Go Sportsters

[Ginger Beard]

Originally Posted by AZbiker

Cool story, Ginger Bread.

[gto3]

I want one with an s&s cycle 100 ci motor

[Cage Dodger]

My 1998 XLH-883. Ran pretty good for a "Baby Harley".



Cage

[merc16]

Awww crap ! Sorry about the spellin'.

[GregerWolf]

Originally Posted by woodnbow

If I could make a suggestion??

Who makes that exhaust? Looks like it has better ground clearance than some of the other 2-into-1s on the market.

[woodnbow]

These were the old style Bub 7 2-1 headers from an early model Dyna glide with a Kerker pipe and my own brackets. If you have an FXR you can still buy Bub pipes for the Dyna or Supertrapp still makes the FXR pipe and can also hook you up. You need to contact Supertrapp directly as it's no longer a catalog item. I have a complete spare Supertrapp pipe in my garage, it fits about the same way..

[blackSP]

Ordered my first Harley ever, after feeling a sudden urge to get one. Will come in some time January. With some paint and powdercoat work (mostly black), the mandatory tuning kit and Cobra's I should be all set. All my buddies, and I, used to avoid HD's like the plague and criticize their owners for being posters. Well, I converted after a test ride (of 30 minutes only due to freezing conditions!) as it put a big smile on my face. And I have to admit, I have secretly always liked the Sportsters...

However... After reading this whole thread I'm not so convinced anymore, there's so much negative comments about the brand, the brakes, the shocks, the feel, you name it.

Anyways, I'm sure I'm gonna love mine, in fact I already love my gimpshopped bike, not having ridden one single kilometer on it!

[norseXL]

Here´s one in orange I spotted at EICMA.

[blackSP]

blackSP is what it will be, the only orange in my garage is KTM :)

[Photog]

Originally Posted by blackSP

However... After reading this whole thread I'm not so convinced anymore, there's so much negative comments about the brand, the brakes, the shocks, the feel, you name it.

Anyways, I'm sure I'm gonna love mine, in fact I already love my gimpshopped bike, not having ridden one single kilometer on it!

I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think my XR1200 is imperfect but perfect for me.

I'd love to have a 2nd Sporty for more laid-back running around. Something about them connects with me. I hope you have the same reaction when you get yours.

[DirtDabber]

Originally Posted by blackSP

However... After reading this whole thread I'm not so convinced anymore, there's so much negative comments about the brand, the brakes, the shocks, the feel, you name it.

Look at any brand specific thread and you will find people bitching about their bike, they all suck. Just go ride the wheels off it and upgrade what you want to and then you can complain about all the things that should have been done at the factory as well....

Enjoy your new bike.

[slowoldguy]

Originally Posted by DirtDabber

Look at any brand specific thread and you will find people bitching about their bike, they all suck. Just go ride the wheels off it and upgrade what you want to and then you can complain about all the things that should have been done at the factory as well....

Enjoy your new bike.

Truer words were never spoken. I ride a KLR, a XR1200, and a BMW GS Adv. lol Pig, Pigger, Piggest. I love the idea of everybody hating on my bikes.

Ride the snot out of it.

[blackSP]

True, I will ride it like the wind as soon as I have it...
Thanks for the encouraging words!

[Randy]

35+ years of motorcycling and I never thought I'd hear myself say the words, "I want a Harley". Then I just wondered into a Harley dealership with my GF a few nights ago and saw this bike:





Haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.... So, yesterday I went back and test rode this one:




This was my first ever ride on a Harley, or anything with forward controls. I was a little dubious about how I'd get along with the forwards from the get go. Admittedly, it was a short test ride and it's possible that I could get used to them, but it just didn't feel natural to me after years of riding sport bikes, standards, and dirtbikes.

So, just to see the difference I took a ride on this one too:




While I much prefer the styling and the engine of the Forty Eight over the 883 Iron, I must say that I really enjoyed the ride of the 883 better. The mid controls felt much more natural to me and I felt comfortable on this bike from the get go.

So, now, after all these years of ridin' I find myself in the position of being a noob. I have a lot to research and learn about these bikes but I'm not sure where exactly to turn for good information that isn't overloaded with the HD pirate mentality (one of the things that always turned me off to the brand).

For example, I know that the long and low look is in vogue, and while I know this isn't a sportbike, I really would prefer to have better cornering clearance. I mentioned this to the salesman (nice guy) and was met with a blank stare. I know that I can upgrade the shocks to something better, and something longer to increase ride height in the rear, but is there anything, short of a complete new front end, that can be done to get the front up to match longer shocks and increase overall ride height and cornering clearance? For example, this bike looks much more capable while still looking way cool to me:



Is it possible to get longer fork tubes for the stock lowers? I'm not trying to gain travel really, just undo the factory slammed look and give the bike more respectable corner carving ability.

The one other thing I noticed was the brakes. DUH! I expected it so I wasn't really surprised that a single small disc and two pot caliper wasn't real strong, but still... In this day and age, I don't understand why they can't see fit to put a decent front brake on a bike. Are there any common, budget upgrades in this department? Any adapter brackets that allow ebay sourced sportbike calipers to be retrofitted, perhaps? Perhaps even with similarly sourced rotors.

Any info or recommendations of a good place to find this info would be appreciated.

[blackSP]

Interesting write up, very similar experience to mine. with one difference, I ordered my first hd!
I'm sure you will make the right choice...