Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

 Harley-Davidson decided to start assembling some of their bikes in India. Now this means more than just a change in descriptive moniker from CBU to CKD. It also means a huge change in import duties levied which in turn brings the price tag down - by Rs. 2 lakh! Ok, so you still won't be able to get yourself the H-D XL 883R Sportster for less than its previously mentioned tag, but now you can get the Iron 883 and the Superlow. Muntaser Mirkar shares his impressions on the latter.

Harley Davidson also makes the Forty-Eight, Super Glide/ Dyna, Sporster, Elektra Glide and the V-Rod.

And then there’s the extremely nimble and super slick Superlow – just as the name suggests, this bike is quite literally, super low! Ground clearance on the Superlow is just 100mm – a full 41mm lower than the Sportster. What that results in is a bike with a really hunkered down look that sports wide and tall chrome handlebars. Speaking about chrome – it’s everywhere on the Superlow, in stark contrast to the Iron. The engine is chromed, the crankcase is chromed, the bars are chromed, the leg guard is chromed, the fuel tank cap is chromed, heck, even the springs on the rear suspension are chromed! But that’s not the only difference that the Superlow has with the Iron 883. The fuel tank itself is more teardrop shaped – rather than angled and tall, the Superlow’s tank is curvy and sits, well, low!

But all that overdose of bringing everything closer to Mother Earth has brought about a significant change to the way this bike handles. The centre of gravity has quite obviously dropped by a bit as well and coupled with the Superlow’s 120/70 ZR18 front and150/60 ZR17 rear tyres, it makes for some really slithering handling – something riders will much appreciate in heavy city traffic. This is probably the slickest Harley to ride around on and it’s even got the bling to attract enough attention to keep your head held high. The curved fuel tank can hold 17 litres of fuel – so compared to the Iron, it is definitely a whole lot more convenient in terms of everyday usability.

While both new variants of the 883R Sportster are infinitely better looking than the parent bike, they do have a problem – and a potentially big one at that. As mentioned earlier, both the Iron 883 and the Superlow have shed their ground clearance like a tree in autumn and that means they ground on every single speed breaker on Indian roads. And if those bumps are anything like we had on the ride in Rajasthan between Jaipur and Jodhpur you’ll need to really take it slow and there’s still no guarantee that the bike’s underbody will stay scratchless. That apart, at price tags of Rs. 5.50 lakh for the Superlow and Rs. 6.50 lakh for the Iron 883, Harley-Davidson have brought their legend even more accessible to potential enthusiasts than the 883 ever was. That makes these 883 variants Navy Cuts on wholesale rates then? Absolutely!