BTW, bubs - if you find 'em cheaper, I don't want to know!
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BTW, bubs - if you find 'em cheaper, I don't want to know!
Email history says I ordered tires form J&P Cycles last time around. I have no loyalties here.
I'm beginning to learn "fully custom" simply means A LOT of chrome add-ons, a stoopid loud exhaust, fancy air filter cover & ape hangers.
:lolup:
Pretty much. Although I've been excited that the black-out look has become popular. The "specials" were done up this way for a while, maybe still are. There is a storm-trooper esque white with blacked-out bits style that does it for me.
Honestly I think the stock exhaust is just about perfect. I hear plenty of noise from the seat and don't get a lot of complaints. (I actually get compliments; "that thing isn't loud at all!")
The one place the stock exhaust sucks is that cat right by your thigh. I've thought about a cat delete because the heat is pretty bad. I believe that will require a program though.
And you have to admit the accessory catalog is a mile deep.
Not sure I mentioned it anywhere, but I forked up the $ for the Harley OE heated grips and installed them. I think it was last winter. Excellent. I highly recommend.
Missus is making noise about wanting to do date nights again. She wouldn't ride when pregnant or when the wee-one was quite little. She requires a backrest. None of the passenger back-rests are compatible with the cop rear rack I have. So I guess I'm in the market for a new rear rack that is compatible with a passenger backrest. Backrest will be detachable, thank you very much.
Also on that subject. I have now settled on the Mustang 2-piece seat. Perfect compromise between the too low stock RK/SG seat and the too high cop farm-tractor style solo seat. Plus I love having the passenger pad off 99% of the time when riding solo.
So there you go, mine's now a "custom"!
A good deal of new models can be had with the typical shiny stuff or blacked out. It's quite the rage now. I only know because I was kicking tires on a new Street Glide Special and was shocked that so many models could be ordered either way. No, I'm not getting a new one. Payments are the same, but adds another couple years to my current pay-off. They were going to give me surprisingly close to what I paid for it too, but not interested.
Again not a problem on my M8. And the Reinharts are PERFECT.
Absolutely insane. And seemingly endless.
Very high on the to-do list.
I'm happy with the Badlander seat. I see no reason to replace it. Definitely comfortable enough for me to do all day on and with Big Shirl's size, her portion fits her nicely. Looks good without a passenger too.
:spit:
I love how they all claim to have "the cleanest bike around" too. Of course you do. You spend six hours every Saturday morning washing, polishing & detailing it!
Mine is dirty as shit. I give zero fucks. Bought the bike to ride the shit out of it, not stare at it all day. I can't see (hence give a shit about) how pitted the chrome is from the saddle.
Got out for 400 or so miles and an overnight camping off it this weekend. Was amazing.
This is lost somewhere in Vermont where I clearly didn't belong. GPS kept routing me up some climb I am not sure I'd do on any street bike, never mind an 800 lbs one.
Attachment 55175
I was told this weekend that gravel isn't such a hot idea on a belt drive bike as supposedly a modest size stone in the belt can destroy it.
Truth told, I missed my old adventure bike for most of this weekend. The RK was a ball in the twisties.. except on rough pavement. And I managed to find a ton of that this weekend. 113A north of Tamworth is ROUGH. I bottomed the bike out at least once. I managed to hang on for a rip up 118 to Woodstock. But that was rough too.
That is until I was in VT north of White River Junction and had used up my time. Climbed on 89 to boogie home. Roll out to 70, tap the cruise button, stretch out on the highway pegs, and dial up the sena.
Could be worse.
And now I have a problem. Front brake is not lighting the brake light or canceling cruise. Turns out the switch is part of a control module and attached to another controller by CAN bus. Diag in the shop manual specifies to just start throwing parts at it until it works again.
I think I am going to be out another couple hundred $ to pass inspection this year.
113A is the loop that goes north over from Tamworth to Sandwich. A section of the world they call Wonalancet. I usually don't have time for that loop when I am doing 113 and haven't been up in years. It was it worse shape than 113 proper. 113 proper is okay but not great. Ditto for 118.
All said I am seriously thinking of getting serious about dumping some toys and re-adding an ADV'er to my harem. On solo runs like this I miss having some suspension travel.
Switching out standard bulb lights for LED units are "lots of custom parts" too I guess...
Took a bit longer this year due to the weather, but I hit the 1000 mile mark for this year on my way to work this morning.
Is it bad that I'm eyeballing the 2021 version in Silver? :dunno:
So as a street glide owner do you think the fork mounted fairing over the frame mounted isn’t as big a deal as it’s made?
Or does it feel more sporty and engaging?
