fastbob

New battery in the Harley . Yuasa YTX20 , £100 , ouch ! The old one wasn't holding a charge despite what the Optimate was saying . Does anyone else suspect that Optimates are grossly over hyped pieces of junk ?

I must be getting old . Surely I'd remember our conversation if we'd met ?

I love a good , straight ahead boogie so I'm currently fixated on this revisited little gem from Lou Reed.

Started both of mine up . The ER5 fired up straight away despite being outside for months. The Harley has a semi flat front tyre which is puzzling because it's a tube type . Easily fixed if it actually turns out to be a puncture .

I thought that would get your attention . That's a beauty you've got there . I bet that chopped can sounds awesome . Brutal bikes , I had mine for ten years and the WP for another ten years .

Finally got that damned screw out of the battery box and tightened my loose battery terminal . My fault for not looking properly and trying to use a Phillips on a Torx head . So now the polishing begins in earnest ready for that first dry weekend .

Brand loyal ? Not really . I just fancied a change from Suzuki and was pleasantly surprised .

Nah , not necessarily so . I did 16,000 miles of mostly long distance riding on mine . After 2004 they came with a rubber mounted engine that got rid of most of the vibration . My particular model had twin discs up front so I was able to ride it the same as a sports bike . Pottering around ? Sportsters are considered slow because people think they should sound like a Shovelhead but they are built to be thrashed .

Not in a million years !!

Buying a Harley is not a rational decision . You buy one because you want one . I've owned a few bikes , mostly Suzuki's but until I got my first Harley ( Sportster ) I never felt the urge to pull over just so i could dance around my bike giggling like a lunatic .

It's very much appreciated but I've got an Optimate 3 . Anyway I've got two steady green lights at last after a weekend of flashing orange .

There are many great mysteries that intrigue mankind . Who built the Great Pyramids ? , What really happened at Roswell ? , What was the true function of Stone Henge ? Who shot JFK ? and WHAT IN THE NAME OF F**K DO THE LEDs ON AN OPTIMATE CHARGER ACTUALLY MEAN ??

Now that you have the correct tyre pressures , whack the tyres with a big spanner and memorise the note that they make . This is a quick way of checking for a drastic fall in pressure .

Do so if you must . Personally I like to announce my arrival by a good blip of the throttle while simultaneously flicking the kill switch . Then again , I don't think there is a side stand switch on my Harley .

The only electric motor I want on my bike is the one that starts the engine .

I've just told you what's what . Get a mint condition Dyna . The latest Harleys are so bland that you might as well get a Jap lookalike . They've got ABS , balancer shafts and even liquid cooling . They are assembled using components from all over the world and can hardly be described as American . All they make now are Soft Tails that are , at best pretentious . But if you want to blow 15 to 20 grand on a new Harley then go ahead . But if you are buying one for the bike and not the brand name , a Dyna is where it's at .

Well just buy one then . Good luck . ( A V-Rod is not a Dyna by the way . )

I'm biased of course but if you want to venture into the world of Harley Davidson then you would do well to be looking at a second hand Dyna Super Glide . People buy Harley's for a variety of reasons so there are plenty of ten year old bikes that are barely run in . A good place to start is anything from 2007 onwards because that's the year that they introduced hydraulic cam chain adjusters . Don't piss about with 1450s , go strait for a 1585 or a 1690 then you won't be riding around wondering " What if ? "

I've just realised . By Sportster S you mean that new thing not the original Sportster S .

I had an 04 1200 R for a few years . Great bike , best of all worlds . Carb , twin discs , rubber mounted engine , tacho , big fins , 5 speed box .

If you look at it objectively you need a Suzuki or a Kawasaki because they are superior in every way . But if your heart rules your head you will get the real thing and learn to live with it .

Now it all makes sense .

Ok then . That proves conclusively that I do NOT have a Stage One filter or backplate . I would be interested to see what the new one looks like when it is installed. ( Without the chrome cover obviously )

It's been a long hard week so please forgive me for being so slow on the uptake . What are you actually replacing ? The backplate AND the filter element or just the filter element ? The back plate in THIS picture is a standard item and not part of a stage one set up .