I had been married for a couple of years and my wife and I were about to sell our little townhome and move into an actual house. We needed cash so I sold my Kawasaki Ninja EX500R. I really enjoyed that bike on so many levels but the truth was a 500cc scooter just wasn’t enough to haul my 5’11, 230lb butt around anymore. A few months went by and gradually the urge to ride kept coming up until eventually I just gawked at every motorcycle that crossed my path to the point that I think my wife started to become concerned and maybe a bit jealous all at the same time. Seriously, if Jessica Alba decided to streak my neighborhood by riding around on a Ducati Monster 900 I’d have every bolt on that bike committed to memory before I’d even notice a woman sitting on top of it. In short I had a problem, I knew it was time to get another bike.
My friends at work kept egging me on “just get one; you know you will eventually anyway”. They were right, I was going down to the employee parking garage and just fondling their bikes until they would give me that concerned “quit touching my bike” look while gradually leaning it away from me and say “dude, when are you just going to get a bike already?” I had enough, I started shopping everywhere, newspapers, Craigslist, even those stupid ad magazines that make you pay to get it and the owner of the bike pay to list it. The clock was ticking now, it was only a matter of when.
Given that my first bike was a Ninja I naturally started looking at the sport bikes. My buddy would beg me not to get one and kept trying to get me to buy a Harley instead, even my father in law kept trying to convince me to buy a Harley. I still wanted the performance of a sport bike though, finally when I asked my wife for her opinion she said, “guys your size don’t usually ride sport bikes” implying that my fat butt looked like a gorilla humping a bicycle when I rode my Ninja. “Dang” I thought…”am I really that fat?”
I’ll admit it; Harley Davidson motorcycles held very little appeal for me, they were for the old guys. I just didn’t see myself rolling up to a night club on a loud, oil spewing, unreliable, underperforming and overweight Harley Davidson. I hated the idea, but I hated the idea of looking stupid even more and besides that I asked myself “how often do I go to nightclubs these days anyway?” The answer? Never, so that was that.
I finally found two Harleys in my price range. Both were Sportsters, both were XL883Cs and both were black (which was important to me at the time). I finally chose a 2005 Sportster Custom (883 of course) and grew to hate the performance. The former owner drilled out the baffles on the mufflers but did not rejet the bike or add a high flow air filter. First order of business was getting that fixed. I added what I could afford, a simple jet kit that I had a guy install for $50 and a pair of Taiwan made V-Twin Mfg baloney cut slip ons. They were baffled so when I brought the bike by the same guy who jetted it for service he exclaimed “that doesn’t sound right” and looked in the ends of them. He saw the baffles and recommended I remove them and either unwrap the fiberglass, cut them in half or just replace them altogether. I got home, yanked the baffles out and out of curiosity cranked the bike up. It was as if a monster came to life in my garage and roared it’s indignation of the weak hearted to the rest of the world. I was ecstatic at the sound. I jumped on it and ran it up and down the street and noticed a considerable boost in the low end torque. This sucker felt like it could shoot off the line and sound like the wrath of God was coming while doing it. Needless to say, I never did replace the baffles.
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I learned a lot about riding a motorcycle on the back of that Sportster. First is that there is no substitute for a well made seat that fits your backside. For me the Mustang Vintage Wide Solos are the only way to go. Second, I learned the value and satisfaction that comes with wrenching on your own bike. Third, that overall Harley Davidson dealerships suck but the factory turns out a pretty darned good bike. Before I sold the bike I kept trying to think of ways to make a good bike “gooder” but eventually economic conditions prevailed and I had to let my old friend go. It actually broke my heart for a couple of days and I immediately regretted that decision. Maybe one day I’ll have another but at least I owned that bike long enough to gain a healthy respect for the HD Sporster line. Anyone who calls these things “skirtsters” or a “mini-Harley” or otherwise implies that these bikes are 2nd rate Harleys is missing the point of these bikes entirely. They are not “beginners” bikes even if they are often sold using that tag line, nor are they for girls. The Sportster has a long, well documented history of being a purpose built race bike. I guess you could say the Sportsters are the great granddaddy of all modern sportbikes. They posses a rich heritage born on the side of a dirt racetrack and buying one of these today is as close as you can come to walking into a showroom and buying something like a ’57 Chevy brand new off the floor.
