Back again!
Good to see you folks welcoming people to the forum. Many thanks to everybody who’s taken the time to say hello to me; much appreciated. Well, I'd hoped to put up a picture of the Sportster anniversary meeting from Chesterfield, but I'm waiting for the official picture from Harleyworld. They were taking photographs from the top of a crane to get all the bikes in shot and everyone who attended is supposed to get a T-shirt and picture sent to them. When it arrives I'll make another post on the forum.
For the moment I thought I'd just send in a few bits and pieces from Yorkshire for you, see if there's anything that takes your interest. Bike first of course!
This is my own Sportster, which started life as an Anniversary XL883C. I've had bikes for thirty years, but this was my first Harley, just for fun really. That's how it's stayed; for me the Sportster's put the enjoyment back into riding. It didn't take long to start picking stuff out of the parts catalogue! The bike's a 1200 now with high-compression pistons, dynojetted and with baloney-cut pipes. That's the heart of it anyway; I'll put together an article detailing all the additions (some of which you can hopefully see on the photo) for comparison with your machines. Incidentally, I love Sportzilla - it reminds me a little of the Cafe Racer, the XLCR that Harley built back in seventy-eight. I'd like to have a go at something similar myself (in addition to my current Sportster) as my bike seems to be turning into something of an 'all-rounder'. It's quick enough for me and rides reasonably comfortably over distances. The longest I've ridden it in a day is about 460 miles (admittedly with a two-hour break for the ferry crossing) when I went over to Ireland for the Killarney rally, and that was no problem. I'm still tempted to drop in some hotter cams, just for the craic as they say in Ireland, but already I have more than enough power for the gearing - the bike is still set up with the drive train for an 883 so the revs are too high in top gear at speed; the engine's still producing power but the bike can't really use it. Anyone else had or (better still) fixed the same problem, put in different sprockets maybe?
Little bit about York, just down the road from me (I live in a town called Harrogate) and the 'capital' of Yorkshire. At the risk of sounding like a tourist brochure, great city, well worth a visit. The pic shows what's left of the castle, the stone-built keep. The first one the Normans built was wooden until the Viking population of the town got nasty and burnt it down. You can walk round the top of this one and get some great views on a clear day.
Pic from a few weeks ago of the Yorkshire Dales, the great sweep of upland limestone country just to the west of where I live. You can see the kind of road in the dales at the bottom of the valley. The Sportster's ideal here; light enough to maneuver easily but with plenty of torque for the bends and gradients. This is very much my stomping ground; born and bred a Dalesman.
That's about it for now. I'll put together some stuff specifically about the detailing on my Sportster for next time,
All The Best,
Ian
P.S. Friday morning I got the fender stickers in the post! Here's where I put one on the 'Fenda Extenda' on my front mudguard. Pleased with the text on a black background, goes well here. Thanks!
P.P.S.
And that's me, photo taken using camera timer!
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