Harley-Davidson Iron 1200

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 shares little with the smaller Iron 883 when it comes to design. While the Iron 1200 also has a lovable neo-retro appeal in its design, the body panels look a bit tweaked over those of the Iron 883.

The front profile of the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 looks quite simple with a rounded halogen headlamp placed in a decent looking rounded headlamp cowl. The look of the motorcycle is further enhanced by the upswept handlebar, which comes mounted with amber rounded turn indicators besides the handlebar grips. The other highlights of the front profile of the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 are rubber gaiters for the front telescopic forks and a chopped-styled fender over the front tyre.

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 looks quite long from the side, with a small peanut-styled sloping fuel tank mounted on the top of the upper frame member. The large black-themed V-twin engine of the Iron 1200 gives it a visual bulk of a proper large cruiser. The dark appeal of the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 is further accentuated by the black-themed dual-exhaust pipes and nine-spoke alloy wheels.

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 gets a single seat placed above the bridge between the curved rear fender and the side body cowl. There are two rectangular clamps on either side of the rear fender, which come mounted with rounded tail lamps, which also double up as turn indicators. The rear look of the Iron 1200 has a muscular appeal to it, thanks to the big fat tyre at the back.

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 gets a simple-looking rounded instrument console behind the headlamp cowl and beyond the handle. Shared with the Iron 883, this rounded console packs in only the most basic data like speedometer, odometer, trip meter and fuel gauge. Even the rearview mirrors and switchgear placed on the upswept handlebar have been shared with the Iron 883.

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 has a very basic architecture under its skin for a bike of its cadre. The motorcycle comes with a conventional suspension setup of telescopic forks at the front and hydraulic coil springs at both sides of the rear fender. The suspension has been tuned on a softer side, to offer a plusher ride quality, which is relief while covering long distances. The motorcycle comes with single disc brakes at both front and rear.

Powering the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 is an old-school four-stroke, air-cooled, V-Twin, Evolution-series 1202cc engine, that claims a maximum torque output of 96 Nm. In Harley Davidson’s, the power output of the Iron 1200 has not been revealed. For its size, the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 produces a sheer grunt of torque across the rev range, which is best enjoyed in the midrange for long-distance highway cruising.

Except for a dual-channel ABS, the Harley Davidson Iron 1200 misses out on all the other prominent safety features which have become a common norm in all the other similarly priced motorcycles. This glaring absence of safety features might be a concern for some who are spending this much money on a motorcycle.

The Harley Davidson Iron 1200 is a motorcycle that is purely recommendable for those who have a thing for comfortable long-distance touring. The motorcycle lacks several features for the price at which it is offered. However, the mechanical and visual aspects of the motorcycle are very much sorted.