I dropped Alanui yesterday.

I'm not quite sure exactly what happened. I was making a left turn from an incline and stalled. Already moving forward and leaned over, there was no saving it. In fact, to keep it from landing on my left leg, I stepped off and had to execute a left shoulder roll off the deck. Guy behind me who stopped to ask if I was alright said it was the smoothest unintentional dismount he'd ever seen.

It basically ended up being just a drop, some minor cosmetic damage;



I picked us up after assuring him I was fine and I had a phone with me, and continued on to Boccali's (yes, the Italian sausage pizza is that good)

No trouble for the rest of the trip. Just some wounded pride. All the scuffed parts can be replaced. Eventually.

4184 miles on the clock...

 

Damn that sucks, good to hear your both ok.

 

Well, I wanted to provide an update after I received and installed the Tuffside (Chappell Customs) seat. It arrived today, and I'm sorry to report that I'm VERY underwhelmed.

The seat is narrower, particularly at the rear, exposing the slots in the cowling. The "Marine Grade" vinyl seems a bit thin, and would be easily scuffed. Attachment at the front is via a slot (like the stock seat) and seems OK, but the underside of the seat already has a scuff on the vinyl from installation. This leads me to seriously question the durability of the seat.

Attachment at the rear is via the post for the rear pillion, into a grommet that's barely retaining the seat at all. It's a pretty loose fit, if I bump it with my foot while mounting or dismounting, I'm pretty sure it's coming off.

There's no method of retention other than these two points, allowing the center section of the seat to wallow around. The center section also reveals too much of the cowling, and it just looks like a poorly fitted aftermarket seat.

The main seat and pillion aren't very rigid, and actually kinda floppy.

On top of it all, despite their claim, it's NOT more comfortable than the stock seat. It's flat, squared off and not very well cushioned, leading to more concerns about durability over the stock seat, which I've already reinstalled.

Oddly enough, when I click on "Contact Us" under the Customer Service portion of their website, nothing happens.

Their return conditions are pretty specific, but I'm not at all pleased, and it's going back. I'm not keeping it, not for what I paid.

We'll see what happens when I give them a call tomorrow...

 

310-526-7923 try this number. I had to call about my fender eliminator. A real person answered after a couple of rings.

 

Chris said to send it on back. He admitted they're having some growing pains with the seats, and it's probably partly my fault for jumping on one so quick instead of waiting for some development to occur.

Bummer though.

All that aside, just been riding and livin'. Had the 5K service done, no troubles. Picked up the SE air filter and, along with the Firebrand Grand Prix slip-on I've already been running, decided it was time to pick up the SE Pro-Street tuner.

My first data run was a bit of a bust (almost literally) as I ended up with one of Ventura County's finest behind me for a good portion of the run. I think they may have suspected I was looking to open it up a little. It's running OK, the smart tune did change a fairly good-sized block of parameters, but I think I need to get a couple more data runs in.

5167 miles on the clock...

 

Aye, and it's been a while, hasn't it?

Been ridin' and livin', Alanui developed a very minor oil leak at the selector shaft, cheerfully taken care of under warranty by H-D.

Looks like I'll be spending a little time over at the Sporty board;

2015 XL1200C with just over 1K on it, the day I went to check it out and took it home.






I had been looking for something more "cruisery" and this one just clicked for me. And H-D made it very easy to get into.

Of course, it doesn't look exactly like that anymore. You know me, I just gotta make it my own. Updated pics soonish, in the Sporty board, of course.

Meanwhile, Alanui is still too much of a blast to give up. They're such different animals, and it ain't taking up much space in the garage.

That said, 5734 miles on the clock...

 

Nice. I had a 2012 and, like you, modded it to my style of riding and it was pretty fun to ride. I could never really get used to the feeling of sitting on top of the bike it gave.

 

Yeah, the Sporty is fun.

But I still think Alanui is more funnerer...
(In fact, I'm taking it out tomorrow. To work, then go pick up the rest of the parts for the Sporty's riser swap/speedo flop. Wheee!!!...)

 

All this riding on the Sporty, Alanui has been spending a little more time in the garage. Noticed a couple drops on the deck. Hmmm, I thought we'd taken care of the leak.

Took it to H-D last Friday, Mike asked me to come in first thing this morning and they'd figure out what's up.

Turns out it possibly wasn't just the selector shaft seal, the o-ring at the neutral safety switch was leaking. Quick fix, part in stock.

Back on the road in an hour or two, got home to many parts for the Sporty. Alanui might spend a little more time in the garage. I'll try not to make it too long.

5836 miles on the clock...

 

"We are experiencing technical difficulties."

I have had enough of Photobucket's shenanigans.

Switching over to Imgur. Unfortunately, the links to the pics from PB are broken, and the pics up to this point will go bye-bye.

I can't edit a post past 4 hours, so I won't be able to go back and re-insert images.

My apologies...