HD XR1200 (HD lovers you may want to skip this)

[No Worries]

Originally Posted by nhgunnut

...Some of you who know me know that one of my goals is to build a 70's era Cafe Style bike. I have been intrigued by the HD XR1200 since it came here to the states. It looks almost like an out of the box Cafe (squint a little and imagine it with a set of clip ons and a Quarter Faring )...

Getting back to the original post, Cycle World tested the XR1200 in their July, 2009 issue. CW said it was "maybe the best overall HD ever." They also said "It's a bike that can do it all and do it well, from carving up a serpentine country road with remarkable ease to cruising comfortably on an interstate highway and just about everything in between."

As for building a 70's era cafe bike, I compared my 79 GS1000 specs against the XR1200:

Dry weight: XR: 564 lbs. GS: 507lbs.
Wheelbase: XR: 60.0 inches. GS: 59.3 inches
HP: XR: 79.2 @ 7,000 RPM. GS: 85 @ 8,000 RPM.
Torque: XR: 68.7 @ 3,600. GS: 59 @ 6,500.
1/4 mile: XR: 12.13. GS: 12.0.

The XR is like a 70's era bike. But if I had a friend who wanted to build a cafe bike I would tell him to get a 1980 or so GS1100. They were quicker than the 1200 Bandit.