Before and After

 I thought it might be interesting to look at the Sportster before and after. This '89 Sportster was a gift my wife bought me for our anniversary three years ago. She's got me figured out.

 A good starting point for a project. My plans for this bike were to make it reliable enough for daily use and a 3000 mile one week vacation. I also needed to personalize it a bit.

 The original 883 4 speed ran ok I guess but there were tranny issues. It was easy to find a replacement engine on ebay and I bought a '99 883 5 speed with belt drive. I converted it to chain drive and put a 1250 big bore kit in it. Now the bike runs strong.

 Because I wanted some comfort I chose a Mustang solo seat. I also installed new Progressive springs front and rear. I can ride this thing all day pain free.

 This was the first version of the eagle sissy bar. The pics below are the shortened version. I was having problems with the frame cracking so I shortened it.

 This post shouldn't be call before and after because I'm sure the bike will go through some changes again. 

 I also had to add some header wrap to the pipes. I like the way it looks, or the way it covers up some very aged pipes, but the real reason was because they were eating my pants.
 As I sit here in my workshop I just realized the furnace is out. Temps in the teens means I gotta fix that before I head to work.

Later.