2001 Harley-Davidson reviews

I have had mine for 1 year and love it. To me it is the best looking Harley. I like everything about it except for cornering. The foot boards scrape if you lean into a turn too much. A lot earlier than you would think. Otherwise, Awesome!!! Show less

I'M A 48 YEAR OLD MALE AND A CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER WHO BELIEVES IN THE VALUE OF RESEARCHING SOMETHING BEFORE I BUY IT. I TALKED TO SPORTSTER 1200 OWNERS AND NEVER FOUND ONE NEGATIVE ASPECT. I WAS A HONDA GOLDWING MAN FOR OVER 20 YEARS. THE 1200 CLASSIC IS A WHOLE NEW SCOOTER EXPERIENCE FOR ME. YOU CAN'T COMPARE IT TO THE SMOOTHE AND QUIET GOLDWING, BUT IT HAS IT'S OWN PERSONALITY AND THE OLD AMERICAN "FEEL GOOD" RIDE. IT'S A REAL MOTORCYCLE WITH AN ABUNDANT OVERFLOW OF POWER. I BOUGHT THE 2001 1200 CLASSIC SPORTSTER. I TRULY AM NOT DISAPPOINTED, AND I OWN A PIECE OF THE HARLEY DAVIDSON AMERICAN HERITAGE THAT WILL LAST ME AS LONG AS I WANT IT TO. ************ 12 STARS FROM THIS HARLEY OWNER!! Show less

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC IT IS A WELL BUILT QUALITY SOLID MACHINE, HAD MY BIKE FOR A YEAR, DONT LISTERN TO THE WINGERS, I HAVE HAD A SMALL OIL LEAK (WHICH CAN HAPPEN TO ANY BIKE AS IT DID TO MY YAMAHA) WHICH WAS FIXED UNDER WARANTEE, EVERY TIME I RIDE IT IT BRINGS A SMILE TO MY FACE AND THE TORQUE YOU FEEL IS GREAT ITS MUCH MORE PLEASING THAN THE BUZZ YOU GET FROM A JAPPAHARLEY, I HAVE CHANGED VERY LITTLE AS YET JUST HIGHWAY PEGS, THE SEAT SEEMS OK TO ME. IT DOES TAKE A LITTLE TIME FOR EVERYTHING TO WEAR IN (DONE JUST OVER 7000KMS}. I RECOMMEND JOINING YOUR LOCAL HOG CHAPTER AS YOU CAN GET SO MUCH OUT OF IT RIDES, TECHNICAL ADVICE ECT. NO OTHER MANUFACTURE OFFERS THIS KIND OF SUPPORT AND OUR LOCAL DEALER HAS A BARBY EVERY SATURDAY MORNING FOR HOG AND NON HOG HARLEY RIDERS Show less

Hi..I haven't ridden yet, but I just bought it today...Picking it up tomoroow..Paid a little over list but all these reviews are depressing me...Did I make a mistake..Email me Show less

Thank you to all the Harley Engineers. After many years of riding Japanese, British, German and Italian bikes, I had my dream of owning a Harley come true. The feeling of the Harley is great. Handling close to the best of the German and Japanese bikes. Plenty of power and momentum. Harley is not the best in every aspect of riding and still I give it 4 stars for a great cruiser with plenty of space. Now we just have to teach the Engineers how to eliminate mechanical noise from breaks and heat from the engine. Please learn from the Japanese: Quality must at any given point outperform the customers expectations. The feeling IS however 100% GREAT Show less

A nice bike, and it better be for $20K. Smooth and crisp response with the EFI. Exceptional ride, especially in the rain. Now the bad points. 1. On the EFI model there is NO reserve. When you're out, you push. And don't trust the fuel guage. I ran out once, and the guage said I had a half tank left. 2. The EFI gobbles gas in altitude. In Sturgis I was getting about 170 miles to the tank and my carb buddy was getting 250. 3. I threw a Hypercharger on mine and I can barely get my heel on the right floorboard, it should sit out an inch or two more. Show less

Initially, the 1200C Sporty sounded like a sewing machine and performed like a pig during light to light hard acceleration. As soon as I put 1,000 miles on it I had the stock CV carb rejetted, Screamin' Eagle (SE) K&N air filter kit installed, and SE II slip-ons put on. Those modifications made a noticable improvement in sound and performance. After that I was hungry for more power and noise (Harley's are like heroin). I had SE bolt-in cams, SE ignition wires & coil, SE ignition module (rev. limit @ 7,000 rpm), and SE spark plugs installed. These modifications proved to take the 1200C to the next level of performance! At this point, I had to need a Corbin back rest to the Corbin solo seat in order to stay on the bike when the throttle was hit hard. After several months of riding with this setup I decided to take out the SE slip-on baffles. What a difference in sound!! But of course vibration increased and low end power suffered significantly. To remedy this, I installed a Mikuni HSR-42 carb with a 160 main jet. This proved to be a great setup. I got back most of the low end power I lost after taking out the baffles. I'll be sticking with this setup for some time! he noise that comes out of those essentially straight pipes is tremendous. It turns alot of heads!!! I can't give the 1200C a five star rating because of all the modifications that were necessary to make it a five star. So I give it a four star. Some problems I had: left stock mirror snapped off twice (covered by warranty, went with the short stem tear drop mirrors), both head gaskets leaked badly at about 2,000 miles (covered under warranty), at 400 miles the 1200C died due to a short in the electrical system (covered under warranty), two burnt out front signal bulbs (not covered). Overall, I love the riding position. The forward controls and drag bar are a great combo! Show less

this bike is by far the best i ever owned. I've owned many import bikes and was proud to ride them all but i would rather ride the sportster over all of the others including a honda goldwing. i plan on upgrading to a big twin FLHT standard for 2004 so i will be riding my sporty a while longer and will love every minute of it. i would recommend this bike to anyone that likes to ride in style. so when you're out there looking at new bikes trying to decide which one to buy,be sure to go down to your local harley dealer and check this bike out,it will be well worth it. Show less

I bought an 883CC, 2002 Sportster in September. The motorcycle has been ridden less than 6000 miles and is presently in the shop for the second time for oil leak problems in different places. I still like the bike, but am very disappointed and getting very apprehensive since warranty runs out in less that three months. Show less

1. Replace stock seat. Not comfortable on long trips and passenger(wife) suffers. 2. Replace stock grips. My hands tingled after about 50 miles or so. 3. Replace stock handlebars. At 5'9", I sometimes feel like I'm not as comfortable as I could be. All in all, I love my bike and have 15K on it in less than 1 year. I ride it in downtown Atlanta, GA traffic EVERY DAY as long as it's above freezing and not pouring down rain. To make more visible from behind, I replaced rear lights with Kuryakyn Panacea light kit. Good investment for $250. Wife was in van behind me one day and said it really made a difference. Show less