2005 Harley-Davidson Sportster XL 883R review from United States of America

Front brake master cylinder required rebuilding at 2500 miles, and was recalled by the factory.

Diaphragm in carburetor became torn and required replacing at 4200 miles.

I bought an 883R brand new in 2005.

This is my first Harley after several Japanese bikes. It's no crotch rocket that's for sure, but that's not why I bought it.

It's as if it comes with a built in people magnet. At stop signs and convenience stores, people stop to comment all the time. That in itself makes this a fun bike to ride.

New from the factory, the exhaust is way too quiet. In fact embarrassingly so. And it had the notorious "carb farts". That is, when accelerating from a stop, the carb would backfire for a moment. Beyond annoying, this was dangerous if you were pulling out in traffic and the bike would hesitate until the carb cleared.

I purchased Harley slip ons, a Kuryakyn Hyper Charger air cleaner and jets. I installed them myself and was very pleased with the result. No more carb farts, increased power and a more "Harley" sounding Harley. Not loud during normal operation, but when I get on it, it screams.

Gas mileage was about 45 MPG from the factory, and dropped to about 42 MPG with the changes.

The air cleaner does weep a little oil from the crankcase ventilation, but it's more of an annoyance then a problem.

With the rubber mounted engine, vibration is almost unnoticeable until you get above 75 MPH or so.

I have a hard time keeping myself from smiling every time I ride it, almost to the point of looking like an idiot riding it.

I have heard stories that beer gutted, grizzled Harley riders would give me a hard time about riding a "girls" bike. It hasn't happen. In fact one day while at a stop light. I hear someone yelling "hey". I look over and it's a hard core looking guy on an old Harley. He wanted to know what the "R" in 883R stood for. (It stands for Roadster). I took that as a compliment that he was interested enough in my bike to even ask.

Probably about the only complaint that I have with it, is that it is cold blooded when it's first started up in the cold weather (I ride all winter long as long as there is snow or ice on the streets).