My new bike!

Soootylad · 26 Oct 2015 at 10:28

This thread is kinda why there is a clash between people who own a bike like mine and the sports bikes - Look how you're all focussed on performance figures!

No matter what it says on paper, my bike is fast enough for UK roads, noticeably faster than most cars at least, and for me, thats enough! (I'm genuinely not sure what my BHP and Torque figures are) - I love the handling, the look of the thing, how mechanically simple, interesting and enjoyable it is to mess with (probably 15% of my time with the bike I'm taking bits apart and changing stuff), the fact that it pulls great throughout the whole rev range and lastly the great build quality.

Maybe I'm just getting old, or maybe its because I have 4 great kids that I'm responsible for, but doing 0-60 in 2 seconds and travelling at 120mph+ just isn't a priority for me (neither is having to get in and out of the kind of safety gear appropriate for such a style of riding!) - I'd happily have a play on a track in the right conditions but other than that, I'll stick to tazzing about on my Sporty

BIGWEB · 2 Nov 2015 at 09:20

I'm looking at one of these at the moment as my first bike. Did you get a discount? There is an attractive PCP finance scheme on them at the moment. Did you do this?

Stovepipes · 2 Nov 2015 at 09:59

IC3 said:
Go with MCN, Wikipedia is not a reliable source. At College/Uni you'll fail the assignment if you reference something from Wikipedia...

When I was at uni back in 2000 I referenced Wikipedia all the time lol. That being said don't trust the wiki and click on it's sources for information.

Soootylad · 2 Nov 2015 at 11:47

BIGWEB said:
I'm looking at one of these at the moment as my first bike. Did you get a discount? There is an attractive PCP finance scheme on them at the moment. Did you do this?

Not a fan of finance deals matey but they did an honourable job of trying to put me on one

Soootylad · 2 Nov 2015 at 11:51

Done a few tweaks since that first picture, here's an update!

Added a (great!) 2-up seat, sissy bar and passenger pegs so my good lady can join me on the road, moved the indicators down to the forks to clean up the bars, added tank pads... few other bits 'n bobs

Craig321 · 2 Nov 2015 at 11:55

Love that seat!

wazza300 · 2 Nov 2015 at 11:55

I wonder why they call it a sissy bar? is that where all the sissy's sit?

looks comfy

BIGWEB · 2 Nov 2015 at 12:49

Soootylad said:
Not a fan of finance deals matey but they did an honourable job of trying to put me on one

Ha I bet they did! Why sell you one bike when they can sell you one every couple of years!

Love the modifications. The only one i'm not sure on are the tank pads. They spoil the clean look although if I actually understood what they were for I may like them better

tom_e · 2 Nov 2015 at 12:52

BIGWEB said:
Ha I bet they did! Why sell you one bike when they can sell you one every couple of years!

Love the modifications. The only one i'm not sure on are the tank pads. They spoil the clean look although if I actually understood what they were for I may like them better

They're to improve your grip through your knees.

Trucamo · 2 Nov 2015 at 13:22

That looks like a lot of fun to ride, not usually much of a Harley fan but I would love a go on that

Soootylad · 2 Nov 2015 at 17:41

BIGWEB said:
The only one i'm not sure on are the tank pads. They spoil the clean look although if I actually understood what they were for I may like them better

Yeah like tom_e said, better grip - My motivation was more to perpetuate the old-school theme though

Mucky_Pup · 5 Nov 2015 at 14:56

What seat is that?

Soootylad · 5 Nov 2015 at 15:17

Mucky_Pup said:
What seat is that?

Roland Sands Design Enzo 2-Up

Freeman · 5 Nov 2015 at 18:01

Haha @ some people in this thread. Long as the person riding the bike is having fun who gives a ****.

Mucky_Pup · 7 Nov 2015 at 20:52

Soootylad said:
Roland Sands Design Enzo 2-Up

Cheers, might have to buy one, was looking at the HD one to match the seat, but yours looks a bit lower which is what I want ideally.

IC3 · 8 Nov 2015 at 11:34

Stovepipes said:
When I was at uni back in 2000 I referenced Wikipedia all the time lol. That being said don't trust the wiki and click on it's sources for information.

Now everything is stricter and you need to follow the process as you'll fail the assignment, even if the source is legit if you reference it incorrectly you can still fail...

Craig321 · 8 Nov 2015 at 11:38

IC3 said:
Now everything is stricter and you need to follow the process as you'll fail the assignment, even if the source is legit if you reference it incorrectly you can still fail...

Yup, we were told this as well. It's still useful though. All you do is look for the source and reference that instead of Wiki itself.

Tefal · 9 Nov 2015 at 18:31

Freeman said:
Haha @ some people in this thread. Long as the person riding the bike is having fun who gives a ****.

Cause i like the look of them but would just like a modern engine style in them.

Seems a waste to use such an outdated and inefficient engine.

One · 11 Nov 2015 at 12:36

That's just not how it works though. The chassis and handling just wouldn't work with a modern high powered engine. Plus the look of the engine is a big part of the style. Just like most sports bikes are faired, if you take off the fairing to show the modern engine all of a sudden you've got a mean looking street fighter.

Cruisers need big lump air cooled push rod engines with carbs. It's why triumph and the likes,despite having newer technology, have gone to great effort to glam it up with retro styling. The fuel injectors are housed in look a like carbs for example.

4T5 · 12 Nov 2015 at 10:49

Couple of mates I ride most with have Sportsters & figures mean nowt there well Torquey & pull real well. Met up with 15 other Harleys down the A5 for a run & a fair few of them were Sportsters.
My thoughts on them are they look great sound Mint & pull like a Train but there small almost like a Duke that's been built for Italians. Another thing are the cost of aftermarket parts. The tanks on them are tiny, The Tank upgrade coming bare metal is around the 500-600 mark Before painting & the paint on a Harley has to be Mint to match the original paint as one thing they do do well is lay on paint. Decent trick air filter cover can cost you 400 quid. You can Easily spend the cost of the bike again on Add ons.
My Bud whose tall but not quite as tall as me prob around the 6ft mark looks to big for it from the back as his knees lay out to far, He's currently looking at Breakouts.

Each to there own I say.