1988 FXRS Low Rider
$9,245
black and chrome power plant
Gearing is 3.37 Final Gearing with a 24T Compensating Sprocket and a 37T Clutch Shell Basket with a 32T Transmission Pulley and a 70T Rear Wheel Sprocket
39mm front fork tubes
single disc front rotor with single piston caliper
Seat height 27.5"
Ground Clearance 5.3"
4.5 gallon Gas Tank
3.0 Oil Capacity
Once again Harley Riders preferred the look of twin-cap tanks harking back two generations. Thus the fuel filler is moved off-center to its proper historical position on the right side. There of course is a "functional" basis for this, when the FXRS is parked on it's jiffy stand, the right-side cap makes filling easier and the tank itself has grown from 3.5 gallons to 4.5 gallons. This year's speedometer and tachometer return to the tank as well, reproducing the uncluttered handlebar of the original '77 Low Rider. The fuel gauge has been displaced to an imagnative new position and becomes the tank's left "filler cap".
Engineering changes for all 1988 FXR machines include 39mm forks, up from 35mm tubes offered on some of the previous years bikes, new cams with greater duration as well as lift are introduced as well creating an increase in horsepower for all models except the Calfornia models. Convex mirrors are another line-wide change, along with a new "eyelet" clutch cable. The new cable improves on what is already seen as one of the best mechanically actuated clutches in motorcycling, the clutch cable's lever end features a large "eyelet" which slips around a nylon shaft fit through the lever. The cable's adjusting mechanism, protected by an accordion-pleated boot, reels up slack from halfway downthe cable, not the "conventional location" at the lever itself. This "eyelet" set up claimed to have longer cable life and a smoother functioning clutch actuation.
1988 FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition: photo below
Silver and Chrome Power Plant
Gearing is 3.37 Final Gearing with a 24T Compensating Sprocket and a 37T Clutch Shell Basket with a 32T Transmission Pulley and a 70T Rear Wheel Sprocket
39mm front fork tubes
dual Disc front rotors with single piston calipers
Seat height 28.5"
1) Featuring Front Dual-Disc system which stops the bike in 12% less distance.
2) Air-assisted suspension in combination with anti-dive brake valving.
Neither the anti-dive nor the air-assisted fork were new technology. But the FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition combined them both in a "novel" way. HD used a remote reservoir in addition to the fork legs. The larger volume made adjustment more gradual, and lets the rise in pressure from fork compression, and the corresponding increase in fork stiffness, take place more smoothly. HD used a electronic solenoid, actuated at the brake lever, to close off the air reservoir, thus reducing air volume to effectively "stiffen" springing while damping rates remain unchanged. This simplified the fork mechanically, with air attending to two functions at once. This year HD engineers wanted to simplify the system even further. When the anti-dive first appeared on the FXRT Sport Glide in 1983, a spherical accumulator mounted behind the bike's fairing became the fork's remote air reservoir. The FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition puts its tubular handlebar to work as the reservoir, with a Schrader valve protruding from its left end. The bike's rear shocks have 0.7" more travel than a standard FXRS and the anti-dive gives the FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition a further boost in ride height. Eventually of course the machince drags the same pieces as the standard FXRS Low Rider ie: footpegs, jiffy stand, frame tubes, but only with a much steeper angle of lean. Compared to the standard FXRS Low Rider the FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition has 1.4" more wheelbase, is 1" taller at the saddle, and uses more rake and trail. 31 degrees/4.8" (versus 29 degrees/4.2"). The FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition fuel tank holds less fuel and it lacks the FXRS Low Rider's forward-set highway pegs. The FXRS-Sp Low Rider Sport Edition also sports the "silver and chrome" power plant as compared to the FXRS Low Rider which features the "black and chrome" power plant.
[NOTE: Please remember that putting your curser next to the paper clip icon below the photo will allow you to enlarge the photo plus save it to your computer if you desire OR if you merely wish to see it enlarged simply put your curser on the photo and "LEFT" click and it will enlarge]