getting there slowly

I called in to Area 51 this morning to pick up my new bars.
They looked huge!
To be honest, when I first picked them up I did think for a minute or two that I had gone over the top in getting the drag bars with a 10 inch riser but when I had a look at another night train, with a similar rise to its bars which was being worked on in the shop, I am glad I did go for the ones I did. They are only about three inches higher than the stock risers and drag bars but the simpler lines will make them stand out more. So, although they do look much bigger, they are not going to change the riding position too radically.
I've got them on to the bike and with them being 50% thicker than stock , they go some way to giving the front end the "beefy" look that I want. The only down side is, they emphasise the "spindlyness "of the forks and wheel, so I'll definately have to look at changing the rest of the front end. I'm narrowing my choice down with every custom bike I see so by the time I get the cash together I should be ready to get exactly the look I desire!

Next step is to start to work out how long I need the control cables to be.

Chatting to Colin, who was so helpful in giving advice on things I could do for myself, helped me decide that cutting and soldering the wires for my rear turn signals was the only way to go. On Monday I'll finish the wiring, check that it all works and get the rear fender back on.

Then I can start on preparing the front end electrics.

buying parts

I'm all set to finish replacing the rear turn-signals.
Well, almost! I've decided (finally) where they are going to go, I've checked out how I'm going to extend the wiring on the new indicators and I've even removed the fender tail light and indicators.
So what IS the hold-up this time?
I don't want to cut off the connector from the stock indicators in case I ever want to re-use (or sell) them. So I thought the easiest solution would be to buy new connectors, solder or crimp them on and away I go.
So, I went on to a Harley forum and asked where I could buy replacement connectors.
No-one seems to know. So now I've got yet another wait untill I can source these little bits of plastic.

on my way home

I dropped in to Area 51 Custom Cycles on my way back from a shortish run this morning.

I was out catching the best of the autumnal weather. The sun was shining and the leaves are turning. All around are the glorious colours of "the fall" as our yankee cousins would say. There was a slight nip in the air from last night's frost but the sun soon warmed me up. Great biking weather!

But, to get back to Area 51.

It's good to see that they're still there and not just an idea which didn't work and is no more but a site on the web. There is a feel-good experience being in a workshop that is doing something that you love. It's almost as good as being able to do it yourself. Almost I said!
The guys there are really friendly and helpful. I've ordered a set of drag bars and was even contemplating getting them to fit them too. Only thing about that is the cost. I will order extended cable from them but as Richard pointed out, it is the time it will take, as it's a labour intensive job, which will drive up the price. He even as much as said that it is a job which wouldn't be too complicated so I will most likely do it myself.

That way I will be able to keep the difference to buy more parts.

I also had another look at the fitting for the rear turn signals and have changed my mind yet again!

I'm sure that I can attach them through the fitment for the back-rest supports.

That seems to be the best solution I've come up with so far!

tools

One thing I have had to do since buying my Harley is to get together a new tool-box.

With so many of Harley's fasteners being imperial sizes, many of my old sockets, wrenches and spanners were just no use.

Maybe one day HD will go down the metric road.

But until that day, Prime Tools is an excellent source for all those sockets and things which often only seem to be available from the USA.

something for the future

Buying a shiny (well matt) new and modern bike has its benefits.

If anything breaks I can get it repaired under warranty, there is an efficiency which makes that event more unlikely and it has all the latest gadgets and gizmos.

But, and it is a big but, sometimes there are also the down-sides.

The warranty is very likely to be negated by customising the bike. I, and lots of other people, may think that adapting the stock bike definately is an improvement but HD only view this as a way out of fulfilling their post-sale responsibilities when they provide a machine.

The bike may not readily break down  but if this does happen, the gadgets and gizmos just make it more complicated to carry out repairs.

Fuel injection is one of these things. It took me a while to understand the intricies of carburrretion, especially in multiple carb rice-burners. So, as you can imagine, having fuel injection on my bike is enough to make my eyes glaze over and go watch Strictly Come Dancing.

Therefore when I came across this site, little wheels and cogs in my head started whirring.

Maybe one day!

going up and down (safely)

I tried out the bike lift today for the first time and it works a treat.

I'll need to think up some method of holding back the bar when lowering the lift. Either that or grow an extra arm! The bar which lifts the safety supports needs to be held back, to allow the lift to lower, while the relase knob is turned at the same time. I just wouldn't feel safe lowering the bike on the lift without having a hand on the bike at the same time. Just in case!

I was considering what to do to the bike while it was up on the lift and was just about to start the job of replacing the rear turn signals when I had a brainwave.
I think I will move the turn signals forwards a bit on the fender support. This will mean I'll have to drill new holes in the fender support to take the signal mounting bolt. Hopefully, I'll be able to run the wires along the underside of the support to the hole in the fender and from there follow the original route to the tail-light assembly. Because of the drilling I will have to consider carefully how it will look and more importantly if it will work. I will strip the fender down and see where I'm going from there.

I also removed the Harley badges from the tank and am going to leave the tank bare and black.

Definately NOT ......

.........on a Harley.

But you've got to recognise this guys bottle.
Or gasp at his stupidity!