DesertRat wrote on 05/25/15 at 11:34:03:



Well, its all in what you like, how its set up, or what you are willing to put up with.
I'll ride anything long distance.... just to do it.
And since I haven't ridden a sporty (883 version) long distance, I couldn't tell you or even compare it to the savage.
However, riding from Florida to Texas I was "ok" with the savage, and even better on the way home after buying the airhawkII (Thanks Neil).
My brother purchased 2007 883 and didn't make it 75miles on our first ride (I had a 1300VTX at the time) before his hips started hurting really bad. By the time our ride was over (about 250 miles) he could barely walk!
If you have neither and are wanting to know which to get, see if one of these guys that posted are close enough for you to meet and greet perhaps a ride would be in order

I've got the 25 tooth pulley on my S-40 and it does the Super-Slab at 75 GPS (Speedometer 63) just fine.  That's about 4500 RPM/@/ 75MPH , The top speed didn't change any , just the "Cruse-ability".   The 883 w/(1200 primary-drive) will cruse at 80 mph easy but MPG at that speed will make you CRY !     on either one of them !  

At 65 mph they both get about the same mpg.  

For me the savage is my preferred long distance bike. But it's not stock. I've built it to be very comfortable with the stretched frame and riding position. Once the sporty is hardtailed I'm sure it will be a coin toss at that point. Suspension wise even though the sporty currently has the stock setup TBH it rides about as rough as the hardtailed/dropped forked Savage. I've had 2 newer sportsters and an older evo and all of them rode pretty rough for stock bikes. The evo was a 91 with a 10 over front, 21" wheel and no front brakes with rabbit ear bars. It had a lot of flop and required decent arm strength to control so it's hard to say it was a "long distance" bike. That being said it definitely seen the most long distance rides of any bike I've see owned.

Gearing wise the savage now is geared for highway so it's more comfortable at super slab speeds. The 09 sporty I have now feels like it's gonna throw the engine from the frame anywhere over 75mph.