I've never been a fan of Harley, always thought they were antiquated technology, poorly made and way over priced. I recently had the opportunity to ride (for the first time) and own a truly horrible example of a Harley of some unknown origin, history, or model for that matter because the title states the model as "Assembled Parts"... sketchy, real sketchy. This thing reeked of regret and bad decision making.
From about 20 feet looked pretty good. It was clearly customized with some CNC rims, big fat tire and a fat stretched tank, some cool looking exhaust and Ape Hangers! At 5 feet... was not so good. All this trick stuff was hanging on by a tread or, in this case, bolts that were basically falling out and stripped off. The guy says "runs good!"
Why would i want it? I've already stated what my presumptions of Harley motorcycles are. So what would posses me? Well just like most of us here at GRM there is something that overcomes sense and reason when it comes to automotive passion. Some kind of madness that plagues us to do some really stupid but equally fantastic thing. Maybe this could be one of those stories.
My first ride on a Harley: Okay so I know nothing about Harley but I just did the logical safety check. Brakes seem to work, bolts holding the tree and wheels appeared to be, well, holding. What could go wrong. Turned the fuel on. pumped the throttle a few times a pressed the starter button. The engine immediately came to life roaring with anger and intent. The vibration and noise was... alarming. No time to get the fear, I punched the shifter down to first and gave it the beans! IT WAS FRIGHTING! the wight of this thing and those ridicules ape hangers combined with torque that i have never experience with two wheels before made for a hairy first ride. I made it back after a sort run, wide eyed and a little shaken but still smiling.
Yes the madness had already begun to set in. This was something new and even though i still felt the same way about Harley, I still had to have it. Lucky for me it was stupid cheep. $500 for a running Harley seemed safe enough.
So i properly greased the seller palm with 5 benjies and sent him on his way. I Grabbed my jacket and some yellow glasses and now with those first kiss jitters out of the way i got to really settle in and enjoy.
I totally got it. I was sons of anarchy. I was the loan biker of the apocalypses. Harleys are antiquated, poorly built and most (not this one) are way over priced but when you ride them you are a bad ass! Or at least you are in your own mind. Madness...
OKAY! So with out further ado. My Harley Build (Because the current condition will not do)
I was so sketchy of the bolts falling out that i didn't even take a picture of it before i began to strip it down.