine.
The forward controls are a good thing, depending on your height. If you are tall and/or have a long inseam, you need those forwards on a sporty or it feels really cramped really fast.
Pipes, well that too is a subjective matter. I like exhaust that I can hear going down the road. The stock exhaust on my Triumph made the bike sound like a sewing machine. I could hear the engines mechanical but not the exhaust note, and it was so restrictive, that it affected the throttle response and running of the bike. A change to factory "off road" exhaust made it a much better bike.
As one poster mentioned, when you buy a Harley, especially a Sporty, you are buying a rather pricey foundation to build a bike for yourself. I would most certainly never buy a new one, the market here is flush with affordable used ones.
If you think the bike you rode shook bad, ride an older one with a solid mounted engine sometime.
The forward controls are a good thing, depending on your height. If you are tall and/or have a long inseam, you need those forwards on a sporty or it feels really cramped really fast.
Pipes, well that too is a subjective matter. I like exhaust that I can hear going down the road. The stock exhaust on my Triumph made the bike sound like a sewing machine. I could hear the engines mechanical but not the exhaust note, and it was so restrictive, that it affected the throttle response and running of the bike. A change to factory "off road" exhaust made it a much better bike.
As one poster mentioned, when you buy a Harley, especially a Sporty, you are buying a rather pricey foundation to build a bike for yourself. I would most certainly never buy a new one, the market here is flush with affordable used ones.
If you think the bike you rode shook bad, ride an older one with a solid mounted engine sometime.
