Forever young
60 years of Sportster, 40 years of Café Racer - time for the „Café Custom Accessories“ from Harley-Davidson
- In 1957, the original version of the Sportster as the successor to the K models
- 1977 presents Harley-Davidson the Café Racer based on the Sportster
- 2017 honor the new „Café Custom Accessories“ the two icons
(Neu-Isenburg, 27.04.2017) Staying young is an art that is only given to a few. The Sportster series from Harley-Davidson is definitely one of them. In 2017, the model family celebrates its 60th anniversary. anniversary - and looks as fresh as ever. This makes it one of the most traditional model series in the entire motorcycle industry.
The first of its kind replaces the K model series in 1957 - with an 883 cm3 45° OHV V-twin, which forms a unit with the transmission and is embedded in a modern chassis. Customers and the trade press rejoiced, the original model was followed by numerous epigones that were repeatedly updated and improved, and the Sportster became „the“ US muscle bike of the sixties. Sport offshoots such as the Flat Track Racer XR 750 and the Harley-Davidson Streamliner reap laurels on race tracks and the Bonneville Salt Flats, and the Sportster matures like good whiskey. Its displacement grows - initially up to 1000 cm3 in 1972, then up to 1100 cm3 in 1986 and up to 1200 cm3 in 1988.
Meanwhile, a newly designed engine was working in the Sportster chassis: in 1986, the „Evolution“ era was introduced to the model series, followed five years later by a five-speed gearbox and finally, in 2004, a completely new model generation made its debut. But despite all the changes, the Sportster has never denied its original American character. Among the many Sportster models that have made history are undoubtedly the Forty-Eight, since 2010 one of the bestsellers in the Harley program, the XR 1200, which opened a new sports chapter for the model family in 2008, and the Café Racer, probably the most extraordinary Sportster. In 1977, this black beauty, designed by Willie G. Davidson, took to the asphalt.
In 2017 - just in time for the 60th Sportster anniversary and the 40th birthday of the Café Racer - Harley-Davidson is honoring its two-wheeled icons with an accessory collection called „Café Custom Accessories“. The rear section, stubby handlebars, retracted footrests and other features turn a standard Sportster Roadster into a stylish one-off in the street racer look of the seventies.
More information is available from your nearest authorized dealer or at www.Harley-Davidson.de.
