I bought a Harley!!

Don't panic - I've still got the Intruder but I swapped the Bandit for a HD 883R with Screamin' Eagle pipes and air filter (Stage 1) - fast, very loud and totally different to the Intruder which is smooth like a Rolls Royce by comparison. Carbs are so much more unpredictable than FI. Wanted to get a bike a bit more like a cruiser and a bit less like a sports bike but not too much to clean and to use when I would not risk all the chrome on the C800. I think I will spray with WD40 and not use the Intruder much at all next winter. Pose value - pretty impressive today! Condition is as new even though 6 years old (2850 miles only) - seems to have been sitting around indoors for most of the time. I am doing about 10k miles a year and intend to split this between the two. The Harley is far from leisuely and with the tuning, is quite demanding to ride, yet rewarding. Haven't ridden the Intruder today but I'm sure it will be a nice laid back alternative. Here's a couple of pics:

Very nice dude, I use one when i go to turkey great bike but im just a bit too big for one.

Congrats Bluesman nice bike one I am sure you wont regret. Of the many bikes I have owned the one I miss most is my Harley xll1200r.
I rode the 883 r before I bought mine and was impressed with it! Beats me how some folk dont ride em, the low mileage is outstanding and the extras youve got must make it a real bargain.
Enjoy the

Looks nice

You been Tango'd

That's the same as I had, as I said, I only sold mine cos I couldn't do the
touring thing on it. Took a little while to get into the feel, but it was great
fun after that. Nice.

Bluesman wrote:

Don't panic - I've still got the Intruder but I swapped the Bandit for a HD 883R with Screamin' Eagle pipes and air filter (Stage 1) - fast, very loud and totally different to the Intruder which is smooth like a Rolls Royce by comparison. Carbs are so much more unpredictable than FI. Wanted to get a bike a bit more like a cruiser and a bit less like a sports bike but not too much to clean and to use when I would not risk all the chrome on the C800. I think I will spray with WD40 and not use the Intruder much at all next winter. Pose value - pretty impressive today! Condition is as new even though 6 years old (2850 miles only) - seems to have been sitting around indoors for most of the time. I am doing about 10k miles a year and intend to split this between the two. The Harley is far from leisuely and with the tuning, is quite demanding to ride, yet rewarding. Haven't ridden the Intruder today but I'm sure it will be a nice laid back alternative. Here's a couple of pics:

I was in Northern California recently and had the opportunity to ride a friends' Sporty and honestly have to say there's no way I'd trade my Volusia for that. It was a rough ride, to say the least. Didn't handle nearly as well as I'd thought it would. It had power, but no great comfort. Maybe I'm too old for those though. I do like my cruiser.

Yes avinaftel I tend to agree. The Sporty is rough and no real competition for the VL which is smooth and a full size full on cruiser. But I find the Sporty is fun to ride, leans well on corners and mine at least accelerates and sounds like a rocketship. It retains some of the attributes of a cruiser yet is not a stranger to a more sporty lifestyle. I find it the perfect companion to the Intruder. Certainly no substitute and on a dry day I have no contest - the Suzy is my number one. With my new exhausts the two bikes sound very similar and that sits well with me. I am always puzzled why the sporty is often classed as a starter Harley - it's actually a hard bike to ride well. Stage 1 tuning makes quite a bit of difference although probably makes it even rougher - although I like that, almost like an unbroken pony. The Intruder is a civilised steed, well heeled and yet with power just under the surface. When I set out on the test ride on my Sporty I did not like it. When I returned to the dealer I did not want to give it back. In the next few days - I just had to have it. Take as you find - not everyone's cup of tea. There's a fair few in the world and people don't have to buy them so there must be something right there! If I had to have only one bike I'd sell the HD - but I'd miss it.

I love the look of it, a very classic appearance. A real looker in it's own way.

I don't know if I am off track here but I reckon a set of nobbly off road tyres would not look out of place, in a old style off roader type of way if the the front mudgaurd was changed.

The small Sportster was nothing to be sneered at in its day. It was a dirt track racer that had more power and handling than anything else on the track. It was never designed for over-the-road riding until latter years but you can only do so much and still retain the basic machine style. I once owned, actually rebuilt from basket, an 1981 1000 - I finished it and rode from Portland Oregon to San Francisco where I put it up for sale the day after I got there. I was simply not going to put up with a vibrator in my type of riding. Additionally, that particular year was a bad one for Sportsters. It was the year Harley took repossession of the company from AMF and switched a few things around, making for two models that year with slightly different parts. An expensive project. In San Francisco I got with a friend and cobbled together an old Yamaha he had laying around in order for me to get back to Oregon. I ended up trading that for a 76 Kawasaki 1000 police bike that I rode for some 8 years.

avinaftel wrote:

The small Sportster was nothing to be sneered at in its day. It was a dirt track racer that had more power and handling than anything else on the track.

