A Girls Bike? NOT

[ricky]

Thunderstorm heads & pistons - S1 cams - 42 Mikuni - V&H Pro pipe - SE electrics...

You know, just the normal stuff.

[werewulf]

i had a 2001 buell x-1 with ignition and exhaust mods. i thought i was putting out big numbers. the reality on the dyno was 84hp and 72 tq. i found out later, this is about right for the bike.

[ricky]

Well, like they say, "The BS stops once the flag drops."

[flhtdave]

2001 FLHT for comfort...
2000 XL1200S for fun and excitment..

Dave

[wilki]

I ride a RKC but my wife has a 883R with a Stage 1 kit and the SuperTrapp XR pipes. I kid you not. Her "girls bike" scares the Heck out of me. I have a 28" inseam and I can almost touch the ground. Every time I get the nevre to ride it I forget that I am not on my Sofa King and twist the grip past the first third of travel. The wimp bike then tries to throw my 350Lbs fat a@@ off. Heck I dont even like to move it in the garage because it is so top heavy. She is lucky that she is taller than me. She also used to ride sport bikes so she's not afriad to open it up and leave me in the dust. It is kinda funny pulling in to a place and having real bikers not even look at my rkc but go crazy over her bike and ask her all kinds of questions about perfomance. I think anyone that makes fun of a sportster is a fool that has never ridden one. And when I see a woman riding one I am impressed because I know its the quickest and hardest to ride motorcycle that HD makes.

[Wango]

Well my 2cents here. I went for weeks looking for the right Duece. I sat on the 1200 custom and Liked it. Left the dealer confused then thought. Man that 883C with some mods at home could be the ticket. I made the right choice. Do I want a bigger bike? Yes. Will I sell my sportster? NEVER!!

883/1200

Its dangerous when Wango Thinks

Wango

[rovert]

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~bullone11/

[toohuman]

I thought I would chime in here and make some people mad.

Before I owned a Harley I too thought an 883 or 1200 was a "girls bike." I meant this in the most derrogatory way. I figured that if you wanted a fast bike you should buy a sport bike, if you wanted a Harley you should buy a big V-twin. That was how I felt back in the day. I used to tease and sometimes beat up on guys who bought 883 or 1200's.

Again, this was when I was somewhat younger. Now that I finally got to buy my own Harley and gave up on the sport bikes I see 883 and 1200 HD's in a whole different light. I am not sure I would want to buy one (and keep it stock), but I have considered getting one and supping it up really nicely.

Still if you want power and control, get a sport bike...they will waste a Harley any day and any way through the corners or for the basic quarter mile or in city race. But the mystic of the HD is something that I love and respect much more now that I am part of the HD family. I think it takes a real HD lover to respect and ACCEPT all forms of motorcycles.

Then again, I can remember when I was a teenager being told by guys over at Sturgis that I drove a Fag's bike becaue I had a sport bike. So, the discrimination comes from both ways. Normally it is just a sign of being mis-informed or mis-guided.

[Beetlefritz]

When someone has a negative opinion about the bike I've purchased (that I personally am happy with)and they decide to buy my gas or pay for my insurance, they MAYBE I'll listen to their preferences. Until then, there's a certain finger that will express it all.

[Sparks]

I've heard at least one negative opinion on almost every brand and model bike out there. Many of these opinions relate to how the bikes are socially perceived, which absolutely blows my mind. I came close to buying a 883R after ordering the RKC I'm still waiting for just to hold me over last summer. I think its a fun and kewl looking bike. If my RKC gets postponed again, I'm going to pull the trigger on a Sportie for now and tell the dealer to let me know when the '04 RKC paint chips show up. I have two older brothers I used to ride with who aren't in a position to have a bike, so I certainly wouldn't mind having both bikes at the same time to ride with them.

Sometimes people in general just kill me.

[gman106]

I am a new harley owner and a sportster custom owner and proud of it call it what you want but i love my new sporty.

