Harley Davidson 883 Sportster vs Star Bolt vs Triumph Bonneville

Recently, Motorcycle-USA.com compared the 883 Sportster, Star Bolt, and the Triumph Bonneville.  If you  haven't, I highly suggest you check out their article.  SPOILER ALERT: After putting the bikes through the paces, the testers determined the Triumph was the best bike, followed by Star, and finally the Harley.

Now everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I enjoy reading comparison tests probably more then most, but as a cruiser rider I feel many of these tests are fatally flawed.  Frequently you hear conclusions like "xyz bike manufacturer took cues from Harley, updated the technology, and we have a new winner."  But a few years down the road Harley is still selling thousands of the same motorcycle while the "winner" is no long an available model.   

As a disclaimer I love all motorcycles.  I have owned many makes of motorcycles, including Honda's, Suzuki's, Kawasaki's, Yamaha's, and Harley's.  I have enjoyed all of them and had mechanical issues with all of them, except the Harley's, knock on wood.  Additionally, the smoothest and most refined bike I have ever ridden is Harley's, Heritage Softail so don't forget that Harley Davidson can make very a smooth bike if they choose too.

So, what's my point?  What are MotorcycleUSA.com's review and many others like it getting wrong?  Well, for starters, notice how the tester constantly uses the Harley as the measuring stick, against which to compare the other motorcycles, particularly the Bolt, saying things like "xyz bike does this best, worst or the same."  In any test, one should start from scratch and rate each bike on its own merit.  If one sets the bar at the Harley and judges the test from there, it is already flawed.  It is like saying "this is the current best bike and here are some also-rans that may have some good qualities too".

Yes, I know comparisons are meant to compare things but if you are going to compare against one particular item only then you have to at least match up the right qualities.  So what are the right qualities?  Well, performance, braking, quarter mile time, miles per gallon are all important, but if you are judging cruiser type bikes I would argue, these are NOT the most important.  Horsepower, torque and smoothness are nice, but probably not the most reliable gauge of cruiser bike rider is looking for.  How finished the motorcycle is, how "cool" it looks, and most importantly how "cool" it makes you feel are usually what qualifies.

As I mentioned earlier Harley Davidson chooses to make motorcycles that vibrate.  (So, does lack of smoothness really mean anything to an HD rider?  Probably not, they WANT that feel of a Harley)  Now I can already here people saying I am crazy, but there's a reason why the Sportster's, Dyna's and touring Harley's are rubber mounted.  It's hard not to feel cool and tough when the motorcycle is shaking like a paint mixer.  Conversely, it's hard to look cool and feel cool when there is a HUGE tank seam staring back at you, a la Triumph and Star.   I mean seriously, it's the first thing I see in the pictures of the bikes.  There's a reason there is no tank seem on even on the cheapest of the Harley's.  There's a reason Harley is by far and away the sales leader in cruiser type bikes around the world.  THIS is why I have a problem with this comparison.  If performance and cost was king, then people would just buy a sport bike for about half the cost and twice the performance.  This type of bike is about more about "feeling" and authenticity.  THIS is why these reviews always annoy me.  If the other bikes were really the winner to riders, wouldn't their sales be number one?

My comparison:  Let's start with price.  The Bolt R-Spec was the most expensive bike in the test coming in couple hundred more than the Sportster which cost $7999.  The Triumph was the bargain bike at $300 less than the Harley Davidson.  So, we're pretty much equal.  Let's set aside the Triumph because it shouldn't be in this comparison to begin with.  (It is a two seater, parallel twin standard).  The Harley Davidson and the Star Bolt are single seater, air cooled v-twins.  From a rider's perspective, if Star can't offer a better value to offset what they are missing in the refinement (TANK SEAM!) and visceral "coolness" category, then the Harley Sportster will still be around long after the Bolt is gone.   Now, if that price was a couple thousand lower, we might be talking....