My new bike!

Soootylad · 28 Sep 2015 at 16:50

I got my first bike on Friday, and damn am I chuffed!

Ladies and Gentlemen, my 2016 Harley 883 Iron Sportster:

Already been tearing bits off her, on there is a new air cleaner (S&S Stealth), new pipes (Cobra 3" Slip-ons) and a funky fuel management remapping gadget called a FuelPak3 - talks to my phone and allows tuning on the fly :cool:

I'll be honest, there aren't many bikes I like - Not keen on sports bikes with all the plastic fairing, not keen on big cruisers, and tbh don't even really like other Harleys, but when I first set my eyes on a Sportster I knew one had to go in my garage some day!

Great fun, superb build quality, torquey as hell, couldn't be happier

Edit: Heres an updated picture since my recent bout of messing!

Soootylad · 28 Sep 2015 at 23:06

Freeman said:
Very nice. I nearly got one instead of my Bonneville. Got any videos with the new cans?

i'll see what I can do matey

Soootylad · 29 Sep 2015 at 08:16

Rossi~ said:
I like it! It's the only Harley i like actually

You need this though: http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/se-883cc-1200cc-stage-1-conversion-kit

Yeah it's on my roadmap for a couple of years down the road

For now, it can breathe well and it sounds good, next is a two-up conversion once I've gathered the bits, and that will do for a while I think.

Soootylad · 29 Sep 2015 at 09:37

Rossi~ said:
Nooooo that's the whole point in the sportster, no pillion

I also don't wear an open face helmet or have patches and tassels everywhere - Defying conventions at every turn

Soootylad · 29 Sep 2015 at 09:55

Mucky_Pup said:
Not bought your Harley Davidson underpants yet? Isn't it a rule that everything you own must be HD after you buy one?

Just don't think I'm one of those Harley riders mate, just specifically love this model (although Rilot, the Breakout is awesome), you won't find me at any HOG events or anything like that any time soon

Soootylad · 30 Sep 2015 at 12:07

Drangueos said:
It is the only Harley I would have, my friend has one, it looks amazing but after 1 hour riding he need to have an one hour break before we can continue

Yeah I've heard a few people say that but I find it really comfy, then again this year the big update was the suspension and the seat is also new so that probably makes a sizeable difference.

Soootylad · 1 Oct 2015 at 08:51

If we were to believe stereotypes based on the bike we ride, then a lot of you would be wearing power ranger suits that look like they're fresh out of the MotoGP just to nip down the shops on your plastic jet ski looking things... But I wouldn't like to assume

Soootylad · 19 Oct 2015 at 15:14

Nearly a month into ownership now - A thoroughly enjoyable bike that looks awesome (to my eyes) and is fast, chuckable, and a joy to tinker with - Right now I honestly wouldn't swap it for any other bike regardless of £££.

No idea where the bad(ish) rep comes from but I'm guessing it must be an outdated mindset as this is one hell of a bit of kit with a build quality which puts other bikes I've been on to shame!

Highly recommended

Soootylad · 24 Oct 2015 at 20:45

wazza300 said:
pics and congrats

Harleys are built for America though long long straight roads compared to tiny uk

The bigger ones maybe, the Sportsters certainly arent...

Soootylad · 24 Oct 2015 at 21:44

IC3 said:
So pretty much useless in the UK, on a bike like that you would have to brake hard before some corners on the A roads where I live.

I might get a HD when I hit mid age crisis in my 40's or when I'm over 50 yo, I'll take it easy at that age. So in till then, I want bikes which are fun on the twisty roads/track. You can't even filter on a HD through the traffic...

You might not be able to

I'm very fond of filtering and I'm every bit as comfortable doing in on my Sporty as I am on the ER-6n I spent a lot of time on...

Soootylad · 25 Oct 2015 at 09:49

Kreeeee said:
An ER6N is a world apart from a HD.

In a lot of ways absolutely, I'm just saying I don't find filtering any harder on the Sporty...

I think we best put this thread to bed, I posted a pic of my new bike without knowing it would have to be defended quite so much! For some reason people see the brand and think that a Sportster is exactly the same as the big Softails or Touring models (just look at the size of that thing that IC3 posted above as his reference H-D!). Its like saying you don't like 3 Series BMWs because they also make the X5.

Honestly folks, each unto their own, but if a lot of you could just see past the fact that H-D also make big tourers, then you might just enjoy throwing a Sportster or a Street 500/750 around!

Great fun, I've just always preferred the Sportys.

Soootylad · 25 Oct 2015 at 11:31

Tefal said:
the sportsters do look nice, just wish they had a proper engine in them not something from the 50s

This is another thing I find easy to defend...

Firstly, overhead cams and liquid cooling aren't exactly cutting edge, just a different technology. Air cooled pushrod tech is simple, and relatively easy to mess with which is half the fun of Sportster ownership. They do produce more "modern" engine tech in the Street models, the V-Rod and the Livewire (Electric) but the simplicity of a Sporty engine is a big appeal, certainly not a disadvantage. In fact they are regularly cited as one of the most reliable engines in production.

In a couple of years if I want more power, for under a grand I can swap out just a few bits and it'll be a 1200 engine... There just aren't many bikes where this is the case.

Soootylad · 25 Oct 2015 at 14:16

Tefal said:
how often do you have to "mess with" your sportser engine?

but its just the fact it s abig heavy bike with an 800+ CC engine making 50hp :/

and the 1200 model cant even break 100mph.

it just seems like you're basically in a big showy moped.

Now I'm not sure if you're trolling!

240kg is perfectly reasonable for a nearly 900cc bike, mine keeps pulling to around 110mph and the 1200s top out at around 135 not that you'd ever want to go that fast on this type of 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

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

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

Soootylad · 5 Nov 2015 at 15:17

Mucky_Pup said:
What seat is that?

Roland Sands Design Enzo 2-Up

Soootylad · 12 Nov 2015 at 14:15

Tefal said:
I'm not talking about high raving but from an engine that size getting half the hp of a 600 and less torque than a typical sports tourer means it's not a big lazy engine.

A modern engine for that capacity could be big and lazy and still have much more power and so even lower reving.

It's just and underpowered engine

Mate this kind of talk is why a Sportster or similar wouldn't be for you... I love that it is simple / old tech, I love the character, and to me its quick enough (0-60 on mine is around 4.7 seconds) and great fun and that's a win for me - just not bothered about comparing figures etc on this sort of bike its not about that...

Sportster owners know that most bikes smash us on paper and yet we don't bat an eyelid and buy them anyway - You need to reserve judgement until you've been on one bud, there ain't no scale to measure grin factor

Soootylad · 14 Nov 2015 at 16:36

**Removed, no buying or selling outside of the Members Market please**

No worries - where's the Members Market?