Popping my Harley cherry: 2024 Harley-Davidson Sportser S first ride
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ต.ค. 2024
- Variety is the spice of life in biking - but riding a Harley is a very alien experience for me. Join me as I struggle through my first ride of the Sportser S, complete with its liquid-cooled 1252cc 121hp engine (which commenters will tell me isn't a proper Harley engine), its ridiculously wide front tyre and a seat so low I could get me knee down while upright. If there weren't spiky metal footpegs in the way. Anyway - watch as I learn to appreciate this fine motorcycle on the way to a German place.
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Thanks for taking one for the virtual team 😂
08:30 My favourite quote “Oh God, there’s a corner”!
Don't do it Tim, you're a young man! You've got everything to live for!!!
I like this bike, it does look cool, but it costs too much, and it won't let you blip to downshift, which is stupid. Great video again, thanks for wearing out your spine and arse for us.
The things my arse has done for internet research
I do like these. If the front wheel was slightly skinnier and it had twin discs I might have gotten one instead of my T120 Bonneville.
I've got a custom Sportster 48. Handles like shat, is mega uncomfortable, only get 70 miles out of the tank, brakes suck, suspension's even worse...But it looks insane, sounds mental and I bloody love it.
I have a 2018 Sportster 48. Handles great, maybe you don't know how to ride? And I get close to 100 miles per tank. Hmmmm, yours need a tune up?😂
Great video as always! Off on a mini adventure to northern Germany from Jersey next week on my Diavel V4. Inspired by your trips. Cheers
A masterful review 👌
It’s no wonder HD are struggling. Purely in motorcycle model terms they seem intent on giving answers to questions nobody asked.
Brilliant! Giggled from the start to the end :)
Funny as hell. More please!
I just came back from a tour of Colorado US and pretty much every bike was a Harley bagger. They love em. To be fair most of the ridding was on dead straight highways where I guess they are in their element.
But how do their anuses take the punishment?!
@@timrodierides 😄
HD alone is at least half the US market. It's all about the name and the fact that they all dress up like they're in a gang or something. Nobody thinks they are good bikes..nobody
@@logangodofcandyThat’s harsh. Most Harley riders I know are normal people who enjoy other brands too. The leather vest dentist crowd does exist but not in the numbers that would justify such a strong generalization. I also would challenge what you mean by “good”. Good at what? Speed, quickness, stability, comfort, etc? Harleys are good at some things and bad at others just like any other brand.
I get the vague impression you’re not a huge fan, but were moderately polite 👀
Which of the freedoms did you struggle with most?
I laughed at the bit with the Cayman S, your rectum, wrong indicator and some neutrals all at once 😂
Passive aggressive Grandmothers too 😮
The Sportster S is a strange fish. Even Harley fans aren’t sure they like it. You really should try a Low Rider ST. It has the more traditional engine, makes a proper noise and goes very well. Trust me on this, if any Harley would impress you it is the Low Rider ST. Not this one.
Give it a go.
''That pothole has gone right through my rectum'', A line i will never recover from haha!, top review of a nutjob of a bike. Thanks tim
Put the pit back in the cherry, and get a Triumph 😂
Another great. funny video.
Tim you Knob!
I just got a triumph bobber. From this video, I can't imagine how bad that Harley must be.
The thing with many Harleys is they look better stationary, parked up than in use with someone on them. That might explain the handling. I think Harley see the new sportster as their gateway drug to something bigger. But to get a true Harley experience you should try their Low Rider ST, huge engine and genuinely surprising all round performance. Very entertaining vid as always, but rather you than me on that thing
I think the very first TRRM video i recall watching was your ride on the Livewire Harley with loads of Greggs sausage rolls.
I rented one once in Tenerife, not sure of the model, but it had whitewall tyres, chrome & tassels on the saddlebags. My fellow biker mate texted me asking how the day was, my reply was...
"It was a good day, but in every measurable way a HD is an abject failure as a motorcycle, glad I've tried it as I never have to ride the hateful thing ever again - what on earth possesses anyone to buy one of these things, let alone multiples of them, honestly 🤦🏻"
I think that sums them up!
Sportster S have Brembo brakes, Iliked them much more than they normally provide. It remains a HD sportbike, not a Japanese or European bike, but I liked it. What is strange are the forwardcontrols when on the Nightster you get midcontrols....
