Harley Davidson Forums banner

First real ride on new (to me) Sportster

2K views 20 replies 18 participants last post by  RexJ 
#1 ·
Well, this was the morning. Did all the checks and then some...
(Thanks for the advice, guys!) 1999 883 Sportster.
Walked outside with helmet, gloves, and makeshift tool kit.
Bike sitting in driveway, stunningly beautiful in the morning sun...
Put everything on, check oil, squeeze tires.
Key in ignition, choke on, light fire.
Beautiful exhaust rumble!
Pull clutch in, throttle, ease off clutch.
Bike dies.
Okay, no problem. Find green "N", try again.
Bike won't start.
Okay, problem. Damn.
Try again, nothing. Let starter cool.
Try again, let starter cool.
Battery dying.
Damn. My first real ride on this bike is becoming my first real sit-and-spin.
Get battery charger out of car.
Bike is still beautiful, sun glinting off of chrome.
Off of chrome fuel petcock.
Which is, of course, turned off.
Put charger away, open petcock, wait a minute, hit starter and it fires right up.
Exhaust sounds great - DUMMY-dumb, DUMMY-dumb, DUMMY-dumb.
Couldn't agree more.
Ride to gas station. Sportsters don't like deep sand roads? Who knew?
Fill it up with 93 IT'S HOW MUCH? DAMN!
Get out on pavement, choke off, up through the gears.
Back off throttle to 55. Happy no cops around.
Go to Harley dealer to order shop manual.
It's become Indian dealer. Walk inside, ask for directions.
Get wrong directions.
See Police car parked in lot, stop to ask for directions.
Talk about bikes and stuff for almost an hour. I'm supposed to be riding.
Contrary to TV, Cops, Bikers and Truckers are all on same team, and know it.
Directions complicated, he says, "Just follow me."
Leads me right to it. Quickly. As in, 75 in a 45.
Chasing a cop just feels so wrong.
Buy shop manual IT'S HOW MUCH? DAMN!
Order duplicate key IT'S HOW MUCH? DAMN!
Bike is getting expensive.
Finally get on road. Go into city (mistake), Harbor Freight for basic tools and reflective vest, then bookstore, then restaurant.
Another biker follows me in to tell me that jacket riding up, exposing carry piece. Damn.
We talk the perfect triad, women, bikes and guns. Half an hour later, I'm eating.
Spending more time talking to strangers than riding.
Seems to be the Harley way.
Finally on highway, roll throttle on.
Roll it off back down to 70.
Glad no cops around. Again.
Where's all the vibration people speak of? Not feeling much.
Not wanting to go home. Wanting to point bike West and roll on.
"Then Came Bronson" for real. But a sixty-mile first ride is enough.
Get home, talk to neighbor for an hour. Sheesh. Is this going to be A Thing?

My impressions:
Bike is fun. As in, "OMG THIS IS FUN!!!!!"
Forward pegs are good, once I have feet taught to go where they are when taking off.
Looking for pegs in wrong places. Could be a Country song.
High bars are okay, but riding upright I need a windshield.
Priced one at dealer IT'S HOW MUCH? DAMN!
Don't need more power. Bike is fine. Scary fine.
Where's all the vibration?
Figuring out trip meter was strange.
Will be spending a lot more time outdoors.
Will need better jacket.
Really need to adjust controls. Had to lift foot off peg to upshift.
Could be the all-around best bike I've ever owned, need a few more rides.
Will have many more rides.
Dealership is expensive.
People talk too much. I want to ride.

Thanks everyone for your advice, encouragement and good wishes.
 

Attachments

See less See more
2
#2 ·
Glad you enjoyed the ride...
Conversations...
It's the "Harley way!
 
#4 ·
I enjoyed your write up. You, enjoy your ride.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dub
#5 ·
You'll be sayin' "IT'S HOW MUCH? DAMN!!" a lot if you really get into makin' it look better than it already does! :eek-surprise

Good lookin' scooter!! You sure talk a lot! :laugh
 
#10 ·
Welcome to the World of owning a Harley . Most people will talk to you but some will not all people love bikers .
It sounds like you learned a few things today like turn petcock on and keep a eye on how much gas you have at all times. So you don't run out Sportster don't have a large Fuel tank ,So learn to right mileage down until you know how far you can go on a tank full or you will be walking or calling road service to bring you some gas.
Glad to hear your enjoying the New ride and get out and get some more miles
 
#11 ·
Good write up. You are beginning to understand why there are so many LOW mileage Harleys for sale. Rider starts out, but gets distracted by conversations. Riders without fuel gauges usually use the trip meter as a gauge. Remember the mileage when you have to switch to reserve a few times. Then you know when to start looking for a station, pretty accurate usually. Keep your post flagged so you can find it in the future. You will soon be seeking more power, a smoother ride, etc. Nothing wrong with the bike, it just seems that's how we are, gotta fiddle with it. You did know that H.D. meant Hundred Dollars didn't you?
 
#13 ·
Enjoyable write-up. Sounds like you are hooked. Happened to all of us. And as was said HD means hundreds dollars or, just high dollar. But if you work it right you can get one of the nice leather HD jackets for free like I recently did. Get a HD Visa card and use it for EVERYTHING and accumulate points then cash 'em in and buy that nice leather jacket! My wife used to pay for groceries with a check, and send an occasional check to State Farm for our insurance, and I would often pay for a restaurant meal with cash but no more. Now we use the HD Visa for everything and I watch those points roll up.
 
#15 ·
Morning petercat. I enjoyed your post and it brought back memories of my 1st Harley and my 1st ride on it :devil. I went from brand X bike to a 1098 Low rider and thought to myself on the way home. What the Hell did I just do :eek-surprise. On the other bike you could read the license plate behind you. NOT on the that low rider you couldn't. BUT 9 Harley's later who cares ha ha ha. Also Talkin motorcycles is what we do any place and every place we go. Welcome to a NEW world and keep on enjoying your rides. Rick
 
#16 ·
My wife rides a 2016 Forty-Eight and the fuel tank holds 2.1 gallons of gas. I purchased a five-gallon gas can dedicated to the higher octane fuel so I can top off the tank before we ride. Much easier than stopping at the gas station each time we ride (We knew in advance that this would be a downside to owning a Forty-Eight - that we would get about 100 miles out of a tank, but my wife loves her bike and she looks incredibly sexy on it when she rides). I also have a one-gallon gas can that was designed to fit in the saddlebag of my Ultra Limited that I carry if we're going on a longer ride and I want some "Insurance Gas".

An airplane pilot friend of mine once told me while flying "A fuel gauge is only accurate two times - when the tank is completely full or when the tank is completely empty." We were stranded by a cloud waiting for another plane to fly by and give us some gas!!!
 
#18 ·
Great read on your first ride...not much for conversation when out and about, so that is why I ride from watering hole to watering hole, people are drinkning and not talking:think....and as John said "you can't put a price on How much fun you can have riding that Bike with your Clothes On" until you go to Sturgis and hang out at the campground and see how much fun it can be watching them women riding with their clothes off!!!:devil But that will be another write up for you someday....
 
#20 ·
Welcome to the club. Wait until the first time you pull up and park in front of a watering hole next to some other Harleys. The grin will go from ear to ear. You will look to the heavens and silently thank the Good Lord you are not on a Honda. Nothing against Hondas, mind you. It's just not the same rush.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top