As some of you know, I am a new Harley owner (05 Night Train). My plan is to ride as much as possible, with my bike being my main mode of trans to and from work (90miles daily).
After spending some time now on this site, I see alot of beautiful bikes with many different mods (lowered, bigger rear tire, bigger engine etc.) which has me thinking about what I want to do to my bike.
But here is where I need the "sanity check" from everyone. If I am going to ride my bike daily, in all kinds of weather, and mostly on secondary type roads ?(Texas FMs) and smaller Highways, would it be best to leave the bike as "stock" as I can stand for the reliability factor?

Are HDs like cars where the more you change from "factory" the higher the chance of failure?

Does the stock suspension work best for all the different road conditions, or could a "lowering" (1-1/2") give me the lookIwant and still be OK for daily travel?Does a nice fat rear tire look nice, but suck when your riding and the rain hits halfway home?
These are some of the questions I am asking feedback on.

I know these might be subjective questions, but for you guys/gals that ride your bike as a primary means of transportation, would"stay as close to stock" be your reccommendation?

Thanks

 

Well, for me, the ride is the overall experience... I like sitting low to the road even if the potholes are a bit harder on the butt. I like the wide bars even if the my body is now a parachute in the wind. And I like the chrome even if I sometimes get magnifying-glass-like reflections at stop lights.

What makes my ride more enjoyable might make some aspects less enjoyable, but its all worth it to me!

 

I am not into mods for improved performance. To me they only end up causing problems with tuning after spending alot of money to fix something that ain't broke. My bike takes me from 0 to 60 in the 4 second range and it's pure stock. To me that's more than good enough. Now, if you're talking about chrome, that's different.

 

A Harley is made to be customised and it's made to be rode too.

Think of it this way:
1) you ride a bike that isn't set up / customised the way you want and all the time you ride you know you are missing out
2) you customise the bike so it suits you but you don't take it out much because you don't want to get it dirty, hit bumps in the road, get wet (add your own reasons here) so you sit at home a lot looking at the bike you really wanted but don't ride much.
3) you set-up / customise the bike just the way you want (according to budget) and ride every opportunity you have thoroughly enjoying every minute of it - even better if you have a long commute - and enjoyingthe hard earned cash that went into it

Just my thoughts ... I go with option 3.

 

Well, there are mods and then there are mods. I ride daily as well, about the same distance you are planning. Any time I start looking at a new mod to my bike, the first consideration is always functionality. Appearance is secondary. I want it reliable, comfortable and reliable.

With that in mind, I have done a Stage I, V&H true duals, oil cooler, passenger backrest, highway pegs, passenger footboards, 6.5" windshield and a fairing bag. Heck, I'm still running the stock shifter pegs. That provides me plenty of seat-of-the-pants power and a reliable, comfortable ride. The only things I still have to do is replace the brake pedal, shift levers and pegs, maybe a PCIII, and maybe a rider backrest.

All mods are based on rider preferences, so you may want to ride for awhile before you start considering any mods.

 

I ride my bike almost daily as well. The things I've changed have been pretty minor...some for looks and some for comfort.

I doubt I'd like taking a really NICE bike that had custom paint, lots of motor work, etc., on my daily commute. One in a a while yes...just not every day. Can you do it? Sure. It just isn't something I'd do.

 

Mine's bone stock and I ride everyday. To quote the Rocketman "I like it". I might mod small change but basically it will stay stock. Maybe some slightly louder mufflers one day. I changed the seat immediately for the wife. The stock Low Rider seat was a pain in the buttocks for both of us. I put the Tallboy seat and it is very comfortable. I just want it to run everytime I cut the switch on. I love getting it up to 55 to 70 mph. It will do all the speed limits I have found so far with no problem.

 

Thanks guys, that is the kind of feed back I needed.
The bike I bought already has some mods, both engine and cosmetic.

Stage 1, VH Stepped Drag Pipes, clutch mod and the Skull package and some additonal chrome.



Future Ops would be a bigger rear tire (which I might not need to mod the bike based on feed back from the Bros in the Soft Tail section), and lowering the "stance" some just to give it a drooped look. I know most of you have been there done that, and based on your experience, your recommendations/feed back are very vital to me.

Thanks

 

One primary reason that I bought a Sportster is thatclassic "look"--perfect proportions and details. To an artist, there is very little that can beimproved on an xl. Some of the custom touches look distinctive, but don't work as well as stock. So, I've moved back closer to stock. That's part of the fun of biking--make it the way you like it.

 

Everyone seems to agree,progresives lowered shocks ride better than stock. I think Harley puts some old crap for shocks on.