Lets back up a bit and talk about my history with this bike. About six years ago a coworker of my wife was selling this '89 Sportster and my wife decided it would make a wonderful anniversary gift for me. She was right. I like bikes and I like project bikes even better. Shes my favorite.
The bike went through a lot of visual changes but the first thing that needed to be done was make it reliable. The original 883 four speed had a bad transmission bearing coming through the case. Turns out the wisest fix was to swap in a modern five speed engine. I found an 883 on ebay and installed a Hammer Performance 1250 big bore kit. Now I had reliability and a little "git up and go"!
I rode the bike down to the Smoky Mountains at least once but I think maybe twice. On one of those trips the height of that sissy bar along with a duffle bag caused the frame to crack. Fortunately a local hillbilly welder got me back on the road. When I got home I shortened that sissy bar. You can see the before and after heights in the above pics.
The bike has been pretty reliable and I remember only two times it let me down. Both were related to using a cheap toggle switch as a main power switch. I've gone back to the factory key switch and haven't had any more problems.
The latest look is basic black. It was supposed to be true fire flames on black but I never got good enough at painting flames to do it. I'll keep practicing and get something on there. I can always paint over it like I've done may times before.
Like I said before, I've been riding this bike all week and enjoying it. The solid mounted engine creates a lot of vibes throughout the bike and they have been driving me nuts. I was able to take care of some front caliper rattle but I need to better mount the fuel tank. It doesn't belong on this bike and its solid mounting is creating some rattle noises that are louder than the exhaust. It really only happens at certain rpm's so fixing it has been low on the list.
One big difference between commuting on this bike verses the Ultra is carrying capacity. On the sporty if I want to haul something it has to be in a bacpac.
During a recent ride I stopped along the road and shot a quick video. The shaking license plate kinda gives you and idea of how much this thing vibrates.
I have to go to work this morning. Its 60 degrees out there and I know the Ultra would be a warmer ride but I'll take the Sportster. If nothing else, the wind slap in the face will wake me up.
Know what you mean about the wind, it makes the ride seem more real to me. Had a windshield on the 850T for a while, but didn't like it. Besides the weird handling, the wind in the face seems like what motorcycling's all about. The black color on the Sportster looks fine, it shows off the engine more.
ReplyDeleteI just got back from about a hundred mile ride. I agree about the wind being a lot of what riding is about. I think for me the fun factor goes up as the bike get cruder or older or even weirder. I didn't break any speed records today. Just lugged along like I was on a tractor.
ReplyDeleteThat is a tall sissy bar.
ReplyDeleteYa I shortened it but I liked the looks when it was tall. Maybe I'll make a new lighter weight tall one.
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