Bought a Harley this weekend

[911boost]

Congrats man. That is a sweet deal and I am sure it will clean up.

Screw the stereotypes. I dealt with them from Cruiser guys when I had my BMW GS, now that I have a Harley, I deal with them from sport bike and the BMW guys. Whatever, I am way more comfortable on long trips on my Harley than I ever was on the BMW, and if I want to go fast I have the 911 turbo sitting in the garage.

They are super easy to work on. I changed the oil in my '06 FLHTCI this weekend and it took all of 10 minutes. 4 new quarts later and I was back on the road.

With regards to the Sportster being the red headed step child, Jeff has one, and I don't think anyone is going to say anything to him when he shows up, and if they do, screw em.

Enjoy it.

Bill

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by crustychief

Congrats on your bike! I wouldn't listen to these guys about "assless chaps" they are all assless, otherwise they would be pants. My bike has leather on the hand controls, never hear any complaints or jokes. try using some s100 total cycle cleaner, the stuff works awesome. the old 883 huggers can be mildly built to become real rocketships! like a 914 with a v-8

Crusty, that bike's a beauty.

I'll give the S100 a try. I just ordered some from the Biker's Bay here in Lake Jackson.

[kmhemi]

Another vote for the S100 It will clean maost of that up. Also get some Never Dull from wal mart. It will clean and polish what the S100 misses.
Great Score for the money you spent. I have a 1200 Sporty. I like them alot.
post some after pics when you get it all cleaned up.

[cmccuist]

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I'm seriously just messing with you. I'd give my best friend the same load of crap. All in good fun.

Daddy, I love the give and take on this board.

This is going to be a fun, inexpensive project.

[911boost]

Here are a couple of pictures of mine. Typically the Tour Pak is not on it, nor is that seat. My wife likes having the backrest, and the more comfortable for her seat. These were taken during a ride through a couple of mountain passes, up into Wyoming, and then back to Colorado a couple of weeks ago.

[Dueller]

Originally Posted by Kurt V

Now go get yourself some assless chaps and fingerless gloves. Oh, and fringe for the handle bars. You must have fringe.

Q: Know why Harley riders wear fringe?

A: So they can tell they're moving

j/k....nice cheap find. You could wash/wax it and double your money. Why not cafe it? Go to this most excellent sporster site for info/ideas:

http://www.xlforum.net/index.html

[Mr_Wizard]

Another great site for information regarding Sportsters is sportster.org. Used the info there many times over the past 8 years.

[serge944]

Originally Posted by nostatic

If someone buys a Harley, they are asking for some amount of bashing. If they can't handle it, then they shouldn't buy it. Just like GS owners get called Long Way Down poseurs, Ducati owners are poseurs in general, Miatas are for gay hairdressers, Porsches are for pricks, etc. Comes with the territory.

Like they say, "If you can take a d*ck, you can take a joke."

[ramonesfreak]

youll enjoy it, to a point.

i had a 2003 883 custom. i ended up selling it after putting about 10K miles on it. In a way, i miss it and probably should have kept it...

i miss that thumping sound and feel. there really is nothing like the feel of a harley engine at idle. brit bikes, which i love, dont come close. nothing really does..even the lowly 883

ultimately though, i found the 883 to be a dreadful riding bike on the highway above 50 mph because those rear springs are dangerous. youll notice the rear wheel hopping, leaving the road surface...which at high speeds is not fun... also, once you hit 50, youll be wondering where 7th or 8th gear is....you run out of revs really quick

I put many thousands of miles on mine in manhattan and the sourrounding area, brooklyn, LI, queens etc..and it was an awsome city bike. you could really flick it around obstacles. back country roads as well, were a really joy to put along on

i had straight pipes on mine which woke it up quite a bit, with a jet kit. vance and hines straight shots ... very nice tone

good luck with it

[VINMAN]

Scotts right about the rear springs. I swapped mine out for a set of Progressive Suspension shocks. What a difference. Like Scott, I do alot of city riding,(New York streets are hell) and its a great city bike Yeah its not the best on long trips, my Lowrider was way more comfortable. But than again, I rode my GSXR 750 from NY to FL. Ouch that hurt!
Love my Sportster. Mines a '90 1200. My previous one was a '89 883, did alot of work to that one. 1200 kit S&S carb, Sifton cams. Hooker headers pipes, with a few mods it was a great bike.

[jwasbury]

Runs great you say? I'd say thats a pretty good deal for 2k then. You know, I kind of like the fact that its so dirty and the shine has faded. I'm a Ducati "Poseur" here. I always took a little pride in having one of the dirtier ducs on the road. What can I say? When faced with the choice of cleaning it, or riding it, I chose to ride. I'm sure you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of your purchase.

Cheers!

[911boost]

I agree with jwasbury. I would much rather ride mine than clean it. I went on a 1,000+ mile ride last August, and it took me until about April to get the majority of the bug and road crap off mine.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by crustychief

congrats on your bike! I wouldn't listen to these guys about "assless chaps" they are all assless, otherwise they would be pants.

rotfl

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I own chaps too. The chicks dig 'em.

Speaking of, didn't anyone tell you Sportsters are chick bikes?

Just kidding. I suggest you never clean it or polish it. Take that shield, crash bars, and bags off. Rattle-can the whole thing flat black and ride the wheels off it!

[Chocaholic]

This is the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. Complete with a 9K redline. Slow Harleys indeed!

Wish I could have gotten it for $2k. Great find!

[speedracing944]

The V65 was the fastest bike when it came out until Mr. Bad A$$ V-Max hit the streets.

A 883 for $2000 sounds like a good deal to me. I would almost ride one for that.

[scottmandue]

Cracks me up how some people can call a 883cc V-twin a "girly bike".

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Cracks me up how some people can call a 883cc V-twin a "girly bike".

Always had a hard time putting my makeup on while riding mine..

[lendaddy]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Cracks me up how some people can call a 883cc V-twin a "girly bike".

I think the 600lbs and 40ish HP has something to do with it (less than a 250cc MX bike).

[berettafan]

nice price!

like the cafe look myself.