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Post your Harleys!
- Thread starter JimVonBaden
- Start date
AirbusFlieger
Well-known member
What year/model sporty is that please?
AirbusFlieger
Well-known member
Oh, OK.
Pan American Ride Report - Smokey Mountain Harley Davidson
HD Factory was in town and had all the demo fleet available for riding, check out the MFG license plates
event was pretty well attended
Pan Am really surprised me as to how quiet the bike was, and how linear the power was.
Sport mode is nuts, I can see how that can make one dead off road. I mostly ran in Enduro mode to tame the beast down a bit, and then I got aggressive with the right hand inputs
My only reference is I owned a ST for 10 years, and rented several R1200/1250 GS over the years and rode 1190s. The Pan Am is the real deal, but for close to $30K it is not cheap or light on the wallet to maintain.
I'm a big, old guy and would need to add lowered foot pegs to really be able to get up on the pegs to steer this with my feet off road.
Fun to Ride, yes.
Beautiful to look at, yes.
Expensive, maybe.
I'd need several hours on her to fully appriciate the bike. It was a 20 min test ride.
Too bad SMHD does not rent bikes at this time
I ended up on a Rental GS to do this loop, 129 Tail of the Dragon and Deals Gap
WolfCreek Rentals was good, but no Pan Americas. They do have other HDs for rent
End RR
Pan American Ride Report - Smokey Mountain Harley Davidson
HD Factory was in town and had all the demo fleet available for riding, check out the MFG license plates
event was pretty well attended
Pan Am really surprised me as to how quiet the bike was, and how linear the power was.
Sport mode is nuts, I can see how that can make one dead off road. I mostly ran in Enduro mode to tame the beast down a bit, and then I got aggressive with the right hand inputs
My only reference is I owned a ST for 10 years, and rented several R1200/1250 GS over the years and rode 1190s. The Pan Am is the real deal, but for close to $30K it is not cheap or light on the wallet to maintain.
I'm a big, old guy and would need to add lowered foot pegs to really be able to get up on the pegs to steer this with my feet off road.
Fun to Ride, yes.
Beautiful to look at, yes.
Expensive, maybe.
I'd need several hours on her to fully appriciate the bike. It was a 20 min test ride.
Too bad SMHD does not rent bikes at this time
I ended up on a Rental GS to do this loop, 129 Tail of the Dragon and Deals Gap
WolfCreek Rentals was good, but no Pan Americas. They do have other HDs for rent
End RR
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gymply
Member
Current:
2020 Road Glide. Looks mostly stock but there's a lot going on under the veneer. 124" engine w/performance cam and my favorite mod: Ohlins 13" Blackline shocks. Rides like a Cadillac now!!
2005 Softail Standard. Looks a lot different now but this was back when it was my only bike and I did a lot of long distance.
1975 FXE. I'm the third owner and bought this from my friend Doug a couple of years ago. Any guesses on Doug's favorite NFL team??
She had been sitting for around nine years when I bought her. I got the engine running but haven't taken the project further than that. I need to get off my dead ass and make her roadworthly this year. Too many projects, too little time...
Gone but not forgotten:
2012 Road King. Quite possibly my favorite Harley that i have owned. Simple, yet effective touring rig that handled great right out of the box. I installed an Andrews 57 cam and had her dyno tuned. Massive torque right were you needed it and she was a blast to ride. Logged a little over 50K miles before trading in on the Road Glide.
2004 Heritage Softail. HD's version of a sport-tourer. Only 700 pounds!!
2001 Road King. Mostly stock with the exception of a Screaming Eagle exhaust. Still love the color. I put about 35K miles on this bike before selling to a coworker in 2005 who still owns the bike!
1998 Sportster Sport. Dual front brakes, dual plug heads, and a hot cam from the factory. My first Harley and she was a blast!!
2020 Road Glide. Looks mostly stock but there's a lot going on under the veneer. 124" engine w/performance cam and my favorite mod: Ohlins 13" Blackline shocks. Rides like a Cadillac now!!
2005 Softail Standard. Looks a lot different now but this was back when it was my only bike and I did a lot of long distance.
