First ride in the rain today - it was dry when I left the house, I only got a couple of miles from home and the black cloud let out a downpour

Wet jeans, no front fender, filthy dirty bike - b*gger.

 

Nice looking bike man, I love the color of her. I was totally hooked on the Shirt Shots when I first got my Iron, but after reading everything I could about performance, I opted for the Patriot Defender exhaust...the Hammer Performance site definitely steered me in its direction.

Feel free to ask any questions about the wire tuck and tank lift mod your gearing up for, as I have done both and would be happy to answer any questions.

 

I obviously meant to say Short Shots... Damn you Apple and your autocorrect.

About the ignition relocation - regardless of the keyless start, you will probably want to move it purely for a cleaner look. I'm not familiar with the current location, but if it's in the same spot as all of its predecessors, that thing sticks out like a sore thumb and needs to go

DK Customs makes an easy system, however, I'm not a fan of how "bulky" it looks after mounted upright on the clutch side... Clearly that's why I decided to build my own.

Mine was modeled off XL forum member Fred Phuket - one of the cleanest bikes in my opinion. Here is his link for future ideas and the gold standard of what an XL can look like.

http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php?t=1552801

 

Thanks Roy - appreciated.

I'm familiar with Mr Phukets bike - awesome is only way to describe it.

Regarding the keyless ignition - there doesn't actually appear to be anything where the ignition key is on earlier bikes - hence my question about it. I may be wrong but there physically doesn't appear to be anything to relocate to the other side of the bike.

 

Odometer ticked past 500 miles this morning. Still enjoying the bike enormously. I can tell the engine is starting to loosen up nicely.

Ordered a 7"x5" small licence plate (standard size in the UK is 9"x7") which I'm not sure if I'm going to mount in the centre or on the side yet.

Also ordered a HD Heavy Breather air cleaner too

Further updates when I fit them and take some pics.

 

Done 650 miles now.

Fitted new licence plate - expecting attention from the Feds next time I go for a ride

Heavy Breather is stuck at the courier depot til Monday

 

Much better. Its the size bikes should have and not that bloody barn door they expect us to fit.

 

Thanks.

I'm considering keeping it centre mounted, but just attacking that reflector with my dremel rather than a side mounted plate.

Not 100% decided yet though

 

Feeling sad this morning - probably not going to be able to ride until Thursday's morning commute - got some work related things that I need to use my car for between now and then.

Had it a month now and I have never felt this way about a bike before! This being a return to biking after nearly 3 years AND my first ever Harley, plus we have had lots of dry weather here in the UK - I'm really in the vibe and I didn't realise how much I had missed it - I've ridden pretty much every day.

There really is something magical about a Harley

 

Yes sir. It's the thing that non-Harley people can't understand. When compared to modern Japanese bikes and most of the Euro bikes, these bikes might be underpowered, heavy, slower handling, etc. But the old-school visceral feel of a Harley motor just has a certain appeal.


It's a bonus that virtually anyone can remove stock parts, add any number of aftermarket parts and create a personal style.


Congratulations on the bike and the new-found pleasure.