My bike has gone through several changes since I got it, and I'm now the closest to how it's going to be. Well, as you all know, it's NEVER finished, but it's close, or closer at least!

I know many of you despise this style, and want to reference the whole SOA thing, but growing up where I did, this is the style bike I saw everyone ripping up and down the streets on, and I've wanted one ever since. Well, now years and years later I finally have my dream bike, or almost my dream bike.

I took my 4.5" straight aluminum risers to my local welder and asked him to angle the clamp back 30 degrees, and extend them to 12". They came out great, and are pretty burly, and I have no worries about their strength.

I also installed a 2.5" tank lift I got from eBay, super simple, easy, and took like 5 minutes to do. This is the cheapest and quickest thing I've found for the change you get. I couldn't believe how just lifting the front of the tank of few inches could make that much of a difference!

Then comes the HD 1/4 fairing...first of all, this thing was impossible to find. Every stealership I called said that they were made to order by HD and would take up to 45 days to get one. WTF?!?!? Well, I ended up spending the better part of three hours on the phone until I finally located a dealership in Mesa, AZ that actually had it in stock! So three days later it was in my garage, great service, if I'm ever down in Mesa I'll be sure to stop by there and do my part to stimulate the economy! Well, this thing was quite a pain in the *** to put together. I painted it HD Black Pearl, clearcoated it, wet sanded it, and polished it. It looks great, and I'm not even complaining about the paint work, I knew exactly how much work that was going to be. The clear lexan bits, the headlight cover and the windshield, didn't even come close to fitting! I had to do quite a bit of work with a dremel to even get them to fit in their places, then I had to re-drill the mounting holes so they would actually line up. It also seems like the headlight cover (since it's curved) isn't even curved properly. It's only supposed to take the three bolts to hold it on, but I had to drill two more holes and use two more bolts to get it to get to an acceptable fit. Well, I got that all worked out eventually.

I cannot believe how much different it feels on the road! I've gone from the factory buckhorns or whatever they're called, to dragbars with the factory risers, to dragbars with 4.5" risers, to 4" z bars with the 4.5" risers, to this setup. The comfort level is insane, and it seems like all I have to do is think about turning, and I'm scraping pipe or peg! Even the little fairing seems to be doing it's part, it keeps wind off my chest, and when really tearing down the road, all I have to do is slouch a bit and it's off my face too!

Anyhow, here are some pics, sorry for their crappy quality, they were taken with my phone. Next upcomming change is the exhaust, still undecided but leaning towards the TH (getting a LOT of pressure from the boys back in my hometown!), but I'm looking that the RB Racing too, just want whatever will let me lean more before scraping...

 

Looks Good!

 

looks killer

 

Hey, as long as you like them it is all good...............
I never worry about what others think of my bike. It's mine.
Well, except maybe for my wife. I have to stay on her good side.........

 

Your whole front end looks killer! I applaud you for not blacking it out. I think it looks great.

I think it sets off the rest of your bike and I also really dig the chrome on the rest of the bike.

Raises glass and toasts Desertram 800 for a job well done!!!

Cheers,

Tom

 

I love that look..... even if it is the "SOA Style" now.....

 

I like your bike very nice, not sure what Soa is, but I bought a harley so I could make it my own.

 

Dig the riser/bar combo but the speedo and mirrors gotta go, looks good though.

 

how did you extend the speedo cables?
I see the pigtail inthe pics is there a part number? I was thinking I would just add extra wire when I did mine

 

I love it . That style is really hot . Bravo !