I’ve never ridden a sport glide but I road my friends road glide, and I felt like I was riding a Jetmoto or something, I was anxious going into corners because I felt like the thing just wanted to go straight
I attribute that to no feeling from the bars?
I dunno.
Considering a bagger rather than an adventure bike and have my eye on a SG.
IDK man, I absolutely love my RG. I talked to a lot of people that owned both, the majority liked the RG over the SG. Not all! Some really liked the SG over the RG for reasons you mentioned as well as just not liking that the headlights don't turn with the bike at night and they hate it.
I've personally never rode a SG, so I can't compare the two.
From what I've learned, MOST of the people that make the fork mounted fairing a big deal don't really have any experience and are just going by hearsay. There ARE a handful that prefer the RG over the SG for good reason though. And most of those I've talked to site the simple fact that besides the looks that they prefer, they say the front end feels lighter at slow speeds. If the fork mounted fairing was such a big deal, they wouldn't make so many models using that layout. Trikes, Ultra Glides, Limiteds, Street Glides, Electra Glides come quickly to mind. Whereas the RG front end is only used on RG's. That says SOMETHING.
Personally, I don't like the sharknose on the RG's. I didn't like the gauge layout and the reach FOR ME to anything besides the bars was outlandish. It didn't fit me and I don't like the look. The SG's seat height out of the box is a couple inches lower, and the gauges are all within my sight line.
I have limited experience on RG's. But the only real difference I noticed was maneuvering at slowish speeds. I haven't experienced the dreaded wobble of the batwing on my SG. But I HAVE noticed a bit of a shimmy at speeds 30-45MPH that creeped up lately, but I attribute that to the shitty tires I still haven't swapped out yet. I've had it to 100+ MPH and have no desire to go any faster than that and still haven't had an issue with the batwing.
Either way, if you go with the RG or SG don't sell yourself short. Go for the Specials. Do a little homework to see the differences. I wouldn't get pre-2017 as that's when they updated the suspension & brakes to actual quality pieces.
Have you started doing any real serious searches? New or used? Dealers are dishing out BIG money for used bikes right now while prices on new inventory has stayed relatively flat. My local shop is willing to go a bit above & beyond to get my 2017 out of my hands if I go new through them. In some cases, new is literally only a few thousand $$$ more than used.
Funny story: a friend recently bought a 2015 RG Special in cash from the dealer. The next day - THE VERY NEXT DAY he brought it back and traded it in for a brandy new one for only $10K more. Dealers like used machines so much right now they took the 2015 back and transferred every penny he plopped down to his new one.
Many dealers offer test rides. Yeah, they're lame as hell but you get to try a couple bikes out. Arrange to give them a whirl and decide from there. And if you use Rochester Harley, PLEASE use my name as a referral. :D
Another choice: A Road King with an aftermarket quick-connect batwing. That's what I'm running and I like it a lot. Not quite as full coverage as the factory batwing. Nor does it have the gauges or electronic shit. But it weighs practically nothing and detaches in seconds on real hot days.
That said, I run the batwing most of the time. Were I doing it over again I'd be looking for an Electra Glide Standard (flht) or Electra Glide Police (flhtp).
Harley has been one of the most liberal brands when it comes to test rides in my experience. They practically insisted that I demo a new FLHR when I bought my used FLHP. It was a guided demo mostly because the sales kid rode the other bike and we swapped at one point. I got a true A:B comparo between them.
Yet another choice: The Electra Glide is essentially a Street Glide without a lot of the bling and are about $10K less new.
I also had a hard-on for the Sport Glide. Based vaguely on the old Dyna Low Riders, luggage (although smaller bags than tourers), absolutely no bling, but comes from the factory set-up with Screaming Eagle Stage III kit. About the same as the Electra Glide new. Has a little "bikini" fairing that I *THINK* is removable.
The little dyna thimble bags are a deal-breaker for me.
The Electra Glide Standard was a really good addition to the line-up.
I just looked. It really is an $8100!!! delta in MSRP between a SGS and an electra standard. That's insane!
I think another advantage of the Electra Standard over my RK is the gas filler. The RK has a ridiculous NON LOCKING screw cap and the filler is off-center on the right side of the tank. There is a steel baffle in the filler and it is nearly impossible to actually fill the tank without spilling fuel all over the side of the tank. I get it maybe 50% of the time. It is a retro form over function thing that should have been designed out.
But you're not the one looking...
From what I'm told, it's closer to $10K when all is said & done.
Say bye to the center fill cap. They're already phasing it out. Most of the 2021's have already moved back to the right-hand side fillers. They're having issues with the center pop-tops freezing up and not opening properly.