I picked up my friends "pre-divorce" sale bike. He has/had a bunch of toys and needed to rid himself of them quickly. I bought his 07 Super Glide for an insanely cheap price. I have been lurking here for about 2 months before I got the title for it to see whats what with these "new" bikes. My one and only 75 Super Glide chop/"bob" (blech, I now hate that overused term) kick only Death Cheater has been with me for 20 years now, and has seen little changes other than paint after I got it "done" 18 yrs. ago. I come from a dirt/drag/road race background, just to give a little idea how/why I came to these conclusions. Anyway, this 07 is stone stock and had 1500 miles on it. The only mods are heated grips (for sale soon) and the H-D garage door opener wired into the high beam I think. I have a V&H Comp pipe, Big sucker and a SERT ready to pop in this weekend when I get a chance. Those are my long thought about choices which fit me. I took it for a 100 mi ride tonight, highway, twisties, rough roads etc. and came to these observations.

The suspension... sucks! The front collapses under hard braking, which the brakes fade real quick when pushed, and the rear doesn't stay planted at speeds in turns. I had to keep my foot covering the pedal to settle it down I know it's a basic bike from the factory, but c'mon. 60 mph thru turns that aren't smooth and the rear bounces. Yes I tried different settings.
The fix... Ohlins front and rear, ordering tomorrow. Stainless brake lines and maybe an upgraded front caliper. And, a steering damper. This things wants to wobble over 100 if I didn't keep my knees tight to the tank.

Engine... ok, but I gotta let this thing breath and eat. Mods to come as stated, and should be good.
Trans... ok I guess, but damn this thing is clunky. I thought my 4 speed was noisey. And 6th is useless under 85ish. I don't know what the speed limiter on this thing, but I got to 120ish (not sure, was trying not to speed wobble into a fk'n tank slapper. HA!
Fit and finish is alright. I'm not that picky about that ****. Stock solo seat sucks for me. I gotta get somethin' else and fast.
Other mods soon maybe this weekend as well)... An EFI sportster tank, custom bars and risers, either little hidden led blinkers, or remove 'em all together, lower it a little, and probably cams and **** if I keep it.

So, I'm going to keep this for a while and see how I like it. I am not going to abuse it, but I'm DAMN sure gonna use it.

Thanks for listenin'

 

Should have bought a Jap bike instead !

 

Nah, I got those. I'm not "Joe Harley", where I don't know what good and bad real all around performance is and just know where the pins, run patches, skull caps and chaps stores are. I just will try to make a bike that the/a factory should've. (Victory got the closest so far in this category) I've had just about all types/styles of bikes and will try new H-D.

 

Uh, maybe you should have bought a Victory then. Seriously though, you can make the bike handle better and have more power, but it's still going to be short compared to a sport bike.

I think Harely made the bikes they should have, or I wouldn't have bought one!

 

Yeah what he said.

 

Good luck.

 

Maybe you should try different tires. I have an '07 FXD, and when I changed to Metzelers, that high-speed wobble disappeared. My suspension is still stock, and I have about a 50% preload set on my rear shocks.

(EDIT: the tire was brand new in this photo - those chicken strips are long gone...)

 

Again, I'm not side by side comparing it to any bike Jap or not. Just trying to "make" the best bike for me, with a base product. I haven't looked into new H-D products in a long time, and this fell in to my garage. I obviously like the look/style of a SG over any other H-D product or I wouldn't own one for 20 years and spent an immense amount of time and money on it making it mine. That's what I'm gonna do with this. I guess some don't like criticizing mother harley. If I bought this thing new and paid sticker price what they were asking in 07, just saying I'd be pissed that I have to spend $4000+ more to fix their shortcomings.

Thanks for the info on the tires, I'm sure these won't be on here long.
And I will take pics of the transformation along the way, especially people PM'ing me about the EFI sporty tank.
I really think this bike's got a lot of potential.

 

Me thinking: Since you stole the bike (insanely cheap) from your "buddy" before his divorce, you should have the cake to do whatever you want to the bike. But if you have a couple dollars left over, buy the poor bastard a beer. After all he lost his wife AND his Harley.

 

he don't need money it was to **** her off. I'm prepared to do what it takes to make me happy. He's got 10 other bikes, and glad the bitch is gone.. lololol