What Have You Being Doing With Your Non-triumph Today?

On Sunday morning I took the Yamaha out for a run over to Masham. Nice and sunny with dry roads despite lots of standing water in the fields after the heavy rain and flooding recently. Temperature about 8C (about 46F) so not too bad with heated grips on low.





Contrast this with "Billy no mates" two weeks ago!



Stopped off at Leeming Bar station on the way home where the Wensleydale steam railway runs from.
They are currently renovating the old station house and you can just see the old buffet car behind the fence which is now a cafe. They run weekly bike nights from here, which will be starting soon, so this may become one of my regular haunts.

 

El Gordo, my Fat Boy, was due for his 1K service and I'd made an appointment for this past Tuesday at our local H-D dealership. Additionally, I'd ordered a number of aftermarket parts during a 20$ off sale on parts and labor about a month ago. So I dropped Gordo off on Tuesday afternoon and Mr. Sand chauffeured me home. When I pulled into the service department, my odometer read 1003 miles and I was excited for my new parts, in particular my Vance & Hines "Eliminator 300" mufflers which were a Valentines gift from Mr. Sandi. As he says, "nothing says I love you like loud pipes". Here's Gordo in stock form. Mostly. He's minus the reflectors on the fork and the fender struts. And I have a new seat from C & C Motorcycle Seats....the "Fastback".


Here are photos from the day after I left El Gordo in the capable hands of my favorite THD mechanic, Erik. My most exciting mod, the V & Hines pipes.


My air cleaner now has a new cover (H-D Defiance Collection in chrome) and a K & N high flow filter. I tried a very cool looking custom decorative insert that said "FAT BOY" to replace the original "114" badged insert. High hopes but those hopes were dashed when the cover from an Etsy vendor cracked in about four places overnight after I installed it. This insert is from the H-D Defiance Collection and I have the same thing in the Blacked Out finish on my Street Glide Special and previously had it on my (now traded) Road Glide Special in the Edge Cut finish.


I'm putting a new collection from Harley, the Empire Collection, on El Gordo. However, even though they are marketing the heck out of this collection, multiple parts are on back order including the mirrors and the footboards, both of which I ordered. But my grips came in! Here they are. This photo also shows the turn signal extensions I put on most all of my bikes to make hitting the turn signals on first attempt a no brainer. These are the stock mirrors. I'm waiting on the Empire Collection mirrors that are slated to come end of this month--hopefully


I went with Custom Dynamics LED turn signals with smoked lens covers both front and back.


It's tough to see in these two photos, but I got the Empire collection shifter peg and brake pedal pad. I also replaced the derby cover that said "114" with a plain chrome one. Ditto for the timer cover on the other side.







I also purchased an additional fob and the labor to marry it to my bike. Well worth it after the debacle last summer on the first day of our big summer motorcycle trip! Plus I got the 20% discount on both the fob itself and the labor to marry it to El Gordo.


And the last thing on the (aftermarket) parts list was the Gremlin ride bell hangar. My regular mechanic, Erik, and I looked at options on the day I dropped Gordo off at the shop and this was his solution. What do you think, @Iron? I ditched those zip ties. Does this look tidier than my original zip tie deal?


The parts still on back order and their ETA's are:

Empire Collection chrome mirrors -- end of March
Empire Collection footboards -- August
Kuryakyn chrome license plate frame/holder -- June
H-D cruise control module -- June

We shall see. In the meantime I'll enjoy El Gordo with his new goodies in place--especially those Valentine's Day pipes!

 

@Sandi T El Gordo's looking the business - I really like those new pipes. I'd also never heard of Gremlin bells until really recently when I looked at a US Facebook group where most people rode H-Ds. I had no idea how popular they were (or how fiercely people would debate "bell etiquette") .

 

Much better @Sandi T , that spirit bell will be dropping those gremlins like nobody's business. Watch your mirrors, the riders behind will be swerving all over the place trying to miss all the potholes.
Looking good, I think you really like this bike......

 

My ol’lady disagrees! It’s not romantic at all apparently, and I should take my “loud pipes” out of the room and wait for the smell to disperse before returning!

