You hit the nail right on the head, Bro!
I was kind of shocked to discover the same ugly snobbery as you're describing when I merely MENTIONED wanting a Sporty recently. Seems that they're not GOOD enough for the Modern Yuppie Biker ****, but when you talk to TRUE bikers...ones that have been around longer than AMERICAN CHOPPER has been on the air, you'll find that they are far more receptive!
Still, there IS an almost unspoken disdain for Sportys, and I don't get it, either...
When I was little, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time with a local motorcycle club, and Sportsters were the favored scoot among these riders. We're talking the mid to late 70s here, and these guys rode souped Sportys with trick paint and custom bars. Their reasoning was the same as yours and mine...the Sportster models were cheap, widely available, light, and easy to coax performance out of. They truly were/are the HOT ROD bike of the Harley persuasion!
Last Summer, I met a guy at a party with a hopped up Sporty, and we got to talking about them. I told him how I dug those bikes, but had owned the big Kawasakis as muscle bikes myself. Talk naturally came to performance, and when I asked him how a warmed-over Sport RAN, I was kinda shocked when he said "Take it for a spin and find out!".
That quick ride reaffirmed what I had learned from the guys back in the 70s! Sportsters flat KICK ASS! True, my old KZ-1000 would probably have run away from this Sporty at the top end of the track...but the way that lumpity Sport jumped off the line was unbelievable! Around town, that rumbling monster of a Sportster really put a grin on my face...I have to own one someday!
Screw the masses and their trendy, stuffy assed opinions...twist the grip and they'll be too far behind to fuck with you anyway!!!

I was kind of shocked to discover the same ugly snobbery as you're describing when I merely MENTIONED wanting a Sporty recently. Seems that they're not GOOD enough for the Modern Yuppie Biker ****, but when you talk to TRUE bikers...ones that have been around longer than AMERICAN CHOPPER has been on the air, you'll find that they are far more receptive!
Still, there IS an almost unspoken disdain for Sportys, and I don't get it, either...
When I was little, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time with a local motorcycle club, and Sportsters were the favored scoot among these riders. We're talking the mid to late 70s here, and these guys rode souped Sportys with trick paint and custom bars. Their reasoning was the same as yours and mine...the Sportster models were cheap, widely available, light, and easy to coax performance out of. They truly were/are the HOT ROD bike of the Harley persuasion!
Last Summer, I met a guy at a party with a hopped up Sporty, and we got to talking about them. I told him how I dug those bikes, but had owned the big Kawasakis as muscle bikes myself. Talk naturally came to performance, and when I asked him how a warmed-over Sport RAN, I was kinda shocked when he said "Take it for a spin and find out!".
That quick ride reaffirmed what I had learned from the guys back in the 70s! Sportsters flat KICK ASS! True, my old KZ-1000 would probably have run away from this Sporty at the top end of the track...but the way that lumpity Sport jumped off the line was unbelievable! Around town, that rumbling monster of a Sportster really put a grin on my face...I have to own one someday!
Screw the masses and their trendy, stuffy assed opinions...twist the grip and they'll be too far behind to fuck with you anyway!!!