Amp Multilock Connectors Piss Me Off!

Last post I was talking about how Bill over at Biltwell inspired me to work on my Sportster.  I pulled out my service manual and got to work.  A couple of beers into working I'd figured out what I needed to do.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know.  What a rookie!  Well I've never worked on bikes before so I'm learning as I go along.  I wish I would have talked to my dad more about bikes and cars when I had the chance but can't worry about that now.

I got the gas tank off of the bike.  Disconnected the battery and a couple of other electrical sections and was ready to go.  I ditched the mirrors and that really made the bike look better.  I'll probably head over the to the LB Cycleswap next week and pick up a mirror, something small.  I don't think I'll miss the mirrors because everytime I change lanes I look over my shoulder.  I don't trust the mirrors.  The Sportster mirrors seem to have been designed to give the rider an excellent view of his shoulders and arms.  Plus, I only really use the mirrors to watch for police while I'm speeding so I figure that without the mirrors I won't speed too much.  So I'm really making my bike safer by removing the mirrors!  Ha!

Removing the front turn signals was a little trickier.  I wanted to keep them intact in case I every got a fix-it ticket, wanted them back on, or wanted to sell them.  I figured out how to get them off except I couldn't figure out how to disconnect the stupid amp multilock connector from the wires.  That crap was frustrating!  The service manual was a bit vague (at least to me) about what exactly I was supposed to do.  A few internet searches finally showed me what to do.  I stumbled on a little movie that demonstrated what to do.  Wish I would have thought to save it and post it but maybe I'll track it down later.

The rear turn signals were a lot easier to remove than the front signals.  I think the bike looks a lot better without the chrome fender strut covers.  I like chrome but prefer to keep it on the engine.  Too much chrome just looks stupid.  Other guys like it, to each their own.

I talked to my buddy, Haas, about chopping my rear fender and fender struts.  Don't think I'll get to that for a few weeks but then again, I'm not in a rush.  My next cosmetic project, after the fender, is to play around with a dremel and see if I'm any good at etching metal.  I think it'd be pretty cool to etch some cool designs on my bike.

I didn't do a whole lot to my bike for a few reasons.  As a whole, I love my bike and only want to change a few things on it.  A lot of bike guys are snobs and aren't into the Evo Sportsters (because they're new?) and don't have rigid frames.  I love my bike.  Hell, I too think rigid frames are cool but I don't think swingarm frames look bad.  Second, I'm not mechanically savvy.  I'm learning as I go along so I'm proud of the stuff that I'm learning.

In summary, I ended up removing my mirrors, chrome fender strut covers, and my front and rear turn signals.  Baby steps.