.....they're not known as 'Hardly Ableson' for nowt.
Never going to think of Niagra Falls in the same way again…
If that’s your idea of poo brown you really need those piles seen to.
Do you eat an all beet diet? If not, please have your stool tested and book a colonoscopy ASAP.
It's meant to be red isn't it
@@timrodierides. Your YT Dad / older brother here. No, get it checked.
Tim crosses over to the dark side 😊
42 years I’ve been riding, Never ridden a Harley, the whole point of bikes for me is getting from A-B as quick as possible, Love the sound of em as I’ve got older, but they ain’t quick and don’t handle (road bikes!) so not for me.
Currently getting my knee down on a 22 plate GSXS1000, Miss my Gixxer but my hips and knees complain like the missus!
Never had Herpes either, ridden plenty of fast birds tho……🤔 not sure of its relevance of that statement 😂😂😂
I agree with you. Rode this bike and instantly hated it. The brakes, seating position, the way it handles, the goofy looking buttons on the switchgear. I see a lot of Harley defenders but I never see this bike in the street.
Perhaps this is why Harley Davidson is closing showrooms. I believe Watford and Reading have got the axe at the end of September.
Oh really? I did wonder if their business fortunes had improved
@@timrodierides Norwich shut its doors a few months back.
@@timrodierides If they're closing down showrooms this may not be the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Hey Tim, try the Pan America Special or the Street Glide Special, those are wayyyy better lol.
HD motorcycles do appear to be an experience. Trouble is not every experience is something you’d want to repeat. Of course, they have made some genuinely good motorcycles, so it’s wrong to generalise that they’re all bad but I can’t help feeling they’re more style over substance nowadays, and they’re not a style I particularly like. They have tried to do different things like the Livewire and the Pan American, but they’ve kind of fallen flat. However, rather than going back to old 50’s style motorcycles once again their future should be to keep trying new things. They clearly have the design and engineering know how. And they will have to in order to survive because their traditional market is retiring from bikes and they desperately need to attract new riders - the kind of people who might look at the big euro and Japanese brands, and the up and coming Chinese brands.
I have a 1984 Sportster (ie a proper one) in my fleet for my more *ahem* Ride Hard Live Free Brother "moments". Interesting to see that the modern one has such brutally terrible suspension as it did 4 decades ago. I actually tore my diaphragm, did a rib and seriously damaged my neck over a few rides on our potholed Surrey roads. I was going to ride it into Europe for a grin, but actually F**k that, Harley progress for you.
You rode the whole ride with a jekill and hyde exhaust and didnt push the button on the left side handlebar? That opens the valve in the exhaust and unleashes a mighty roar😂.
Missed opportunity 😢
HD need to get with the times!
Everything is UHD nowadays 🤓
Off the scale 🤓 👍✨️ (looks a tad dis comfortable for above 5.10 ish 🤔)
Next do the Indian scout
Love to see you ride an Indian equivalent model now. 🤣
Harley Davidson reminds me of the American Constitution / electoral system, needs updating but is caught up between nostalgia, over reverentially and an a big bun fight as to what
I have never rode a Harley either. However, the only one I have even considered is this one. Not that I’m in a hurry to get a ride one. You need a fatter gut, a leather tasseled jacked and a long beard to suit the bike
I have also heard that it is fairly swift but a bumpy ride with that massive wide front tyre, apparently if you don't like the cruiser style pegs and gear selector arrangement you can pay Harley an extra £1500 and they will gieve you a kit to make it more conventional......hmmmm
He is riding the optional mid controls, but he doesn't seem to know that.
I found the new sporty to be very harsh. Also the motor doesn't suit the attitude of the bike. Try take a fatbob out, they are far more satisfying...
Laughed my ass off 😆, even when things got a little dark…” but then Hiroshima was an event”…😱! For a minute or two in your review I got the feeling you didn’t really like it 🤪!? And the good thing about that suspension is it will drive your hemorrhoids (piles to you) back up your ass where they came from 😳! (If you haven’t guessed, I’m an American, I just don’t care for Harley’s either 😉.)
