Howdy folks. A few of you know me and how many unfinished projects I have. None of them seem to hold my interest like Sportsters do. They are so much fun to ride and so easy to work on. My main complaint with them has always been their obesity and their crappy suspension.
After I sold the last bike I built
I decided I would buy the Sporty I always wanted- the 1200S model. This bike came from the factory with triple adjustable front and rear suspension, hotter cams, triple disc brakes, higher compression and twin plug ignition. Post 2000 models are the best as they came with dual 4 piston calipers(best stock brakes I've ever had!).
So after some looking I found this model- black of course!
Its a 2000 that only had 10000 easy miles on it. After the scariest test ride I've ever had, I paid the man $3500 for it and proudly brought it home.
The reason the test ride was so scary was this-
7psi in the tires, both shocks had different settings from each other, as well as the forks!
Once I aired up the tires and properly set the suspension, I was in love!!!
This S model runs so smooth, the twin plug ignition smooths out the revs like no other Harley I've ever had. At 80-90 there is barely any vibration in the bars. Not bad for a solidly mounted engine!
I really wanted to lighten this baby up and make it handle, handle, handle!!!
So, a steering damper, rearsets, 2-1exhaust, ZRX1200 KYB shocks, aluminum FLY 7/8" motocross bar and a fork brace were first on the list
Now the weight needed to come off- Stock harley mag wheels are SUPER heavy. So I decided to switch over to Katana 17" rims, because they are 3" front and 3.5" rear. I fitted Michelin Pilots to them and machined some adapters on the lathe to run them. This switch netted me over 35lbs of savings!!! Honestly the difference this made was amazing. Turn in, acceleration, are so much better I still can't believe it.
I also modified a welding mask to act as a mini-fairing.
More weight needed to come off, so I removed the battery, oil tank, battery box and all mounts under the seat.
The battery went from a 15lb pig to a 1.83lb Shorai 210CCA unit mounted into its own box under the seat
to get an idea of how light this battery is, check this movie of my 6 year old holding it.
MOV08656
The oil tank is on it's way back from the welder and is a small aluminum unit that will be sprung mounted to the front downtubes to move the weight forward and down
Now I've switched the fairing over to a more conventional style.
In this photo you can also see the rear fender strut/fender has been cut down quite a bit.
I ditched the stock speedo/tach- 4lbs! and made a small indicator light panel with an LED to shine on the Sigma bicycle computer that will now be my speedo/trip meter/odometer.
This bike is sooo much fun to ride. Its SO torquey and just plain effortless to ride in the twisties.
Keep checking in, because I haven't even started drilling holes in things!!!
Oh yes I have-
And there is a lot more to chop down/off/drill! I'm aiming to get this thing to 400 wet. We'll see!!!
After I sold the last bike I built
I decided I would buy the Sporty I always wanted- the 1200S model. This bike came from the factory with triple adjustable front and rear suspension, hotter cams, triple disc brakes, higher compression and twin plug ignition. Post 2000 models are the best as they came with dual 4 piston calipers(best stock brakes I've ever had!).
So after some looking I found this model- black of course!
Its a 2000 that only had 10000 easy miles on it. After the scariest test ride I've ever had, I paid the man $3500 for it and proudly brought it home.
The reason the test ride was so scary was this-
7psi in the tires, both shocks had different settings from each other, as well as the forks!
Once I aired up the tires and properly set the suspension, I was in love!!!
This S model runs so smooth, the twin plug ignition smooths out the revs like no other Harley I've ever had. At 80-90 there is barely any vibration in the bars. Not bad for a solidly mounted engine!
I really wanted to lighten this baby up and make it handle, handle, handle!!!
So, a steering damper, rearsets, 2-1exhaust, ZRX1200 KYB shocks, aluminum FLY 7/8" motocross bar and a fork brace were first on the list
Now the weight needed to come off- Stock harley mag wheels are SUPER heavy. So I decided to switch over to Katana 17" rims, because they are 3" front and 3.5" rear. I fitted Michelin Pilots to them and machined some adapters on the lathe to run them. This switch netted me over 35lbs of savings!!! Honestly the difference this made was amazing. Turn in, acceleration, are so much better I still can't believe it.
I also modified a welding mask to act as a mini-fairing.
More weight needed to come off, so I removed the battery, oil tank, battery box and all mounts under the seat.
The battery went from a 15lb pig to a 1.83lb Shorai 210CCA unit mounted into its own box under the seat
to get an idea of how light this battery is, check this movie of my 6 year old holding it.
MOV08656
The oil tank is on it's way back from the welder and is a small aluminum unit that will be sprung mounted to the front downtubes to move the weight forward and down
Now I've switched the fairing over to a more conventional style.
In this photo you can also see the rear fender strut/fender has been cut down quite a bit.
I ditched the stock speedo/tach- 4lbs! and made a small indicator light panel with an LED to shine on the Sigma bicycle computer that will now be my speedo/trip meter/odometer.
This bike is sooo much fun to ride. Its SO torquey and just plain effortless to ride in the twisties.
Keep checking in, because I haven't even started drilling holes in things!!!
Oh yes I have-
And there is a lot more to chop down/off/drill! I'm aiming to get this thing to 400 wet. We'll see!!!
