And Skip..."Bottom Line" here...
The 883 Sportsters (DESPITE the fact that many of the Harley riders call it a "chick bike", which is neither here nor there in the vast reasons of owning one or not), is in regard the "equal" to a BA ONLY in the matter of PRICE...PERIOD!!!. A point, and a MAJOR point, which has been mentioned here earlier by a number of guys already in this thread.
The ONLY Sportsters which are somewhat comparable in performance with the ANY of the Bonneville line would be the 1200cc Sportsters, which are a heck of a lot more in price than are the Triumph Twins. Yes, I know the 1200 Sporties have a lot more displacement, but REMEMBER, the Triumph Twins' DOHC engines have a much WIDER rev-range which give you USEABLE power all the way to their redline at 7000RPM, whereas the Sportster redline just under 6000RPM and their horsepower(or "usable power") starts petering-out just under that redline figure.(I'm talkin' "Bone Stock" here, of course)
The ONLY advantage the Sporties have is their low-end torque...which as I've just stated pretty much runs out of steam at about 4000RPM and when horsepower starts kicking and which THEN on the Sportsters gives ya ONLY about 1500-1800RPM to "play with" on the Sportster until you hit redline(or "peak usable power"), and where you are then forced to up-shift into the next higher gear. In short, a much narrower powerband and rev-range at your disposal.
Secondly, even WITH the newer Sporties now having a "Dyna-Glide"-type rubber-mounted engine, they're STILL NO WAY as SMOOOOOOOOOOOOTH-runnin' as our Triumphs are...and once again...PERIOD!!!
THIRDLY, the ergonomics on both the 883s AND the 1200s are MUCH more cramped than they are on the Triumph Twins.
And so...NOW that I've brought ya "up to snuff" on just a FEW of the aspects of the bikes you're contemplating purchasing here........
You can EITHER listen to me OR ignore my wise counsel...'cause the last I've heard this is STILL a "Free Country", so do whatever the hell ya want!!!
