after 3 months of searching, thinking, planning, dreaming...I finally pulled the trigger and got a 48. I have a road king and have had fat boy's before that, but I was looking for a lighter around town stay in the city type bike. still keeping my road king. i looked at triumph, but wasn't comfortable on it, saw the 48 and knew that's what I wanted. searched the used bikes online for months, saw a couple but missed them, was selling everything I had laying around in my house & garage in the meantime for 2 months, where I got to a point that I had 10,000 cash. found a used bike going for 9k but it was a 2010, low miles, but still a 2010. I went to the local dealer and asked what could he do for 10k on a 2014, 48, since I know NY dealers usually tell you they cant do anything, I was surprised he even entertained it. after trying to sell me a 2010 with 6000k miles on it for 10.5 and me saying no, the sales guy told me 10.5. out the door for a new 48. so I said deal! then it came to signing, and the finance guy took effect...I forgot it was the same as buying a new car, and when he explains to me since I paid cash I was eligible for the warranty special and 3 discount service charges, I was like cool, feeling all special, wow! Harley does do nice things...then he shows me the contract & what I owed them, the warranty "deal" was $999 & the service "deal" was $899...I told him if that didn't come off it was no "deal" he didn't like that too much, but he had the bike sold so he wasn't going to let me walk. so I paid for the bike last Saturday, and after stockpiling parts for 2 months in my living room, the deal was done. and as par for the course, its been raining ever since! finally the sun came out today, and I picked it up! I haven't had a sportster since 1990 so it took me a little bit today to get used to riding a smaller bike, the vibration and being so much lighter, ect...but so far so good. I did realize I have to get a saddlebag to put my crap in, that is a no brainer, even though I don't particularly like the look, but whatever. on the 25th of this month after a little more getting used to riding it, I will strip it down and rebuild it! I was amazed how much money you can save on parts just by searching around and doing some homework. Harley wants $479+ for v&h pipes, I could have gotten them for $380, big difference...I saved over 6-700 dollars on the parts I bought by searching around, than if I just would have bought direct. I will post the pics of the bike when its done later this month. not sure what handle bars I want to do yet,so i'll keep it stock for now, they aren't horrible... so far I went with screaming eagle stage 1 kit with tuner, factory 883 iron denim black tins all around, no front fender, corker tires, black s&s performance exhaust with straight cut tips, roland sands mustang avenger café seat, rough crafts headlight bezel, MK II Hand Grenade Black pegs & grips, joker machine black fork tube caps and fork nut, joker machine black smooth gas cap, lyndall chrome Gemini rotors, wrinkle black upper rocker box top covers, blacking out all engine covers (derby,timer,inspection) & powder coated the old school bobber air cleaner wrinkle black , powder coat rear pulley wrinkle black, along with a couple of smaller parts, also the 883 gaitors, and going to black out the upper fork tubes, taking off the belt guards...& I might take the stock front fender and cut off a few inches from each end to make it a mini fender, but we'll see...

 

some more parts....

 

the 48 as we speak...40 miles...

 

What you talking bout... ride that b!÷€# in the rain!

 

I don't have to ride in the rain anymore, or the cold for that matter...i'm 50 now, ive driven through whole states in the rain when I was younger. rode from New York to daytona, from New York to new hampshire, ect...now I only ride in the rain if its by accident lol

 

I hear ya.... I use to ride(all) and race(bicycles) in the rain when younger and thought it was fun. Didnt bug me a bit. Not now. My bike stayed in the shop all last week cuz of afternoon rain. Too old for that crap now

 

I can see you have earned the right to not ride in the rain, but I wouldn't brag about leaving your bike at the dealer.

 

Once you get some miles on her the vibration will lessen. I bought a 2014 1200 after a Road Glide and the more I ride it the better it gets vibration wise. I thought it might just be me but I am convinced at 1500 miles the vibes are much less than when new. I'm even planning a trip on it. Hopefully not in the rain.

 

I can deal with the vibration i'm figuring, it's not horrendous, but I still haven't done long distance yet, so time will tell. since I do have a road king for 200+ mile trips I can always go back to that for the longer trip. the other thing I noticed is the sporty engine sounds loud, a lot of clanking compared to the bigger bike. but all in all i'm not worried about the small stuff, i'm liking the bike more and more as I ride it, very glad I grabbed it, cant wait to rip it down and rebuild it lol