Harley's latest Sportster gets the bobber treatment

Harley Davidson had the wisdom of offering us a brand new XL1200X “Forty-Eight” motorcycle for 48 hours, and we decided to take them up on it. This is our review. All photos from gallery below taken exclusively for Lost In a Supermarket by the peerless Robert Kerian. An additional gallery of the Malibu Ride after the Jump photographed by Jason Edwards…

Although running continuously since 1957, Harley Davidson‘s Sportster line received a generous resuscitation in 2007 with the XL1200N Nightster, and then with the smaller XL883L Iron. The idea being that with young men running to cheaper Japanese bikes or more stylish Triumphs and Ducati Monsters, Harley needed to react to attract a younger buyer. While HD’s groceries are clearly bought by older riders who want their larger touring bikes, HD also realized they need to start appealing to a younger crowd or they will get left behind. And thus the Sportster line was reinvigorated, adding the XL1200X “Forty-Eight” this year to even further carve out a niche in this more “stylish” market. While all the Sportsters are great template bikes — built with the assumption they will be customized by the individual buyer — the Forty-Eight takes the development even further, with its modifications carefully chosen to make it look more like a bobber style bike right out of the box. The bike features a fat 130 mm front tire, spoke wheels, peanut tank (first introduced in 1948, giving the bike its namesake), small single seat, undermounted mirrors, chopped mud guards and forward-mounted controls. Sure the Forty-Eight is still made to accommodate a crowded boutique industry of aftermarket products (tanks, handlebars, springer seats, pipes, air filters, etc.), but the idea is to get you closer to your desired look from the starting line. What it does share with its Sportster XL range brethren is the air cooled 1200 CC 45 degree V twin — a beautiful engine that offers plenty of low-end torque. Which we discovered when we mounted our collective Harleys and hit the Pacific Coast Highway on a warm California afternoon.