| Author |
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Kevyn
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 02:21 am: | 
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STill working out shipping arrangements with Jim...
IF I can get over to where the bikes are stored this weekend(interior painting and repairs at home and herding the garage building contractors around) and get them out from under their 'blankies' I'll snap a few digitals
Bomber; ever been aboard a stock early model XLCH? The motor is bolted directly to the frame, shakes 'virorously' and pulls like a freight train. Mine has cams that turn on pretty good about 4000RPM's and provide some exciting new vibrations and a hefty dose of acceleration. The stock front end was just plain mushy and the brakes were...not what you want on a bike that's basically hauling ••• with an ancient suspension...the late model dual disc front end was a huge improvement in ride-ability and safety. The Tillotson carb was 'hard-wired' to the throttle and there was no spring return--twist the grip/instant cruise control! Adding the Bendix carb with a spring return for the throttle was like stepping out of the stone age. At one time I had an XLH gas tank, the one with the nice HD emblems fastened to the side. In retrospect, it was like the Manta tanks on the S1's. Added some serious distance!
The XLCH was my daily ride for 15 years before I bought a '99M2. School, work, groceries, recreation. When I was doing a military 'thing' I used to have to 'show' at times like 0430 and the Sporty never let me down...imagine firing that straight piped motor at 0330! I used to roll it to the end of the street so I wouldn't wake the immediate neighbors. Riding in the winter was alway a chore...I used to hide it in a shed to keep it out of the wind so the oil would still flow when I headed home after work...I'd leave the gas and ignition off and just kick it over until it was rolling smoothly and then pray a bit before actually turning the key on. Many a swollen knee from that bike.
Ancient feeling, primitive visceral motorcycling, a true naked bike with no frills, distilled essence of HD Sportster XLCH. |
S2pengy
| | Posted on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 12:17 pm: |
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Kevyn
Yes I agree |
Bomber
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 02:44 pm: |
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Kev -- although I never owned one (I was a triumph/bsa guy at the time) a buddy let me wring his out -- the vibes were something you either got used to, or you didn't ride at the time ;-}
btw, it's uspension wasn't any worse than anything else available at the time -- suspension engineers were kept outa the mc industry by Papal Bull, a Union Ruling, and a clotcher vote from congress, it would seem
the CH was a hairy chested brute then -- ain't it grand how much things have improved (performance wise?) -- |
Road_thing
| | Posted on Monday, April 04, 2005 - 04:29 pm: |
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I was a Triumph guy at the time, too. Couldn't stand those nasty vibes on the Sportsters, got me a smooth-running TR6 instead...
rt |
Bomber
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 09:57 am: |
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smooth running? coughbulls*tcough
english twins are one of the reasons so many gents of a certain age limp, I'm thinkin |
Kevyn
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 10:23 am: |
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I'm thinkin' the invention of the re-useable ice-pak is one the greatest inventions of this century!
although, once you get the starting procedure dialed in and the bike properly tuned, a one kick start is easy to achieve. |
Bomber
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 10:28 am: |
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those ice pacaks will fiot into the armor pocket of yer leathers, I'm thinkin!
woo hoo! geriatric scooter trash! |
Road_thing
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 05, 2005 - 12:39 pm: |
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Who're you callin' geriatric? Them would be fightin' words if I could hobble up there where you've got yer wheelchair parked!
rt |
Bomber
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 06, 2005 - 12:35 pm: |
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thang, you KNOW my chair ain't never parked! |
Rex
| | Posted on Thursday, April 07, 2005 - 01:08 am: |
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there is a guy at American Sport BikeN that has an S-2 Blue for sale...belonged to the service manager for dudley perkins...was the S-2 featured in the harley davidson coffee table books....rex |
Nitsebes
| | Posted on Friday, April 08, 2005 - 06:32 pm: |
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Is it this S2? |
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