1975 FXE. I'm the third owner and bought this from my friend Doug a couple of years ago. Any guesses on Doug's favorite NFL team??
She had been sitting for around nine years when I bought her. I got the engine running but haven't taken the project further than that. I need to get off my dead ass and make her roadworthly this year. Too many projects, too little time...Gone but not forgotten:
2012 Road King. Quite possibly my favorite Harley that i have owned. Simple, yet effective touring rig that handled great right out of the box. I installed an Andrews 57 cam and had her dyno tuned. Massive torque right were you needed it and she was a blast to ride. Logged a little over 50K miles before trading in on the Road Glide.
2004 Heritage Softail. HD's version of a sport-tourer. Only 700 pounds!!
2001 Road King. Mostly stock with the exception of a Screaming Eagle exhaust. Still love the color. I put about 35K miles on this bike before selling to a coworker in 2005 who still owns the bike!
1998 Sportster Sport. Dual front brakes, dual plug heads, and a hot cam from the factory. My first Harley and she was a blast!!
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Captain Jim
Shiftless
Another blast from the past: FLHTCU...
AirbusFlieger
Well-known member
Love that workbench!!!Current:
2020 Road Glide. Looks mostly stock but there's a lot going on under the veneer. 124" engine w/performance cam and my favorite mod: Ohlins 13" Blackline shocks. Rides like a Cadillac now!!
2005 Softail Standard. Looks a lot different now but this was back when it was my only bike and I did a lot of long distance.
1975 FXE. I'm the third owner and bought this from my friend Doug a couple of years ago. Any guesses on Doug's favorite NFL team??
Gone but not forgotten:
2012 Road King. Quite possibly my favorite Harley that i have owned. Simple, yet effective touring rig that handled great right out of the box. I installed an Andrews 57 cam and had her dyno tuned. Massive torque right were you needed it and she was a blast to ride. Logged a little over 50K miles before trading in on the Road Glide.
2004 Heritage Softail. HD's version of a sport-tourer. Only 700 pounds!!
2001 Road King. Mostly stock with the exception of a Screaming Eagle exhaust. Still love the color. I put about 35K miles on this bike before selling to a coworker in 2005 who still owns the bike!
1998 Sportster Sport. Dual front brakes, dual plug heads, and a hot cam from the factory. My first Harley and she was a blast!!
After some time with the Road Glide, how's it compare to the Road King? Would you do it again?
I have a Softail Deuce I love, but am looking at the Road King and Road Glide.
gymply
Member
Thanks!! I stole the workbench design from my Dad and Uncle. They built the original in 1977 and I think their design criteria was "If a tornado blows this barn away, I want this workbench to still be here."
It's definitely heavy duty...As for the King vs Glide, it would be a tough choice but I'd probably go with the Glide. The Road King is a little lighter, but the reality is that both of these bikes are still heavy. The one thing I liked better on the RK was the stock suspension. It came with 13" air shocks and they worked pretty good. The RG came with 12" spring shocks. The left side had a heavy spring and adjustable preload and the right side had a smaller spring and controlled rebound. Not sure what the theoretical value was in the different springs, but on the road their performance sucked. I replaced them with a set of Ohlins Blackline 13" and have been happy ever since. I think all the new Touring models come with the spring shocks now and the "Special" models have the 12" version while the non-Special models have the 13". The Road Glide provides a lot more wind protection too. The frame mounted fairing took a minute to get used to because when turning it partially blocks your immediate view and gives the false impression that you are falling over. At least it did for me coming of the Road King with the full see-through windshield. I swapped the RG stock windscreen to a Long Ride Shields (I think) 12" screen. That removed all the buffeting from my 6' 0" frame. One note on the 12" screen---I look through it and I went with a dark tint. Sometimes at night it is hard to see through the screen. Not a big deal but you may want to go with a lighter tint or clear if it is an issue. The Road Glide was also the first bike I've had with lower fairings. I installed them specifically so I could mount another set of front speakers but I really like them for the wind and rain protection. They minimize the pants leg flapping and bug splatter on your jeans which is nice. On a stock air-cooled bike the engine heat may be an issue with the lower fairings, but I've done some engine work and tuning so mine is running a little richer than stock and keeps the temps down. Finally, the stock radio sucks and it can't really be heard at speeds over about 65 MPH. I added 400 watts and upgraded speakers to correct this issue.
