Daily Slideshow: How Low You Can Go with the New Softail Lowrider
The old timers will always tell you that when you buy a Harley Sportster, it won't be long before you want to upgrade. Are they right?
My 2009 HD XL1200 Custom Sportster
Allow me to tell you a little story to begin things: In the early seventies, the mini-bike craze hit the New Orleans suburbs. For Christmas of my 8th birthday, Sears sold nice mini bikes that ranged from 2.5 HP to 5 HP in a few different colors. A few of the older kids in my neighborhood had them waiting for them under the tree. As a new and upcoming subdivision, our streets had large, cleared lots at the end where houses had yet to be built. After school and on weekends, that’s where many of the boys hung out. We would do anything just to get a chance to ride on one!
Well, after a couple of Christmases of wearing down my parents (especially my mom who constantly told me how dangerous bikes were), I finally got my orange Honda Z-50cc, a 3-speed with little fat tires. By age 12, I was racing on a 15-acre neighborhood track between the local Catholic Church property and the I-10 on a yellow Yamaha YZ-80, my first bike with a clutch. Before long, I managed to get my hands on a used Yamaha YZ 125 with street tires for flat tracking and an RM125 Suzuki (loved that bike), then I finally got a Yamaha MX250 with a mono-shock. It was slower than the YZ250, but a GREAT wheelie bike.
Fast forward to last year. After 9 dirt bikes, 7 street bikes, and a 15-year break since the sale of my 2001 Honda Valkyrie 1500cc Interstate full dress six-cylinder, I felt the itch. My kids were fully grown and out of the house. We had just down-sized to our "retirement" home, and suddenly I had the itch to get another motorcycle. But not any motorcycle. This time I would fulfill a life-long wish from my bucket list and get an American made Harley-Davidson.
My first Harley was a used 2009 XL1200 Custom Sportster. A few of the guys told me to get a bigger bike; that I would tire of my Sportster quickly. Others ribbed me with the usual jokes like I received the jokes, like: “Oh, isn’t that your sister’s bike?” So, I adjusted the shocks for a full load, added a Mustang seat, a sissy bar with pad, a windshield and two sets of chrome floorboards. I noticed that if I received any flack from anyone riding a touring model, I could take them easily off the line at only 576 pounds which was much lighter than their 800-plus pound baggers. Besides being fast, my Sporty was great fun to ride and easy to maneuver on curves and turns. Also, the XL1200 EVO engine offered plenty of torque, so if you ride one and decide to gas it, you’d better hang on.
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Build Your Bike
Once we bought the house, a bigger bike note didn’t seem to be a problem. After 15 months and 4,000 miles later on the Sportster I realized that if I wanted my wife to go on longer rides, I had to make her more comfortable. Bumps, curbs, and railroad tracks were no joy to experience from the rear end of the Sportster despite my upgrades. So I went to the Harley website and started researching all of their 2017 models. I knew I would be making a purchase soon, but I had to spend some time and do my homework. The website allowed me to make side-by-side comparisons of up to 3 bikes at a time, so if I couldn’t decide, getting the details should help me make the decision. I built this bike online before I returned to the showroom to make a deal.
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In the Showroom
After reading up on the newest engine Harley-Davidson built, I noticed it was receiving a lot of praise. The “Milwaukee Eight” was so named because it sports eight valves on the V-twin engine.When I saw mine in the showroom with the 70’s style paint on the tank, with both speedometer and tachometer gauges wrapped in chrome on the gas tank, and a badass 107 cubic inch engine, I had to sit on her - only to find that she was really light - only 660 pounds carrying such Harley muscle!
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Wind Splitter Quick-Release Compact Windshield, 18 in. Clear, Polished Braces
I brought her home after Thanksgiving as an early Christmas gift to myself. The first thing I added was a Harley Davidson Softail windshield.