If you own or are considering owning a Sportster, let me share some of what I learned.
1.) Get an 883 if you can. Seriously, now hear me out. Even if you ride it straight to the shop and have it “upgraded” to a 1200 the 883 has several factors working in its favor. First is that all things being equal, an 883 punched out to a 1200 will smoke a 1200 off the line because of the way the bike is geared. Second is that you don’t have to settle for 1200ccs when punching one of these out, several manufacturers make 1200, 12010, 1250 or even 1340cc kits for these. I don’t mind telling you a 1250 kit with Buell Lightening headers installed on a Sportster running drag pipes is a thing to behold on the drag strip. That thing will have enough low end torque and speed to peel the grin right off the face of the guy in the lane next to you.
2.) If you buy a Sportster learn to maintain it yourself. There is no easier Harley Davidson made to work on than a Sporty. They are a simple, reliable and effective design. It is a great way to discovering a whole new dimension to your ride.
3.) I you buy a Sportster, for God’s sake change out that stock seat. Here’s a hint, if you’re wondering if a seat is comfy or not for riding and it has an HD logo on it, pass. Although I’m sure HD hires a subcontractor to make comfortable seats, manufacturers like Mustang or Corbin do this as their core business. They have it down to a science and for the money you’d be very hard pressed to do better. A new seat will change everything about your bike, the ride, the feel even perceive the bike’s handling.
4.) Buy a shop service manual. Yeah I know, it’s like $70 for a book but it’s worth it, trust me. If nothing else the videos for sale on www.fixmyhog.com are well worth the time and effort and about the same price as the manual.
5.) Last but not least, don’t use cheap gas. 93 Octane or better, always. A lot of guys think of a Sportster as a “cheap” bike or otherwise some kind of entry level animal and do not give it the respect it deserves. If you buy a used one, be prepared to rebuild the carburetor (which isn’t hard so don’t freak out). If nothing else run a can of B12 Chemtool Carburetor Cleaner through it doing the following. Pour a half can of B12 into the gas tank for a Custom 4 gallon tank or 1/3 of a can into a peanut or 3.3 gallon tank, fill the rest with 93 octane gas. Ride the bike all day until the tank is empty and you have to fill up again. Repeat this process every week or so until the contents of the can are dry. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT allow the B12 to sit in your tank overnight, you need to ride it through your system the same day you add it. This shouldn’t be hard since Sportsters generally do not hold a lot of gas and are fun to ride anyway.
Note: there are differences between model of year Sportsters and “newer” isn’t always necessarily better.
1.) The Sportsters 1986 to 2003 are Evolution engines mounted directly to the frame of the bike. This is good for bobbing and this particular frame lends itself to all types of aftermarket goodies like springer front ends, etc. The bad is that the engine mounted to the frame can cause irritating vibration.
2.) 2004-2006 are Evolution engines, rubber mounted to the frame. This got rid of the nasty vibration but for some reason the forward controls are ever so slightly shorter in reach and there are not as many after market goodies. Sure you could add a Nightster rear fender and a Paughco Springer front end, but add about $2,000 to the price tag to do it…ouch! Anyhow 2006 is the last year of the Sporsters using CV carburetors. That means you cannot buy one later than 2006 that you can tune without the use of a computer which in my book, is something of a big deal since I like engines that I upgrade with sockets, not keyboards. Even still there are plenty of goodies out there for this bike to become a bad assed bobber or even a mean, lean street fighting café racer.
3.) 2006 to date is fuel injected. There are a few things to be aware of here. First is that the fuel pump is in the gas tank, so switching out tins is tough. Second is that your rear fender will have a giant hole cut in it under the seat for the computer housing, so switching the tins is tough. Third is that remapping a bike for drag pipes and high flow air cleaners is a heck of a lot more expensive than rejetting a carburetor. As for springer front ends and aftermarket goodies, kind of like the 2004-2006 models but with less availability.
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