Fairly new to the site, been hanging out in the Dyna section for the past year. I have worked on motorcycles for most of my life and have always dreamed of owning a Harley. Was never into the big baggers though, more of a "chopper" look guy. I sold my last motorcycle (metric) back in 2009 because my son was talking about owning a motorcycle and I didn't know if I wanted him on one.

Well I got the itch again last year and stumbled across a 2001 Sportster XL1200 that had something going on in the rear cylinder head and the guy just wanted out from under it. I made an offer and for the first time in my life I was a Harley owner.

I got it home, troubleshot and repaired a bad exhaust valve in the rear cylinder. I also threw on a few dress-up goodies from other projects that I had worked on for other people. My son all of a sudden decided he wanted a motorcycle, I guess I should have seen that coming.

My wife was actually more in favor of him owning a bike than I was. He has been on dirt bikes his entire life as we have been an offroad family but riding on the street was a different animal altogether. He had been saving up for a bike so I really couldn't say no. He loved Buells and ended up buying a super clean 2008 XB9 Lightning with only 2700 miles on her. My wife decided she wouldn't mind us taking family rides but she had no desire to ride one solo. The Sportster being quite small for the two of us, I started looking for one of my all-time favorite style of Harley, a Dyna Wide Glide. Something about the rake and that 21" tire in front.

I bought a 2010 Wide Glide that we enjoyed all last year. I installed a more comfortable seat for the wife but is still was not that comfortable. I also had installed some Leather Pros removable saddlebags for a little storage although I really don't like the looks of the saddlebags. We joked around that after we were done helping our son with college we would look at something a little more comfortale for two-up riding/touring.

Last fall a good friend of mine had hinted that he was thinking about selling his 04 Ultra Classic that he had owned since new in 2004. It only had 28k miles on it and I told him when he gets serious to keep me in mind as I may be interested, more so for the wife's comfort. He contacted me about six weeks ago and said he was going to sell it as his wife didn't like riding any longer and he was just going to keep his Dyna.

The wife and I decided it was too good of a deal to pass up, especially since I knew the history of the bike and how meticulous he was. He had purchased a SE 95 cubic inch Stage II kit about a year ago but never installed it. After getting it home I commenced tearing into the engine to perform the big bore upgrade. While I had it apart I polished all of the chrome and detailed the paint. He had painted a car of his a couple of years ago in his driveway and some overspray had gotten on the paint and chrome due to not closing his garage door. After about two weeks of work she is done and on the road.

I started out not being a bagger/touring guy, but I have to admit, I love this thing. It is so comfortable for the wife and I. We haven't gone on any long rides yet, just a few outings to dinner and a Sunday ride on Easter but I am hooked on the touring's comfort.

My wife works with some people that have Harley touring bikes and we are already talking about some longer road trips and some group rides. I will not get rid of my Wide Glide as that is my "hot rod" and I will ride that back and forth to work or if just my son and I go for a ride. However, the Ultra Classic is a smooth comfortable bike and the wife really likes it.

Mike.

Here are a couple of pictures after getting it all put together and polished/detailed.




Here is a picture of my 2010 Dyna Wide Glide also. SE Heavy Breather, V&H Big Radius exhaust, Progressive 444 shocks and LA Chopper drag bars.

 

Welcome to our side of the Forum. Glad you finally got a "Big Boy Bike". Just kidding! But, as you know, if the wife is happy, your happy. It won't be long and you will be wondering why you didn't do it a long time ago. Good luck!

 

........ yeah, that factor snagged a lot of us ! ...... welcome to Bagger Nation.

 

Welcome to the touring section, nothing like a bagger. Never thought I would see myself on one, but now that I am, you will have to pry my cold dead hands from it.

 

Thanks everyone. I will have to try to hang out here more often.

Mike.

 

Welcome to Touring from SoCal

 

You're welcome! My colour of bike too, which looks great. Quite a few little extras by the look of it.

 

Yeh, the original owner had thrown a lot of chrome accessories at it, plus I have installed a few that I had lying around. The big bore was really woke the thing up. The bike had been sitting for about three years as he has not ridden it in a while. He bought the big bore kit from Screamin' Eagle and had new tires put on front and rear last year thinking he would ride it but only rode it from the Harley shop where they put the tires on home.

The bike really needed a massive detailing after sitting for two to three years and collecting dust and some overspray. Looks and runs as good as new now. All fluids changed, new tires, polished paint, more power and ready for the summer riding.

Mike.

 

What are those colors on the Ultra? That two-tone combo looks fantastic.

Congrats on the new bike.

 

Looks great but....

you won't really know how comfy it is till you do a long ride. I thought my goldwing was comfy till I did a long ride. Bruised my tailbone after 9 hours of a 24 hour round trip ride. The rest of the trip up and back was pure hell.