Harley-Davidson Roadster

The Harley Davidson Roadster offers a nice amalgamation of old school design ethos and modern styling cues, by blending in the traits of a traditional cruiser motorcycle with those of a street-oriented naked roadster. The end result is quite stunning to look at, with the Harley Davidson Roadster having a stout and muscular personality.

The front profile of the Harley Davidson Roadster has been kept simple with a traditional round halogen headlamp, which though would have looked better with modern LED lighting elements or at least a daytime running LED with it. The long front forks and chopped style front fender adds to the muscular and no-nonsense appeal of the motorcycle.

It is the side profile that offers the best view of the Harley Davidson Roadster to look at. The high mounted peanut-style sloping fuel tank, which has been the source of inspiration for all Harley Davidsons, is present here on the Roadster as well. The chopped front handlebar too looks lower than the fuel tank in the line of vision, giving an impression of a tall motorcycle to the Roadster. 

Beneath the fuel tank sits the massive twin-cylinder 1200cc engine (more on that later), which looks absolutely smashing, with its tasteful use of chrome and blacked-out parts. The long twin pipes, one each flowing from the two cylinders, do accentuate the overall length of the motorcycle. The multi-spoke black alloy wheels too are considered to be attempts to make the Harley Davidson Roadster as modern in appeal as possible.

The rest of the side profile of the Harley Davidson Roadster towards the rear is combined up of small trapezoidal side body cowl below the low slung rider’s seat, which has a stepped theme like that of the Fat Bob. The chopped curved rear fender over the rear wheel ends up with separate mounted orange turn indicators on either side, which also double up as the main tail lamps.

The instrument console of the Harley Davidson Roadster is a simple one round unit, which packs in an analog tachometer and a small LCD unit at its bottom, which shows digital displays of speedometer, fuel gauge, odometer, and trip meter.

While the overall design of the Harley Davidson Roadster has an old-world charm to it, it is every bit a modern motorcycle under the skin. The Roadster comes paired with a set of 43mm inverted hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and a pair of hydraulic coil springs at the back. Backing this fantastic suspension setup, which is tuned for a perfect balance of sporty urban riding and comfortable long-distance touring, the motorcycle also gets dual disc brakes at the front and a single disc brake at the rear.

Powering the Harley Davidson Roadster is the biggest engine of the entry-level lineup of sportster motorcycles, which is a four-stroke, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, 1202cc V-twin engine. Shared with other motorcycles like Iron 1200 and Custom 1200, this engine on the Harley Davidson Roadster is paired to a 6-speed gearbox and makes 67 PS of maximum power and 96 Nm of maximum torque. While the peak power output might seem low on paper, the Harley-Davidson Roadster rides on a wave of torque especially in the midrange, which gives it fantastic high-speed performance.

Apart from the presence of dual-channel ABS, there is no other prominent modern-day electronic riding aid in the Harley Davidson Roadster, which perhaps is the only major Achilles heel of the motorcycle.

While the Harley Davidson Roadster might not be too rich in modern features and electronics, it is one soulful motorcycle, courtesy of its beautiful blend of old school and modern design bits and great riding ergonomics and ride quality.