To Harley or Davidson?

RetiredUnit1

RetiredUnit1

Well-known member
So I stopped riding at 25 (1981) when a friend was killed by a drunk driver and my fiancee started freaking about my bike. Now that she's in the next dimension, I figure it's time I scratched "Own a Harley" off the bucket list. For those unfamiliar with the term it's the "do before I kick the bucket" list.

Thinking I like the general look (and height for my short legs) of the 2005 XL883L Sportster Low

Anyone have any experience with this model, comments, suggestions? I'm never going to go touring, that's not on the list. Just around town, I probably won't even go on the freeway.

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I had an 883 Iron for a while that I really loved. I didn't feel like I was super cramped, but I didn't feel like I had to stretch for the controls. I test drove a low, and found that it was... well, a little low for me. I felt like I was going to scratch the pegs when I leaned into the corner, and I didn't get that with the Iron.

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He's my 92 sporty. Didn't really ride this year thinking I was going to hardtail it. I've had a Lowbrow Customs hardtail and some other parts sitting aside to do it for a while. Maybe this winter I'll go through with it. I switched back to 10" T-bars from the rabbit ears. Rabbit ears look cool as hell, but they're more for highway cruising than tight manuvering through town
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I'll see if I can find a pic of my '98 Fatboy. I really wanted an Exile bike but there was no way I could have afforded it. So I found an affordable Fatboy (3500km away!), got it shipped to me and customised it. It was a lot of fun, both to customise and ride. But in the end it was too noisy so I sold it and bought an '08 Triumph Bonneville and customised it. I still have the Bonnie and love it.

If I was to get a Sporty I'd probably get the '48. That Sportster Low looks pretty cool though! It's interesting what you do to the look just by changing the seat and pipes. I actually put Sportster bars on my Fatboy. It made it more comfortable, especially in traffic. Routed the cables through the bars.
 
HamishR said:
I'll see if I can find a pic of my '98 Fatboy. I really wanted an Exile bike but there was no way I could have afforded it. So I found an affordable Fatboy (3500km away!), got it shipped to me and customised it. It was a lot of fun, both to customise and ride. But in the end it was too noisy so I sold it and bought an '08 Triumph Bonneville and customised it. I still have the Bonnie and love it.

If I was to get a Sporty I'd probably get the '48. That Sportster Low looks pretty cool though! It's interesting what you do to the look just by changing the seat and pipes. I actually put Sportster bars on my Fatboy. It made it more comfortable, especially in traffic. Routed the cables through the bars.
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As I was perusing used bikes I happened to see this in the 'recommended' section of a dealers page. A very harley-ish looking honda rebel twin 500. It's about $2000 more than the harley but it looks like serious fun.... Saw a comment about someone's butt going numb, lol, the seat does look a bit thin.......

The color is 'candy blue'. Man I like that color.....

There was also this insane thing called a Triumph Rocket. 2500cc inline three cylinder. Holy cr@p.... My BMW *car* had a smaller engine.....

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You guys with electric starters are pussies. My '70 Sporty has a kick start & magneto ignition. It only takes one kick to start it, but it's rarely the first one. One of the upsides to this arrangement is no battery. The electrics consists of the magneto, generator, electronic regulator, lights, switches and some wire.

Oh yeah, that Triumph rocket is sweet! There are kits available to add a turbo.
 
Chuck D. Bones said:
You guys with electric starters are pussies. My '70 Sporty has a kick start & magneto ignition. It only takes one kick to start it, but it's rarely the first one. One of the upsides to this arrangement is no battery. The electrics consists of the magneto, generator, electronic regulator, lights, switches and some wire.

Oh yeah, that Triumph rocket is sweet! There are kits available to add a turbo.
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My Honda LAWNMOWER has electric start, lol. No more 'why the hell won't this turn over', just flip the key and let it churn. I had a couple bikes back in the late 60's that didn't have batteries...

One of the listings I came across was a new rocket that had just sold for 9000, the owner lost control and there were dents and scrapes on both sides. I imagine it must be pretty hard to keep from flying off the back at full throttle!!!!! A turbocharged rocket would need belts to hold you on when the turbo kicked in.....:ROFLMAO:
 
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