Not Sold!

Well, good news or bad, I'm still not sure, I was unable to sell my Sporti before my surgery. I had lowered the price past a point of being comfortable with selling and sure as heck wasn't going tom lower anymore. I'm not sure if it is the economy or just a general lack of interest in this kick ass Harley-Davidson. At the very least I take this as a sign to wait until I heal up and have a chance to ride again.

For now, I'm happy to see the Sporti in the garage and to listen to the sound of the motor and Screamin' Eagle pipes on occasion. I'm happy I didn't compromise and sell the Sportster for lessmthanitnis worth (to me). Even more, I look forward to getting out and riding.

Stay safe, -David

Where do you like to ride?

There's a lot of riding opportunities in So Cal including:

• Mountains
• Coast
• Desert
• Urban

Personally, I like riding in the mountains and desert to the East. From Julian to Borrego this is all really great riding that suits a variety of styles.

What makes a Harley a Harley?

What makes a Harley a Harley? Is it the "chopper" look, the V-Twin sound, or something about the ride?

Working on the Sportster

A big part of buying a Harley-Davidson is the heritage. The Motor Company goes way back and the Sportster line started in 1957. The heritage shows up in design and the classic V-Twin engines. Harley-Davidson has never been about cutting-edge, delivering on a fairly consistent motorcycling experience. This is not to say technologies have not changed and that the mechanics have not improved over time but the pace has been slow and steady. 

This slow pace of change, or commitment to the past, is evident in much of the add-on parts available for the Sportster. I’ve worked on cars for a living, and worked on Suzuki and BMW motorcycles as a hobby more recently and I can tell you that the German and Japanese manufacturers take a very different approach to the mechanics of their accessories. This includes everything from the directions to the fit and finish. More importantly, it was obvious that the majority of accessories from Suzuki and BMW had been thought of at the time of bike design. The electrical harness has plugs available for accessories to plug into. Parts fit extremely well with no adjustments required. 

The Sportie, however, is a different beast. Adding the Harley-Davidson tachometer and garage door opener kits requires splicing into the existing harness, adding ground wires, and a lot of work that you don’t encounter when working on other brands. I also found that the directions while not outright wrong do not necessarily provide the most practical guidance on how to install the factory items. 

A lot of this probably has to do with the age of the design. When creating the add-on parts the engineers seemed to go for obvious choices, or maybe the only choices, when they were creating the instructions. The other issue is that many of the parts are multi-purpose, they work on several different Harley-Davidson models and you have to carefully follow the directions to get the right configuration for your bike.

Harley-Davidson would do their customers a service by:

1. Updating their specifications and instructions based on the current models
   
2. Designing with the idea of factory accessories in mind
   
3. Providing model specific kits
   

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Harley to build smaller bikes

A recent article from the Illinois State Journal-Register theorizes, with the help of local dealer Stan Hall, that Harley-Davidson will soon be building bikes smaller than the Sportster 883. These smaller Harleys (maybe modern interpretations of the “Hummers” of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties) will be designed for new markets in Asia and Europe.

The Motor Company has not confirmed the rumor but according to Timothy Hoelter, vice president of government affairs for Harley-Davidson, “… growing popularity overseas shows that Harley is an international language understood by people of all cultures, incomes and genders.”

You never know what companies are going to do but the increasing price of fuel has motivated an increasing number of people to consider riding versus driving – and this is good news for enthusiasts. As I’ve mentioned before, Harley has done a great job in marketing and selling to people looking for American v-twin power with a bad boy attitude. The thing is there is a market for other types of bikes, and Harley, like any good business, will be looking for ways to grow market-share. The acquisition of MV Agusta is one example and there will likely be many more to come.

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Screamin Eagle slip-on mufflers

I've cleaned the Sportster and temporarily stripped it down; removing the windscreen and saddlebags. I was feeling nostalgic for the more simple sporty appearance and riding of the bike. It's amazing how much the windscreen changes the look of the bike – not to mention the feel of wind-in-your-face riding. In the attached pictures you can see the Harley-Davidson XL with the Tour Master saddlebag center strap across the rear fender. Later, I loosened the seat and removed the center strap.

I've finally recorded the Sportster with the Screamin Eagle mufflers. The mufflers are very easy to install, only requiring the loosening of the clamps, the removal of the four mounting bolts, and the loosening of the lower bracket for the rear pipe. Removing the original mufflers required the application of a little force and some twisting. The Screamin Eagle mufflers provided the sound I was hoping for and based on seat-of-the-pants measurements improved the throttle response.

According to the Harley-Davidson dyno metrics the Screamin Eagle mufflers for the Sportster add about 5 or 6 horsepower and 10 foot pounds of torque. Pretty good price/performance results for bolt-on parts. With the slip-on mufflers the Sportster has great sound, not too loud in the lower RPM range, but with a twist of the wrist they provide a great result. I use the added sound to 'notify' drivers when I'm passing them, especially if I see them on the phone or not paying attention to what is going on around them.

BTW, after doing some research I decided not to add the Screamin Eagle intake. From what I've read on Sportster related forums the performance gains from the intake are minimal given the comparative costs. Upgrading the intake requires either taking the Sportster to the dealer for an update to the engine management computer or buying and tuning an aftermarket engine control unit. Given the cost and hassle of the two options I made the choice to take the less complex route. I may change my mind in future though I am more inclined to update the rear shocks and front springs with products from Progressive Suspension.

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