Friday, January 16, 2009

My rides (or adopted children)......

>>CLICK THE PICS TO ENLARGE<<

Since this is predominately a biker related blog, I decided to post a couple pics of my previous steed, an 02 FXSTD and my current ride, an 09 FLHX. Click the pics to supersize. I waited 6 long months to have the Deuce built and the day it came in it was 24 degrees and I wasn't waiting another minute to get my hands on it. I took it for a test ride (about a mile - I froze my backside off that quick) and loaded it on the trailer for the 4 hour journey home

About half way home (no - I dont ride in 24 degrees) the snow started to fall. Now I'm no happy camper because there was no mention of snow in the forecast (imagine that!) and all I could think of was getting er home in the warm garage!

I pull in the driveway (dreading to look at the mess behind me) and sure enough, the whole bike is covered with dirty road ice! Thank goodness in NC they don't use salt or this nasty chloride crap they use here in Pa! So because the whole trailer is covered in ice, I almost drop the thing just getting it off! Needless to say it had its first bath before I ever even really rode it. I kept it six years, did all the mods myself and logged 30K trouble free miles before trading er in on the glide.



Now for all you open face, "a bike's not a bike unless there's no windshield on it" types.....I was predisposed to that line of thinking too....all my life! Then my one brother (who happens to own one of the sickest nite trains around) goes and buys a 98 Electra Glide.

Well I resisted his begging me to take it for a spin (for at least 2 minutes) and decided....what the heck.....always wanted to see what one of these things rode like anyway, so off I go. Let me tell you......10 minutes into the ride with the radio blasting out my favorite Lynard Skynard tune and I was HOOKED!!

It took some convincing to get the wife aboard an old "pop-pop bike", but once aboard for a couple miles, she had to admit it was pretty cool having tunes. That moment I decided I had to have a bagger and I wish I would have done it sooner. I just got the Glide in Sept and by the time I put it away I already logged more miles than I did all last year on the ole Deuce! Yeah, I'd have loved to keep the ole steed (my wife almost divorced me over my trading it in) but alas....I'm not nearly financially able to own 2 HD's.

So, here's my awesome new ride with just a few mods, like the must have sissy bar for the wife, a Mustang solo / pillion, a taller windsheild and freedom wings for cold weather riding (which of course will come off when it warms up around here). Not shown but added since these were taken are a set of Rush 2" slipons and highway pegs.


This is one sweet ride and the mods the mo-co did on the 09's are tremendous.



Oh, and the bags?........cant beat them for having everything you need for an all day ride. Nice place to store the wine when out on a winery tour too!...lol



Now I've been a fan of black all my life and every bike I've owned has been black, but when I saw this color in the sun, I was sold. It has a metalflake that really pops in the sun. Still looking for ideas on what to do with custom paint. I'm thinking along the lines of something like this....




So there ya have it. Enough about me and mine - how bout the low-down on yours?

7 comments:

  1. My first was an '01 Hugger 883 that I bought on eBay. I put about 3500 miles on her in the first 2.5 years riding. Then last summer I traded her in for a brand new '08 Super Glide (which I've ridden near 3000 miles in only 3-4 months)! I love that girl! One day I'd love to get a Street Glide. Your new ride is sweet!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Teleman... Welcome to our little blogging community. I noticed your comment on Mr. M.'s post and thought I'd drop over and check it out.

    My first bike was a 2001 Suzuki 800 Intruder. Loved it! Great first bike for me, cause it was light and nimble enough, but still had great power to keep up with the big boys. Now, I ride one of the big boys myself. I'm on a '98 Electra Glide Classic, and my hubby rides an '07 Street Glide. We ride together almost every weekend we don't have other plans or weather keeps us from it. We commute to work during the summer, but not so much this time of year.

    Come on over and check out my blog sometime, I'm always glad to add new friends to my blog roll. See ya on the net!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Err. I also meant to say what a nice looking ride you have! You made me laugh calling it a Pop Pop bike. Dave, over at Road Grits Cafe refers to them as Geezer Glides. They way I see it, I really enjoy riding, and if I can ride long distances while staying completely comfortable, seems like it's not such a dumb concept after all.

    Looking forward to more post from you in the future!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey there! Thanks for the welcome and the positive remarks! Yeah, at 50, I'm all about comfort now. "Cool" is only somewhat as important as it was 10 yrs ago.....but I think baggers are cool now that I'm an old bag meself!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome to the club.
    kick back and enjoy.
    keep writing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wouldn't mind a Street Glide myself, except, I'm 38 yrs old, and not ready to give up my custom Sporty just yet, and My wife surely doesn't want me to have two bikes because of the financial burden. If I could have both, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

    Both of your rides are/were sweet by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks man. Like I said....the wife almost divorced me when did the swap. I think she developed a strange identity attachment to the ole Deuce........lol

    ReplyDelete