So, after Winchester H-D installed a new rear tire and cleaned the
carb on my "new" 2000 model year Super Glide Sport, I brought it home
on Friday and rode it.
The Vance & Hines short shot exhaust pipes - little more than open
headers - were insanely loud. I rode the bike gingerly around the
neighborhood wearing my DOT 1/2 helmet, short shifting, and riding
slowly. My ears were ringing when I rolled into the driveway five
minutes later. The bike ran fine, but the noise was unbearable and
the front fork dive under braking was ridiculous. So, I checked the
front fork settings - full soft on compression damping, full soft on
rebound damping, and no spring preload. I set everything up to
halfway between full soft and full hard, put on my full face helmet
and rode the bike again. The noise was monumentally impressive from
within the FF helmet, but not deafening. The dive was reduced, the
front fork was still compliant and plush, but the dive was still
excessive. I went to 3 clicks out from full hard on compression
damping, rode it again, and thern went to 3/4 spring preload, full
hard compression, and 3 clicks out from full hard rebound damping.
Rode it again and it was much better, certainly livable. It won't be
optimum until I put higher rate springs and heavier duty fork oil in
it, but it will do for now.
All this time, the adjustable rear suspension pretty much felt like a
hardtail ride. So, I checked it. Full hard setting on the
compression damping and no spring preload at all. Well, the spring
rate seems to be optimized for a 250lb rider with a 150lb passenger
and about 75 pounds of gear, so there's nothing I can do about that
right now. I backed the compression damping off to the halfway point,
and that seemed to allow the rear end to move a little bit when I hit
big bumps, so I backed it off again to full soft, and that feels about
right.
Adjustable suspension is nice, but can't really make up for spring
rates that completely out of whack. So at least now the bike passes
the bounce test and doesn't sag excessively when I sit on it.
I compared the stock exhaust system that I bought off of Craigslist
with the V&H system and it looked like it might be missing some
brackets, so I rode the bike to Patriot H-D and looked at the exploded
diagram of the exhaust there (I have the parts manual and workshop
manual on order, but this LOUD exhaust can't wait for them to arrive)
and it looked JUST EXACTLY like my exhaust, so I bought some crush
gaskets and short-shifted my way home.
Took me about three hours to get the V&H system off and the stock
system properly and securely installed. THe stock system is heavy,
made up of lots of parts, you have to install them in a certain order,
and then gradually tighten everything up as it "works its way" into
the best fitting configuration of joints, clamps, and connectors.
WOW! The bike looks better, and it is........ whisper quiet at
idle. You can carry on a conversation with the bike between you and
another person, using normal living room conversational tones. When
you rev the bike up, it has a pleasing, low, bass rumble, but nothing
that would wake the neighbors even if I rocketed out of the
neighborhood at 5:30am on full throttle.
I rode the bike around the neighborhood wearing the 1/2 helmet. Just
fine, very fine. Rode it with the full face helmet. Perfect.
I took the bike out for a little 25-mile jaunt, and the low-end torque
off-idle and in the taller gears is MUCH improved over the amount
available with the straight pipes. Funny; I've heard experienced
wrenches for years say that too little back pressure in a H-D exhaust
will rob you of torque. It always made sense in an academic way.
Now, I have felt it in the seat-of-the-pants way and that is a much
MORE impressive lesson.
Today, after an all-day excursion by truck to central PA and back, I
took the bike out for another 25-mile ride and filled it with 3.8
gallons of fresh fuel (the fuel I had been burnign was three years old
and stank to high heaven). Surprisingly, the fresh fuel had no
effect on the running of the bike. It carburetes perfectly; no flat
spots, no backfiring, no closed-throttle crackling, and idles like a
nice old single carb Triumph.
I like this bike. I like it a lot. It makes me smile when I ride it,
and it is exactly what I've been thinking about for about three or
four years ... a proper sporting big twin that has a comfortable,
neutral riding position and very low maintenance requirements.
I suspect that - likel the Street Glide - it will inhabit a spot in my
garage for many years to come.
> I like this bike. I like it a lot.
WTFGAS what you ride, or how much you like it or dislike it?
Reeky is dying.
It's about to spastically kick the bucket down the hill like
Jimmy Durante did in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,"and you're just
puffing out your chest and strutting around like the egomaniac you
are.
And I'm wondering how I should celebrate the Death of Reeky.
Where will Reeky be buried?
Will there be any mourners in attendance?
Should I drink a pint of Chivas Regal, filter it through my kidneys,
and piss on my computer or just piss on the monitor?
Could you post a large image of your ugly phizz on the web?
I'll gladly piss on that...
On 21/08/2011 8:39 AM, gus wrote:
> WTFGAS what you ride, or how much you like it or dislike it?
In fact I do and a suspect several others do too.
> Reeky is dying.
Dying? Maybe. For sure it is not what it once was and may never be
again. More ride reports would help.
--
Disclaimer
Do not believe a thing I have said, unless you already know it to be
true, or can independently verify it from another source.
Reeky Ride To The Rockies
http://actualriders.ca/reekyrockies.htm
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