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Most of the Sportster models, except the XR1200 and possibly the Nightster, are of basic design with no particular style concept. If the owner wants something particular, they have a blank canvas to work from and must customise themselves.
The Softail range is a selection of "pre-customised" models, where the buyer selects their style concept and purchases the appropriate model. You wouldn't buy a Heritage if you wanted your bike to look like a Cross Bones. No need for heavy customisation because H-D have done it for you.
Sorta know what you are saying but do not entirely agree ! Lots of Rocker owners are putting Heartland kits on and totally defeating the point off the Rocker in the first place (imo the bike looks superb with the kit on) and i would bet my months pay that H-D make more money from aftermarket parts for Softails than they do from the sales off bikes.
Im not suggesting anybody cut up their new Softail (i wouldnt) but just wondering if any body has done something that is radically different to the "bolt on norm"
PS simon uk..i dropped my bike off in your part off the woods the other day for a paint job
Hardly consider my Train looking like all the other Trains out there.Changed so many things it's pretty much an individual. Made a few brackets for this and that to fit or placed where I wanted them.Thing with Big twins is there's so much to just bolt on and that's what people do.To each their own..
Maybe the Sportster I'm building right now will be different for ya.Nothing bolts up and everything needs a bracket made to look right.I see a lot of shi##y looking Sportsters on many of the other forums out there and really haven't seen much that floats my boat.The bobber look that many do are just plain fugly to me.Chopped off fenders,gas tanks that don't fit or can't go by 3 gas stations without stopping isn't what it's about for me.Bikes should flow from front to rear.Very few do.They are not 45's,pans,knuckles or Indians which were cut up long and bobbed long before Sportsters were ever made.Back then thought that's all they could do.There wasn't a catalog,just a hack saw and torch.It made do.That's just my opinion though and to others they might be a thing of beauty Great part of the world I live in.Freedom of speach and choice.
Merry Christmas to ya mate.
No chopping on my bike either. I like the way it looks and enjoy doing subtle mods. If I wanted a bike that looked completely different, I would have gotten something else. That being said, there used to be a lot more people here, and a lot of those were more willing to chop things especially over the winter. Look up orangecrush's night train. That is the first one that comes to mind.
From: West central Illinois in the Mississippi river bottoms
dbleagle that is one bad lookin sporty one of my favorites of all time. Damn that is sharp! Hopefully when the economy recovers I plan on pickin up a Sporty and doin that myself. I have moded the vrod quite abit because HD does'nt offer that much for them but my Heritage really does'nt require any.
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