[rdbug]

Well it's been a while , sorry . Found a good woman and tor the bike down . Well thing's got ugly from there (as far as the motor goes).
The jugg's are shot !! Crack's from the bottom going up almost 1 1/2 inch's ! And the tranny blew-out big time on new year's day ride ,but made it home with only 2nd gear and 20 miles to home . My cam's are custom ground , but there lift is .550" at the lobe's. The valve size's are exhaust= 1 3/4" , intake = 2 1/2" . The piston's are high compression raised dome with about .175 deep valve clearnce cut's , stock rocker's and tappet's .
The wallet is forcing me to drop back to a 3.375" bore with the 4" stroke.
I don't have any info on wear to find these jug's as my freind found these at a swamp meet in good condition . It will make for an interesting combo, as I'm also swapping out to a S&S super B carb . With any luck my spacer's I machined to fill-in the gap between the case's an jug's will work . I will post how this work's out and hopefully with some ET and dyno number's . But it still look's like this might take till june . Yes I said till june , but good thing's take time and oh yeah money . LOL That's how thing's go when ya got kid's .

[rdbug]

I've seen many harley's and not all sporty's give many "sport bike's" one hell of a run for there money even in the turn's. I even watched my ole man on his 65 pan rigged with a 18 over springer out ride a couple of crock rocket's going down route 131 from Ludlow Vermont to Weathersfeild Vermont . It's one hell of a winding road fallowing the river's side . Yeah he made a lot of spark's fly and made us think he wasn't going to make it through every turn . But he did and made it look easy . The two guy's on the crotch rock's were experienced rider's that stopped with us say that that he was hell of rider and that they even got a case of the PUCKER FACTOR trying to keep-up . It's all in the rider and how well he know's his bike and skill's . It help's to KNOW FEAR and not fear it too .

[PurpleHaze]

Originally posted by rdbug
Well it's been a while , sorry . Found a good woman and tor the bike down . Well thing's got ugly from there (as far as the motor goes).
The jugg's are shot !! Crack's from the bottom going up almost 1 1/2 inch's ! And the tranny blew-out big time on new year's day ride ,but made it home with only 2nd gear and 20 miles to home . My cam's are custom ground , but there lift is .550" at the lobe's. The valve size's are exhaust= 1 3/4" , intake = 2 1/2" . The piston's are high compression raised dome with about .175 deep valve clearnce cut's , stock rocker's and tappet's .
The wallet is forcing me to drop back to a 3.375" bore with the 4" stroke.
I don't have any info on wear to find these jug's as my freind found these at a swamp meet in good condition . It will make for an interesting combo, as I'm also swapping out to a S&S super B carb . With any luck my spacer's I machined to fill-in the gap between the case's an jug's will work . I will post how this work's out and hopefully with some ET and dyno number's . But it still look's like this might take till june . Yes I said till june , but good thing's take time and oh yeah money . LOL That's how thing's go when ya got kid's .

No problem dude, thanks for the info. sorry to hear about the unforseen expenses. I completely understand the money and time issue when you have kids. I'm in the same boat. Mine wont be done until July and I started in November. I convinced myself to stick with the 1000cc's and hop it up in the cam, cylinder, Compression, intake and exhaust areas. Mainly because of costs. I found a guy that will make cylinders in any size for the Ironheads at about $500-$600 which isn't bad, but because I'm going from stock, my heads would have to be reworked to fit, along with external oil returns and my cases would have to be bored out and such, not too big a deal as far as labor. But the wallet was starting to shrival. . The unforseen gremlins got me too, as I pulled the motor apart, I found more and more items that needed attention. Mainly little things, like finding out that the bottom end was never rebuilt about 2kmiles ago as stated from the original owner. Only the top end was done, bottom end was original 75 vintage with waaayyyy tooo much play in the rod big end bearings! . Then once it's apart you find a few cracks in the engine cases, not to mention the one I added trying to extract a broken stud. It's a good thing I know a really good welder, that likes me enough to fix the cases for free . So now it's all apart and the timken, pinion, and cam bearings are still good, but if I got it all apart now, do I chance a problem in a few thousand miles... (as you said good things take time and money) so I replaced all the bearings (those timken bearings are pricy). It's coming together, Got the bottom end all new and buttoned up. custom frame work to accept newer sheet metal done, frame primed and painted, new swingarm bearing (another gotcha). Now I'm doing alot of polishing and cleaning. Got a few mods to do to the tranny, and heads etc. etc.
As long as I get to ride it at least a few times this summer I'll be happy.

[rdbug]

I hear ya there on the little stuff , it'll nickle & dime ya ta death . But at least your doing the right thing and just biting the bullet an doing it right the first time . Well good luck !