Speaker A
[Music] hey what's up guys it's me eric b and welcome back to the channel and we are doing yet another first ride video on a cruiser and i know i've been doing probably more cruises than i have sport
Eric B gives a first-ride review of the 2020 Harley-Davidson Iron 1200, covering its styling, 1200cc power, controls, ergonomics, and comparison with the 883 and sport bikes.
Key Takeaways
- The Iron 1200 offers noticeably more low-end torque and power than the Iron 883, making it a stronger choice for cruiser buyers
- Stock ergonomics, particularly the handlebars and mid controls, may suit some riders but feel uncomfortable to others, especially taller riders
- The aftermarket exhaust adds to the bike's appeal, though the stock configuration and bags are personal preferences
- Eric B recommends that sport bike riders keep an open mind and try cruisers, since each bike type has its own purpose
What the video covers
- Eric B reviews the 2020 Harley-Davidson Iron 1200 after spotting it parked and getting a ride from its owner
- He compares the Iron 1200 with the Iron 883, noting the main differences are the motor, power, and handlebars
- The bike has aftermarket Vance & Hines slip-on exhaust and comes with saddlebags, which he would likely remove
- Front tire size is compared with his Brixton's tire; the classic Harley styling is highlighted
- Digital tachometer, speedometer, and a keyless ignition system are described
- Engine specs are given as 1200cc, about 60 hp and 73 lb-ft of torque, which he considers sufficient for cruisers
- He contrasts the cruiser's low-end torque with his KTM sport bike's higher horsepower and torque
- Controls include auto-canceling turn signals and a horn, with simple dash layout
- Ergonomics: seat is comfortable, but he prefers lower handlebars and dislikes mid-mounted controls for taller riders
- He finds the bike handles well on the road, with some front-end feel issues during turns, and the exhaust is loud
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Bike Discovery
- 00:52Comparing the Iron 883 and 1200
- 01:36Walkaround: Bags, Tank, Exhaust, and Tires
- 02:21Starting Up and Initial Controls
- 04:00Riding Impressions and Power Specs
- 05:30Controls, Blinkers, and Dash Layout
- 07:03Ergonomics, Handlebars, and Mid Controls
- 09:06Handling and Cornering Feel
- 13:14Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
bikes um in a while other than my own i've had my eye on this bike for a while i really do like the styling of it um the the owner you know it was just sitting in a parking lot and every day i
Speaker A
go buy it at work you know i'm like man this thing looks good i need to find out who rides this thing and uh finally caught up to him and he's allowed me to ride it so big shout out to him for that
Speaker A
and like i said before guys this thing looks pretty awesome i mean between this and the 883 i think they are uh both really nice looking sportsters and um the biggest difference between the two really is going to be you know the the
Speaker A
motor and the power and everything like that um if i'm wrong on that let me know but uh pretty much the things that i've seen so far from seeing an 883 and a 1200 has been the handlebars um the motor and
Speaker A
really that's about it in my opinion all right so just looks right off the bat i don't know if these bags come standard with the bike he has one in the front right here and then one on the side um
Speaker A
that's kind of cool i guess but uh if it was my bike i would probably remove those i just i don't really do the uh the bags and stuff like that on the bikes the other thing is the tank here
Speaker A
so um i did notice it sat lower before when i saw it but he said he moved it up and i guess you can do that so it's adjustable in in that sense and um it's more for aesthetics and stuff like that
Speaker A
i guess all right so he did upgrade the exhaust so we do have a van heinz exhaust system on here i believe it's just a slip-on i don't think it's the full system and really other than that as far as upgrades and stuff like that
Speaker A
to this bike goes that's uh about it now looking at this front tire the size of it it's funny because it's the same size as the front tire on my brixton which is like a 100 um i believe yeah 190
Speaker A
this is a 19 i think mine's at 18 but uh but yeah that's that's the tire in the front and it's like a 150 or something out back and as always harley keeps their nice classic look to their bikes all right and here's
Speaker A
the speedometer nice and simple um your tachometer is right here uh in the middle right there it's digital and i'll show you guys that once we get out on the road and then another thing i would have never known is this is where your
Speaker A
oil goes so you remove this and this your dipstick and everything and the oil goes inside of that uh little area right there better than that guys let's go ahead and get this bad boy out on the road and before we do that as always
Speaker A