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Standard Harley Sissy Bar with Road King Style Pad
As stated previously, offering my lady a more comfy ride was important to me because I wanted her to join me on the longer trips with our local HOG Chapter. The next accessories I acquired were the Harley-Davidson standard height Softail sissy bar with the larger curved pad for excellent passenger lumbar support on the highway.
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Tallboy came instead of the Sundowner
The stock seat was not uncomfortable, but I wanted to maximize comfort for both of us in the tush department. I ordered the Harley-Davidson Sundowner seat (which the parts department told me was the most popular). A great feature of the Sundowner besides comfort is the great lumbar support it provides the rider. My new seat arrived by mail, so I installed it. I went out for my first ride with it on and discovered it was a definite improvement over the stock seat. However, by the time I started to get used to it, I realized I had little or no lumbar support. Something was amiss – so I returned to my garage to see what was up. When I got home, I removed the seat and looked at it for some type of labeling. There it was in big lettering: TALLBOY. I pulled out my catalog and found out that the Tallboy seat was appropriately named – it was for taller people with longer legs than I had. I called the dealership and requested a swap. Within a few days, they called and I received my Sundowner and installed it. I test drove her around the neighborhood and instantly realized the difference in comfort.
Another box checked.
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Premium ISO Grips with Throttle Boss
The day came when I rode to the monthly HOG meeting and rode with the chapter on a lunch ride on a warm day in December. I decided it was too nice to wear my gloves and it wasn’t that far away. I noticed after riding several miles, the stock rubber grips seemed thin, so my bare palms stuck to them from constantly squeezing. I looked at more experienced riders and noticed a few of them changed theirs to the nicer chrome grips. I went shopping on JP Cycles website and found this very popular pair of handsome chrome ISO grips. Chrome with rubber finger inserts made the ride more comfortable on my hands. The right-hand grip sports a Throttle “Boss” – a palm rest to give your fingers a squeeze break.
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Tech-Connect Standard Cell Phone or Device Holder
Well, now I realized I was getting there. My homemade “bagger” version of the new Softail Low Rider was well underway. I decided to get GPS capability, but how without a Touring model dashboard?
This simple cell phone/device mount allows me to use my I-Phone as a GPS. The new Softail also comes with a USB port under the gas tank so I can bring the charging cord for longer rides.
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Premium Saddlebags
It only took one monthly Chapter ride to realize that Momma and I could not take anything with us without having some type of luggage. Besides, how can I create a highway worthy bagger without any luggage? I shopped Harley first, and they had some nice bags indeed. The problem is most were hard skinned and not very malleable - not easy to store a helmet in. Also, the ones I preferred were pretty expensive. So I looked at the JP Cycles site and found a Saddlemen Saddlebag set that was made of plastic, but leather bound with net pouches inside and zipper pouches on the outside. The outer shell was soft enough so I could easily squeeze a helmet or my laptop in them.
Now I had my bagger!
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The Final Package (almost)
Yep, that’s Yours Truly, sporting all the extras we talked about. So, is this the final package for me? No...not yet.
I had also kept my Karykyn Premium Floorboards from my Sportster (universal fit) and the half-sized floorboard set that I had kept for my wife. Since I purchased a 2018 model in late 2017, the manufacturers had not come out with the spline adaptors that fit my new pegs yet, but I was told they should be out on the market in a month or two. The floorboards are sitting in the toolbox just waiting to be installed.
Another addition I am looking into for highway rides: I will add a set of highway bars (crash bars/engine guards) at some point, with some custom highway pegs so I can stick my feet forward for more comfy highway cruises to the Gulf Coast and into the sunset…
I and Wifey will be alright now on those monthly Chapter rides all over the Gulf South.
With tax, title and license as you see here, I managed to keep my new Harley at just under $20 grand. A touring bike that would be 150 pounds heavier with the same or the even smaller engine would have run with TT & L approximately $25-30k. You think I did ok?
RIDE ON!
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