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My Impressions:

Pros:

1200cc Evolution V-Twin engine with downdraft fuel injection has gobs of torque.

Cast aluminum swing-arm, Showa rear shocks and Showa 43mm inverted front forks provide a very stellar road riding experience.

Dual front disc brakes, Dunlop Qualifier radial tires allow you to nail the twisties with no worries.

Wide, low-rise handlebar feels like my old 52 BSA and am I missing that feeling.

Centered tachometer with compact, digital speedometer works excellent and provides the info needed while riding aggressively.

Cons:

Just doesn't sound like a Harley, and needs to have a more aggressive tone to it.

Lacking a fuel gauge.

Bottom Line:

The XR1200 Harley Davidson has a lineage longer then most, and is a close resemblance to the XR750 Flat Tracker.

This Harley Davidson has some history.

Unfortunately sales for this bike were previously directed at the European market first, for reasons that had to do with the XR's name.

First time seeing this bike just made me sit back and appreciate the lines of this bike. When you do a walk around, everything has a home and looked like it belonged there. When I looked at the seating on the XR1200, I thought this is going to hurt, but was I wrong after I did a few quick 100 mile legs with this beauty.

When you start this bike up you immediately feel that Harley vibration that quickly lets you know that you are setting on a Harley Davidson. Too bad the exhaust note was aimed at the Euro market, because most people that heard this bike asked me what's up with the sound? This is just personal opinion, because when I did a survey with my neighbors who are non-bikers they told me the bike sounded great. Luckily for us there are readily available source's of quality aftermarket exhausts to choose from, including companies like Vance & Hines, SuperTrapp, & BUB to name a few.

The view from the cockpit is all business, with the large tach and digital speedo. I love this arrangement and it works great for me. I would like to see a gas gauge included with this package to round it off. I would have felt much more comfortable doing longer legs if I had a better understanding of how much fuel I had on board. If you rode this bike long enough you would get a better handle on your available range anyway, but I still would like to have a gas gauge. I averaged about 35/40 miles to the gallon with around town driving and hitting the twisties out of town. I am sorry, but I couldn't bring myself to sit very long on a straight stretch of highway with this bike. I found myself constantly looking for a twisty road to stretch this bikes legs on.

Around town this bike really shines, and begs to be driven. I used to own a BMW K1200LTE, and I found myself making excuses not to ride this bike around town or to go on short rides. When I go out to my garage now, the Harley just jumps out as the obvious fun choice of transportation when we are looking to escape, and do some cruising. Bare in mind this is not the type of bike that you will put your wife on and go cross country with. Harley makes other bikes that will fit that bill quite nicely.

Riding this bike is way to easy, and can be made to do things that most road bikes would severely complain about doing. When you twist the throttle the first thing you feel is the amazing amount of torque that this engine has to offer you. Shifting gears is effortless and Harley Davidson has this transmission dialed in perfect. When I was riding I was dreaming what it would be like to have a six speed trans on this machine,,, hummm, now that would be nice too!

You have to have your game on if you are driving this bike through the twisties like it demands to be ridden. The power delivery is smooth, right up to the near 7,000 rev limiter lets you know that you need to be looking for another gear. Learning to ride this bike within it's rev range is very easy, and I know a new rider could master this bike in no time.

On the road the bike feels stable, and if you want to travel, the asphalt is never ending and who knows where it will lead you. This is no bagger, and that is a good thing! I seemed to have much more fun with this bike when a curve jumped out at me, and the straight stretches of asphalt got really really boring, really fast. You have to remember that in my generation, people made cross country trips 2 up with a 350 Honda. Go figure, how could they do that, eh! I could quite easily take long trips on this bike the way it is set up right now. Gas mileage is decent, and you could really rack up the open road miles if you wanted too. You just need to keep an eye on your speedo, because this bike will make friends with the local law enforcement in a hurry if you aren't watching!

Bottom line, if you are looking at this bike what would you get? A bike with history, cool looks, Harley Engine with gobs of torque, a bike that can handle any twisty road with ease, fair road manners, more comfort that any cafe bike of today's vintage, and most likely one that will never loose it's value. So, if you are in the market for a truly American Made Motorcycle that can handle any road you throw at it, then maybe the XR1200 Harley Davidson should be on your list of must see, must ride, must have bikes for 2010.

Sadly but true, I will miss riding this bike now, for the snows are just around the corner here in Northern Michigan. There are always next year promises of more Harley Davidson motorcycling adventures.

Note:

This review is strictly about my initial ride impressions, and doesn't in anyway reflect a long term review. For a long term review we need to have the vehicle here to ride for a period of 6 months to a year. That is the only way we can determine effectively if the bike will hold up to long term driving without any long term maintenance issues.