let's cut to the b-roll [Music] all right let's get this thing started so do a start here for you guys so you guys can hear it so controls are pretty simple as well um you have this right here that turns on your ignition
Speaker A
and this bike is keyless so i have the key fob in my pocket and all you gotta do is hit the button and start her up oh yeah i think this off sounds nice look even got the nice harley shake of the
Speaker A
handlebars and everything all right let's get this show on the road [Music] oh man red light all right the iron 1200 so like i said before i know someone that has an 883 um i just haven't had a
Speaker A
chance to uh get on it yet but uh the 1200 man just riding it over here uh to the parking lot here man this thing has a ton of torque [Music] yes let's just go ahead and knock that
Speaker A
portion out so the power on this thing it has a 1200cc motor we have 60 horsepower with 73 pound-feet of torque now yeah 60 horsepower doesn't seem like a lot but for cruisers you really don't need that much horsepower you're not you
Speaker A
know these aren't top end monsters or anything like that what you want is all that down low torque and grunt and that's what really gets these things up and moving man it's just like i said like it just puts you back that torque is
Speaker A
crazy not cur not not super crazy but uh but from what i've been used to for the past couple months man it seems crazy to me now my uh my sport bike my ktm has 90 pound-feet of torque and a whole lot more
Speaker A
horsepower you know that bike was meant to just go fast this thing is a little bit different you know like most of your cruisers and some of the the stuff i talked about in some of my other other
Speaker A
cruiser videos but i think uh if you were trying to choose between an 883 and the 1200 you might want to just go to with the 1200 anyway just uh for the sheer fact of the power man this thing has a lot more power um and i
Speaker A
think the price difference is is not far off um you can pick one of these up new for right around 10 10 grand if i'm not mistaken but yeah and the exhaust man just makes it even better so i never you
Speaker A
know got to hear this thing with the stock exhaust but oh this thing sounds so good all right so looking at the controls and everything on here um pretty simple like i said and then harley's uh they're they're the way that
Speaker A
their blinkers are you know they're on this uh separate handlebars and the cool thing about this is it has uh what do you call it uh auto canceling blinker so you know once you lean over and bring it
Speaker A
back up they automatically you know turn off which is kind of cool because i tend to forget that my blinker's on all the time i'm sure i'm not the only one um you got your horn right here uh i don't
Speaker A
want to beep it because then they'll think i'm i'm beeping at them uh flashers and then you know turn everything on and all that it's pretty simple all right so like i was saying about the dash here and i hope you guys
Speaker A
can hear me pretty good because this exhaust is loud but like i said very simple dash the classic you know with all harleys and everything that i've been on so that's the other thing i've had an opportunity to be on what four or five different
Speaker A
cruisers so far uh let's see i've been on two different sportsters and then now this one that makes three and then a harley davidson road king special if you've never been on a cruiser or harley and you're like a sportbike guy and
Speaker A
you're kind of like oh you know only sport bikes you know have an open mind and get out there and ride other things because they're not bad bikes you know i'm saying everything has its purpose like i was saying before the tachometer is
Speaker A
right here it's digital um right here in the middle and then you also have a shift indicator as well i like the position of the mirrors it's not too bad it's good for looks and everything i don't know if they come stock up here if
Speaker A
they're down low like that but i do like the position of those so in my last video i really didn't know the roads or really where to go and open the bike up but i think i kind of figured out a spot
Speaker A
now so hopefully we're good with that all right so the ergonomics on this bike so far not too bad the seat is actually pretty comfortable and i like how it has that hump um back here when you know
Speaker A
you're really getting into the throttle the handlebars though it comes stock with the handlebars like this i probably prefer lower handlebars than this but this may be comfortable for you know when you're riding on like a longer ride or something like that the
Speaker A
other thing it makes it weird to turn with the higher handlebars like when i rode that road king and it had the uh the higher i don't know what do you call them eight hangers or something like that
Speaker A
i'm not a cruiser guy but uh but i didn't like how uh how they were like they just it made it tough to turn oh watch out there buddy not a very safe intersection right there holding up traffic let's go
