2021 Harley-Davidson Sportster S: Photo Gallery

Here’s a closer look at Harley-Davidson’s latest sporty cruiser

The past one year has been a tough ride for Harley-Davidson but with its financial woes almost over, the brand is now trying to up its game. Consequently, the American giant has unveiled its latest sporty cruiser, the Sportster S, in the US.

At a glance, the Sportster S looks well slotted in the Harley-Davidson family thanks to its beefy appearance and low stance. 

Up front, you get a horizontal all-LED headlamp and a chunky tyre, similar to the Fat Bob but without a black headlamp cover. 

At the centre, you have a sleek-looking tank, followed by a slim flat-track style seat (which is just 753mm high), and a slightly raised flat handlebar with bar-mounted mirrors. The flat track appeal comes at the price of a pillion seat, though, with no space for another occupant aboard the Sportster.

Adding to the flat tracker appeal, Harley-Davidson has thrown in two upswept, high-set side-mounted exhausts.

Rounding off the design is a mudguard-mounted horizontal tail lamp, which seems like an afterthought. That said, tail tidy fans will certainly appreciate the Sportster S's clean and sharp tail end.

Its good looks are complemented by modern features, including all-LED illumination, adjustable levers, USB charging port, and a Bluetooth-enabled 4-inch TFT instrument cluster with turn-by-turn navigation and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

Also part of the package are extensive electronic aids. It gets three standard and one custom riding mode, switchable cornering traction control, cruise control, cornering ABS with rear-wheel lift-off mitigation, and engine brake control, usually unheard of on Harley-Davidsons.

But why such tech? Because underneath lies the company’s new 1250T twin-cylinder motor, putting out 122.3PS and 125Nm. While this is essentially the same motor from the Pan America 1250, it has been tweaked to pump 10 percent extra torque in the lower revs. 

To help put the power down, the Sportster S employs a six-speed transmission with a slipper clutch. 

The tweaked motor is housed in a trellis frame sprung on a 43mm inverted front fork and monoshock, both fully adjustable. This 228kg mammoth is anchored by a 320mm front and a 260mm rear disc.

While the Sportster S isn’t available in India yet, it’s priced at about Rs 11.2 lakh in the US. If Harley-Davidson were to launch the Sportster here at this price, it would definitely be a good deal. On a more realistic note, we expect it to retail at about Rs 15 lakh (ex-showroom) when it sets foot in India by the end of this year.