Wahay I was right with the styling, wonders will never cease!

Interesting little read there avinaftel

I knew there was something about that bike that was catching my eye but couldn't put my finger on it. I have always loved the look of the old style dirt bikes & yes I can see it now, well spotted Crash

FOUND IT !

Link

Wow thanks for the link Badger
You can really see in the second picture that they are the same bike, well interesting

That site is a real good read, I have it bookmarked on faves.

http://thekneeslider.com/

Badger wrote:

FOUND IT !

Link

YEAH! That's what I'm talkin' about! But go back to the 60's and 70's and see dirt track racing. Sporters blew the others' off the track.

Difficult bike to categorise the Sporty. The best description I've heard is 'agile cruiser'. But yes Crash, the dirt bike similarities have occurred to me too. I think it's a bit of an oddball in a pleasant sort of way. I feel a bit like Evel Knievel on the run up to a jump each time I ride. Funny thing is, for those who have never ridden one, on the C800 I ride regularly at 30mph in 4th but rarely get out of 2nd on the Sporty. For me, being 6', it needs forward controls which have been ordered and I hope to fit at the end of next week. Perhaps that will make me ride it more like a cruiser and not so much Speedway!

Know what you mean with the forward controls if your a 6 footer like me its really necessary.
Heres a pic I found of my xl1200 in the winter at Pately Bridge with solid billet alloy forwards fitted.

God only knows why Harley discontinued that model it was the best sporty in the range imho! twin front discs so decent brakes rev counter etc.

Nice looking bike what made you sell it, was it just time for a change?

I sold it after the warranty claim fiasco I had with Harley when the rear wheel bearing collapsed and wrote the hub off along with the entire rear wheel! fell out with Harley because they told me it could take up to 3 months to get a new wheel for it!
The attitude I got from them was really poor. They had a go at me for not fetching the bike straight over to them even though the shop was closed as it was a bank holiday and they told me I should have left it parked outside their shop till the monday when they re-opened!!! in the centre of Leeds??? I wouldnt leave a push bike there let alone a one year old Harley!
Then I kicked off at them for not offering me some form of loan bike while the work got carried out, in the end they did lend me a Street Glide, but that really did put me off Harleys it was like riding a 2 wheeled ship!! To me the Sportster is possibly the best bike Harley make, with the fat-bob being the exception. It is agile enough and has plenty of get up and go unlike some of the massive models they make the Sportster is really fun.
As you probably know though Leeds, Manchester, and Doncaster Harley have all gone bust now the nearest Harley dealership is in Chesterfield so not much chance of me getting another one.
I cant help feeling if I had received good customer service from them though I may still be a Harley rider.
At the end of the day though the Suzuki is doing great, I love it more and more every time I go out on it. Just hope it copes well with the oncoming winter weather, as it will be getting used throughout the winter.

12watchfor wrote:

Just hope it copes well with the oncoming winter weather, as it will be getting used throughout the winter.

I think it'll be fine, mine is! You just gotta clean it properly when you do clean it in the winter and protect it with quality products.

12watchfor wrote:

As you probably know though Leeds, Manchester, and Doncaster Harley have all gone bust now the nearest Harley dealership is in Chesterfield so not much chance of me getting another one.

I wondered if that was the case, I went past the Leeds shop on Wellington Bridge last week and it was empty . Knew that Manchester, Doncaster & Leeds were part of the same business but didn't realise all 3 had gone, never mind ... I'll just have to go to Las vegas again when I need a new Harley tee shirt ( they do some great design tee shirts in the US , prefer the clothing to the bikes personally )



M

12watchfor wrote:

As you probably know though Leeds, Manchester, and Doncaster Harley have all gone bust now

Not surprising with HD prices. Jap cruisers are such better value unless you just gotta have a Harley at any cost. Rumour has it that M&P in Swansea are going to rise from the ashes of their terrible fire with a spanking new HD dealership - the first in Wales.

Riders were going to open one in Cardiff, and that fell through, I don't think Harley even like sharing with Ducati now either, like they used to.
Best advice I can give, if you really want one, is to buy a well looked after used model, probably with some tasty aftermarket bits on, at a greatly reduced price from new, and find 'the local guy' that is a wizz with Harleys, and get to know him.

Badger wrote:

Riders were going to open one in Cardiff, and that fell through, I don't think Harley even like sharing with Ducati now either, like they used to.
Best advice I can give, if you really want one, is to buy a well looked after used model, probably with some tasty aftermarket bits on, at a greatly reduced price from new, and find 'the local guy' that is a wizz with Harleys, and get to know him.

Yep, I'd agree with that and I'm sure that's what a lot of the Harley guys do.