Speaker A
and the other thing is these mid controls i do not like mid controls it seems like all the sports i've been on they have mid controls um they're not really great because uh you know if you're a taller rider got
Speaker A
longer legs they seem like they're in the way [Music] that's what i miss i miss that power i can get around stuff now the other thing is can a taller rider like you know you're six foot and above ride something like this i think
Speaker A
you can once again if you have the mid controls your legs are up a little bit higher but overall i feel comfortable riding this bike the position and everything so it's not too bad also this bike is belt
Speaker A
driven it has a 5 speed transmission and it's also air cooled all right so we're also tipping the scales on this bad boy at around 574 pounds uh pretty standard i would assume for for a bike like this
Speaker A
not too bad feels pretty good you know when you're out on the road and everything else i mean i can move it around in the parking lot pretty easily but for some someone else it may be a little bit more difficult you probably
Speaker A
want to be sitting on the bike when you're moving it's that way you don't drop it all right so as far as the suspension goes on this bike um it's a little rough in my opinion um it's not
Speaker A
as plush as some of the other ones that i've been on but this is a sportster so you know it's probably made to handle a little bit better but uh not bad but just a lot of the you
Speaker A
know bigger bumps and stuff like that the suspension and the rear feels really rough [Music] all right we had to flip a ue there turn this bad boy around so we can go the other way actually i need to readjust my navigation
Speaker A
one second okay now we're good you know i had to do it all right so see how this thing lanes here not too bad i haven't really leaned too many cruisers [Music] i do feel that the uh the front end
Speaker A
can get a little gets a little light a little wobbly a little bit when you're really getting into it all right [Music] uh it's about as fast as we're gonna get around here unlike some of the roads and
Speaker A
uh when i'm back in the states i can open her up and go a little bit faster but uh there's too much traffic and stuff like that now the sportster s i had that thing pretty much topped out that thing
Speaker A
will do it i mean i'm pretty sure if i had a little bit more road we could get it at least maybe 110 but uh but yeah i don't know has anyone uh topped out their uh iron 1200s all right so in all honesty
Speaker A
i think this wouldn't be bad if you were you know going on a longer ride or something like that i mean it feels pretty good you know as far as the position and everything goes now the seat may get a little
Speaker A
uncomfortable just because i'm already kind of feeling it now so you may want to get a more comfortable seat like a like a corbin or something like that [Music] but uh i mean overall not bad guys so really i don't have a whole lot of
Speaker A
complaints um on this bike you know what i'm saying and i've yet to ride in 883 and i think i'll be able to have a better comparison when i do really the only thing that i don't like obviously is the mid controls because i
Speaker A
i just don't like the position of them uh they're always always hitting my shins and i think it'd be an even more comfortable ride if i could have my feet more forward um the other thing is probably the handlebars i just
Speaker A
don't like the the way that these handlebars are set up i like a lower handlebar that's just my opinion and this exhaust sounds nice so loud [Music] has good power good torque and everything on it and i think the price
Speaker A
range and everything for this is good as well you know it's not super expensive um some of the other ones that i've been on you know like the uh i don't remember how much the sportster s is but i know like the um
Speaker A
indian scout bobber that's right around like 13 grand or something like that and i like how they're all priced you know you get into these sport bikes oh man especially you get into your leader bikes they're also expensive
Speaker A
uh it comes you know everything comes with a cost you know you're paying for all out performance for those bikes you know and a lot of them have a lot of features and electronics and stuff like that in them so you get what you pay for
Speaker A
man you are definitely waking the neighbors up with this thing all right guys that's going to do for me on this first ride you know i'm just an average joe giving you guys a review on this bad boy and uh hopefully
Speaker A
i answered some questions for you if you're on the fence of getting this bike if you're new to the channel be sure to subscribe if you're liking what you're seeing give me a like and i'll see you guys in the next one
Speaker A
[Music] you
Topics:Harley-DavidsonIron 1200Iron 883cruiser reviewfirst ridemotorcycle reviewSportsterVance & Hines exhaustHarley torqueItsMeEricB
