Sportster? That's not a Sportster..
Now,
THAT'S a Sportster
(random picture, not mine. I loathe the sound of drag pipes - and they also sap mid-range torque - but correct for the XLCH competition model).
Meh. I've never wanted a Harley (although one guy I knew had a WLA45 and another had a Knuck, and they were both really cool bikes) - but I own two 60's magneto, kick-only ironhead Sportsters.
They're like, living history - but the only thing that says "Harley Davidson" on mine are the footrest rubbers. And they're almost worn off
They're a throwback to when dwarves forged the headstock (to paraphrase part of Mark Williams' review from Bike magazine). Remember, they were developed from the flathead KH models in the 50's to compete with those new-fangled OHV 650 Brit twins eating their lunch on the flat tracks/desert racing.
Put lumpy cams in 'em, and they're quite interesting. Massively over-engineered and almost eternally rebuildable.
The pre-1972 883s (or 900) ironheads made 55 HP & 55 ft/lbs of torque. Pretty studly compared to a Trumpet of the same vintage.
Despite the passing of 60 years, today's 1200cc Sportsters are rated at almost exactly the same power output, LOL. With only 10 ft/lbs more torque. And weigh ~200 lbs more...
Hell, the 1972 1000cc Sportster made 4 HP more than the current 1200. HD won't even quote power output for the current 883...