The stereo is nice around town, but if I'm doing big miles i wear earbuds and listen through them.Anyhow, sorry for the novel. To summarize, I would definitely buy the Road Glide again but I still like the King too. I don't think you can go wrong either way!!
AirbusFlieger
Well-known member
That was really great!! Thank youThanks!! I stole the workbench design from my Dad and Uncle. They built the original in 1977 and I think their design criteria was "If a tornado blows this barn away, I want this workbench to still be here."
As for the King vs Glide, it would be a tough choice but I'd probably go with the Glide. The Road King is a little lighter, but the reality is that both of these bikes are still heavy. The one thing I liked better on the RK was the stock suspension. It came with 13" air shocks and they worked pretty good. The RG came with 12" spring shocks. The left side had a heavy spring and adjustable preload and the right side had a smaller spring and controlled rebound. Not sure what the theoretical value was in the different springs, but on the road their performance sucked. I replaced them with a set of Ohlins Blackline 13" and have been happy ever since. I think all the new Touring models come with the spring shocks now and the "Special" models have the 12" version while the non-Special models have the 13". The Road Glide provides a lot more wind protection too. The frame mounted fairing took a minute to get used to because when turning it partially blocks your immediate view and gives the false impression that you are falling over. At least it did for me coming of the Road King with the full see-through windshield. I swapped the RG stock windscreen to a Long Ride Shields (I think) 12" screen. That removed all the buffeting from my 6' 0" frame. One note on the 12" screen---I look through it and I went with a dark tint. Sometimes at night it is hard to see through the screen. Not a big deal but you may want to go with a lighter tint or clear if it is an issue. The Road Glide was also the first bike I've had with lower fairings. I installed them specifically so I could mount another set of front speakers but I really like them for the wind and rain protection. They minimize the pants leg flapping and bug splatter on your jeans which is nice. On a stock air-cooled bike the engine heat may be an issue with the lower fairings, but I've done some engine work and tuning so mine is running a little richer than stock and keeps the temps down. Finally, the stock radio sucks and it can't really be heard at speeds over about 65 MPH. I added 400 watts and upgraded speakers to correct this issue.
Anyhow, sorry for the novel. To summarize, I would definitely buy the Road Glide again but I still like the King too. I don't think you can go wrong either way!!
I think I'm leaning on a Road Glide for wx protection..
As for suspension, on any H-D the first thing I do is bin the suspension and put aftermarket suspension on them. A big thorn in my foot about H-D's..... that if buying new I'm facing $2000,$2500 right off the bat for a workable suspension.
I have Legend Revo A's on my 2003 Softail, progressively wound fork springs with heavier oil in the forks which transformed the comfort and handling.
Experience has taught me the single best dollar spend on accessories is suspension. Good suspension set up right transforms a motorcycle completely.
Any chance to get some pics of that bench setup? It looks like an easy design to build. I have a circular saw, and a a POS miter saw that sits on the floor to work with.
I'll post a new thread for garage benches.
gymply
Member
Agreed on the stock suspension! I’m running Progressive 422 shocks and Race Tech springs and emulators with heavy oil in my Softail. It helps… Unfortunately, it’s not limited to just HD. The only two bikes I’ve ever owned with good factory suspension are my 1290 with the WP setup and my Monster with Ohlins on both ends.
Funny you ask for workbench pics—-a buddy of mine back in Alabama asked the same thing not too long ago. Here’s a link to my SmugMug. I think it’s publicly viewable but let me know if you can’t access it.
https://gymply.smugmug.com/Workbench/n-9p7VgQ/
Funny you ask for workbench pics—-a buddy of mine back in Alabama asked the same thing not too long ago. Here’s a link to my SmugMug. I think it’s publicly viewable but let me know if you can’t access it.
https://gymply.smugmug.com/Workbench/n-9p7VgQ/
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