A project that I've really been wanting to tackle for a while is a motorcycle project. I have an '05 Sportster XL1200R. Great bike! My buddies, "the two Nicks", and I have gone on some great trips. I only wish we were able to travel more. One of them has to work a lot and the other isn't riding now. He had an accident on his bike two years ago and still isn't comfortable with the idea of riding.
Back to my project. A month ago I stumbled across a great forum: http://www.jockeyjournal.com/. The guys on that forum are very intense. They know a lot about bikes but can be a bit opinionated in their posts.
One of the posters on that forum, named Billdozer2, built a bike that really inspired me to work on my Sportster. He had this thread about a '96 Sportster (I believe it was a '96, I may be wrong) that he reworked. In his post he stated that he was inspired by Bratstyle. Holy Hell! His bike turned out great! I've been looking over my service manual and thinking about what I want to do to my bike. I think I'll start slow and just remove the turn signals, horn, and chrome strut covers. After that I'll remove the brakelight and replace it with something a little simpler. I might chop the rear fender to make it shorter but I want to talk to my buddy, Haas, about how best to do that. I really wanted to put some Biltwell handlebars on my bike but they're been recalled. So I'll have to wait a while before I get them. If I could, I'd buy them today. I don't think they're defective. Maybe I'll get lucky and pick up a pair at the Long Beach Cycle Swap in a couple of weeks. I think that by taking this slow I won't make any mistakes that I may regret.
In the future I'd like to buy an old Ironhead and chop the hell out of it to learn all the in's and out's of a motorcycle. I think if I put about $3-$4K into buying an Ironhead I might end up with a pretty decent bike. The best part would be that it would be mine. I think I would need about two years to get it done. Plenty of the posters on the Jockey Journal have stated that it's better to have a bike built correctly rather than quickly.
I have a few days off of work this week to finish up my thesis. I should finish the conclusion and get most of chapter five reworked. I can't wait for this thing to be done. This thesis has taken up a lot of my time and I'm ready to relax.
One of the posters on that forum, named Billdozer2, built a bike that really inspired me to work on my Sportster. He had this thread about a '96 Sportster (I believe it was a '96, I may be wrong) that he reworked. In his post he stated that he was inspired by Bratstyle. Holy Hell! His bike turned out great! I've been looking over my service manual and thinking about what I want to do to my bike. I think I'll start slow and just remove the turn signals, horn, and chrome strut covers. After that I'll remove the brakelight and replace it with something a little simpler. I might chop the rear fender to make it shorter but I want to talk to my buddy, Haas, about how best to do that. I really wanted to put some Biltwell handlebars on my bike but they're been recalled. So I'll have to wait a while before I get them. If I could, I'd buy them today. I don't think they're defective. Maybe I'll get lucky and pick up a pair at the Long Beach Cycle Swap in a couple of weeks. I think that by taking this slow I won't make any mistakes that I may regret.
In the future I'd like to buy an old Ironhead and chop the hell out of it to learn all the in's and out's of a motorcycle. I think if I put about $3-$4K into buying an Ironhead I might end up with a pretty decent bike. The best part would be that it would be mine. I think I would need about two years to get it done. Plenty of the posters on the Jockey Journal have stated that it's better to have a bike built correctly rather than quickly.
I have a few days off of work this week to finish up my thesis. I should finish the conclusion and get most of chapter five reworked. I can't wait for this thing to be done. This thesis has taken up a lot of my time and I'm ready to relax.
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