10:53 Lotus Dealership
Speed trap just up the road on sunny dayz....PSA
Looks like the Fat Bob 114
It’s a great bike .. & you love it
They should've kept the XR1200 and and put the Bronx Streetfighter in production at least they would've handled. They've now upset half of their fanbase because the CEO wants the company to be inclusive and they can't have that 😆 who would've though a CEO of a company would want to sell more product!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Oh, Tim! How could you?
This is a three quarters bike, it's like they stopped development three quarters the way in.
If you reckon that colour is poo brown it does explain the comment about your piles when discussing the rear suspension!!! You might want to schedule a visit to a consultant proctologist at your earliest convenience.
Love Harleys, own a Road King amongst other bikes but wouldn’t want one of these. Tried the engine on the Pan America and it’s good but very European vs a proper thumping lazy V Twin
You're are riding it all wrong. If on a Harley you cannot wear any protective gear. Just a pair of sunglasses and a dream. You also must never wave at another biker because you're better than them in every way
Im so needy I'll wave at anyone but rarely does anyone wave back when Im 'on ma haaawg'
Probably not the best time to buy a new one. 😃
The suzuki sv650 sounds better. Lol!
I dont get the Sportser S, not harley enough to be a harley, not good enough to compete with anything else. I have a softail, big slow, loud, comfortable and afraid of corners, its a different experience to my GSA or my GSXR.
Back to a real bike soon , now you don’t have to ride one again .
I had one a few decades ago , a real one, and it did convert me to a life on twins ever since , just not Harleys 🥴
Did no one tell you that bike has the optional mid controls? I dont think you mentioned it.
Oh. I didn't realise - I knew they were an option but no one told me this has them! Doy. Thanks for pointing it out.
Try the Pan America. I did. Bought one. No regrets.
Get a Tiger or GS. Better bikes. Probably cheaper otd.
Looks fine from the RHS but from the LHS the motor is hideous with it's guts hanging out. There is no coming back from that.
Ride a Harley no.thanks not again, but did do 7 mile bridge coming up from Florida keys on one.
I’m off the watch the hilarious South Park episode, (Then F Word)
Where the definition of the word FAG is changed to mean HD riders 🤡
As you said. Harley seem to have lost their way and are trading on their name and heritage. So many little things seem wrong (hitting the footpeg when you put the side stand down for one) that you wonder if anyone lets a biker actually test these things before they sign them off for production. I had a 2018 Triumph Speedmaster 1200 and it was way, way better than this 2024 offering, proving the point that Harley are not learning the lessons and appear not to know what modern motorcyclists want. Not a Harley hater by any means, but they do seem lost as a company
Nonce sense is more like it. HD, amirite? Lol
Watch alot of your reviews ,I thought that was really harsh ,seen one parked up ,great looking machine and different, the same guy will go and tell us how the gsa 1300 (ugly TANK) 28000 pounds what
Great machine and go and buy one
Please employ me bmw❤
I think what you've found is that different people like different things, but if they're a proper grown up they don't then accuse someone of bias
1:51 correction ....look shite
That is one aggressively ugly bike. Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall at a Ducati staff meeting when that hideous, useless thing was discussed.
However, H-D owes its heritage to the 45-degree single crank pin V-Twin. Thie monstrosity is not that. It is the RevMax engine in a bike designed by 9th grade shop class. My apologies to 9th grade shop class.
Sorry you had to do that, personally I'd rather see you razzing around on a skateboard than a Harley
I do enjoy your vids, but this one was doomed to failure from the start.
You should have ridden a main stream Harley………..
If it had been the first ducati you ever rode would you have chosen a diavel or scrambler, neither of which really reflect what ducati are really about.
A missed opportunity I think !
Don't waste your money.
No. Just no. Life is too short.
It's just not correct is it. Really, it's simply not right. Earn yer 'colours' then try to look manacing, in a kind of clichéd 1972 out of context, embarrassingly devoid of mental agility, I remember when this was all fields and Lemmy. Tusk!
Grandpa's been let out again.........
form over function American garbage. The bike version of hellcats.
I've never seen you "scared" to use cruise lol ... did you and Clarkson go to school together? the highly intelligent waffling that proverbially destroys the thing you are riding and driving are quite similar.
I didn't - I went to a normal school that didn't cost my parents any money haha. Thank you though, I take thas as a compliment!
@@timrodierides it’s the highest compliment I can give. I don’t care what you’re reviewing, the waffling makes it interesting!