Hello Everyone, just want to say thanks in advance for you help.
I recently purchased a 1999 Sportster 883 with 3,000 miles. It looks pretty grandpa-ish right now. Here is what I want to do:
1) Make it loud
2) Aftermarket air intake
3) Relocate the mirrors to beneath the handlebars
4) Relocate the license plate
5) Replace those ugly and gigantic orange turn signals
What are my options and how can I keep cost low? I can only find parts for late models
1) Make it loud look at DK's thunder torque converters, also find out what type of exaust you have now, weather or not it has baffles in it
2) Aftermarket air intake check out DK's outlaw air cleaners from link above
3) Relocate the mirrors to beneath the handlebars this is as easy as taking off the nut and flipping them. just be sure to check your clearances with the bars fully to right or left. also make sure you can see behind you and into the blind spots
4) Relocate the license plate DK's got this as well
5) Replace those ugly and gigantic orange turn signals remember not to sacrifice safety for looks. those cagers are out to kill you and being seen is very important. there are a lot of LED options for the turn signals, just google it. DK has some of those as well
Originally Posted by DudeWhere'sMyHarley?
If you can do the work yourself it will save you a lot of cash
With more air going in and out, a rejet is in your future. I had a guy tear mine down, ultrasonic clean and install proper jets for $100 on my other bike. This is with me taking the carb off the bike, bringing to him and me putting back on. I was surprised at the amount of ethanol gunk that was in there.
Even if you don't have to rejet and bikes runs perfect now,..I would suggest a proper carb cleaning. You don't want to be miles from home and have a tiny piece of ethanol or dirt break free and jam up your main jet. This is what happened to me recently out in the woods. It's good insurance.
Consider that REALLY loud will have your ears ringing after just 1 hour rides. Stay away from drag pipes (no baffle). Not only does it get old quickly, performance suffers greatly. If you're going to spend money,...buy a quality exhaust. They will perform better while sounding loud enough to be heard but not enough that you feel drunk after hopping off after a long ride.
I've tried going cheap and modifying pipes. Never was satisfied so I ended buying a new system. By being cheap,..I lost money. $.02
Lots of sound clips on Youtube.
Bookmarks to start with:
DK Customs
RevZilla
JP Cycles
Amazon and Ebay are for if you're 100% certain of what you want. You'll get NO good customer service here. Although I do have some cheap Chinese fleabay knock off stuff on my bike,..I've learned over the years where I can cheap out and where to spend more. I've lost much $$$ on cheap parts.
I started redoing a sportster I bought last year. I was very much on a budget. Patience is the key if looking to save money. Watch eBay faithfully. You can get brand new exhaust on there for a couple hundred bucks cheaper than from a supplier if you really watch. Keep an out also for good used parts. The classified section on this site has some good stuff come up too. If you have any mechanical skills at all building your own license plate bracket for a relocate is a piece of cake. Along with some other small parts. Here is the changes so far on my bike on a budget. Oh also don't forget Christmas time is great for some new parts
First: get a parts manual if you can. It will be invaluable when searching for OEM parts on eBay. It goes without saying that you absolutely NEED a service manual, but you won't find part numbers in there.
Second: Drag Specialties sells just about every part your bike needs. Find your local DS dealer, they can usually have a part within 24 hours at the same price you'll find it on the interwebs.
Third: research, research, research. Read reviews, ask questions here (you already got that one),
Fourth: patience. Don't jump all over the first thing you see. Make a list, prioritize, sit on it. If your bike is running good now, ride it awhile. See what you really don't like.
Fifth: Don't buy it when you need it, get it way ahead of time. I found an Energy1 clutch kit for $125, which is well below the cheapest eBay price. I found it by taking my time and shopping around. If I had needed it now, I'd have had to get one at $145.
eBay: There's a lot of good stuff on here, but you need to know your **** first. Don't trust the seller to tell you if it fits or is good quality unless you know the product already. Ask questions of the seller as well.
A LOT of the name brand stuff you buy is made in China and you will find other sources that sell virtually the same stuff without the name on it. I bought some LED run/turn signals from eBay for $29 for the front of my bike. It was a gamble, but when I got them, they seemed well built, work great and look good. Winner winner.
I used Kuryakyn for the back for the run/turn/stop function and paid $89 for the essentially the same level of quality.
If you're replacing the fugly OEM lights, consider using the Badlands LED control to avoid having to do the "load" balancer thing. If you replace all four signals, the Badlands will do a plug-n-play on your existing module and take care of all those issues. Find the right one for your bike on the Badlands web site, then shop around for the best price, mine (ATS-03-A) was $65.95 on eBay which was a pretty good deal.
03-08-2017, 12:00 AM
New Sportster Owner
