Admin...you forgot the Sportster XLS series...

I'm not sure I understand your position.

However, if your mention of the XLS refers to a 1000cc Sportster neither fish nor fowl and clearly the redheaded stepchild of the MoCo line, then it is best forgotten...

It was actually the Roadster Sportster. Not sure how many years the XLS ran for...at least 5-6? Maybe there are still XLS's being produced, I don't know Sportsters that well:

http://www.open-sport.org/Smorg/76/

Got to be honest with you, I don't know much about that era, either. And for good reason. I don't like inventions that straddle technologies. This era of bikes was one of them.

For example, I had a central A/C at my old house that was part modern design, but ran on hard-wired circuits and a cobbled up mother board. I had the repair guys out constantly, and usually to fix parts where 'east met west.'

I owned a 1989 Mustang. That era had a refrigerator sized compressor that manually dropped down on the serpentine belt. Guess what always failed? Natch, it was the electrical nightmare that made the thing function.

I did own a 1982 or 1984 883cc Sportster. (Sorry I do not know the exact year--we moved to that house in 1985, and I already had the Sportster) That was the little "flash cube" bike. It functioned by trying to marry future hacked-up stuff to older ironhead designs.

If memory serves, there were only a few years of each 1000cc style, both ironhead and evo. Fortunately, I never owned one of the bikes. I did want to own one of those Sportsters that had 750cc heads. I only saw one in real life, and was too dense to buy that bike. Overall, maybe it was a good thing.

These bike were built starting in 1981. They were the first bike built after Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson took the company back from AMF. They were built in those first tender years between 81-86 when they company was trying to restore it's tarnished rep.
here's one

here's another on.

here's some more

I owned a 1981 XLS 2 tone silver and metallic grey..exactly like what you posted a coule opsts back. It was a good enough solo bike and I really liked it but once married I up graded to a big twin...it only made sense,lol.

I like those sporty's. But I'm also a big sporty fan as you all probably come to realize.

From what I've read they were pretty good bikes. Strictly control. No room for mistakes in those days.