 

New tires for the Ducati 950S.. Pirelli Diablo Corsa II , 1 step up from the Rosso III

 

Yes, Gremlin bells are very popular here, @Mrs V. I have one on my Speed Triple RS, too (that has the Triumph logo) and had them on my two previous Thruxtons--versions that said Cafe Racer on one side and had a profile of a cafe racer motorcycle on the other. You can get them with very nearly any design you desire!

 

Thanks, Iron. Yes, I do really like this bike! I was a wee bit concerned that I'd regret trading the Low Rider S for El Gordo. But I don't regret the trade one bit.

Yep, those gremlins will be dropping like flies.

 

Been working on the '68, installing fwd controls, getting my hands on the bike, learning what it is... So far, the simplicity is just fun. Looking forward to the "first ride".

 

That's a lot of purchases for 20$ off parts and labour I thought, and then later see you said 20% off... aha I see why so many parts now....
I wonder if there is such a thing as a bog standard Harley?
Looking good except for that number plate. In that image it looks like it sticks way out to the left, I'd definitely end up forgetting about that and either hitting something with it or walking into it... Shame they are law.

 

Yes, 20¢ wouldn't make a dent in my parts list, @Wattie! But 20% off parts and labor makes a BIG dent!

I don't like the current number (license) plate, either. It does stick way out to the left and I've walked into it a bunch of times already. It would have been changed already but for backorders due to "supply chain issues". The ETA on it is sometime in June at this point.

This is the Kuryakyn plate holder I have on order. It's still on the side but tucked in, vertical, and curved. I've seen them in person mounted on bikes and they look really slick. I'll post a photo when mine comes in and is on. For now, this is what it looks like.

 

A bit of a service on the Berg. Oil screens checked + oil and filter changed, air filter re-oiled and cam chain tensioner checked/adjusted. Also fitted a new rear boot. The Kenda is bidirectional and has dual compound knobs, oooer! One direction gives soft and the other way round gives intermediate, not come across this for road legal knobblies before. The 570 is hard on tyres so I went for intermediate....



Also found a bit play in the swingarm bearing so a repair kit will be required but currently out of stock at KTM's warehouse in Austria until late April but not really desperate at the moment. It's the original bearing in there so it's not done bad at 12 years old as it takes some real stick.

 

I like those blue rims, @Pegscraper. Hope that swingers bearing repair kit comes in April. The parts I have on back order seem to have ETA's that vary widely and change frequently.

 

The finish on the wheel rims is one of the most durable I've ever come across Sandi. I'm guessing it's some sort of blue anodising, it's certainly not a paint finish. Very high quality. Supply chain issues are becoming more widespread. The swingarm repair "kit" comprises 18 parts which are all readily available separately, strangely enough but it comes out over £40 more expensive buying the parts that way! The Brexit fiasco didn't help things over here, then the pandemic stuck it's oar in and now the situation in Ukraine is becoming a factor but putting things in perspective, a delay on a few bike parts is nothing to what's happening to the Ukraine population.

 

I definitely agree about the relative importance of bike parts and the supply chain issues, @Pegscraper. In the context of ALL the global problems, especially Ukraine, getting bike parts is way down the list, that's for sure. In years gone by I'd have been quite impatient and annoyed by the delays--but no more. It's definitely, as we say in the US (and UK?) "small potatoes".

 

I replaced the original 50 year old tires on my '73 Trail 90 with new OEM rubber so I can use it for reliable transportation around town. The old tires are worth more than double what new cost so there're getting stored away until I'm done riding. Ordered a complete OEM seat for the same reason. Honda still offers every part needed to keep these models in service.

 

What a strange world we live in!

 

Took the FXR out today...



getting my pilot skills back.

 

Well, isn't the internet wonderful.....sometimes! After being told to expect a few weeks delay on some parts from the factory I eventually came across said parts sat on the shelf at a KTM dealer in Gloucestershire and today these landed......


That's my Sunday afternoon sorted.
A big thumbs up for AMS motorcycles in Tewkesbury!

 

Took the Bobber out on Saturday as it was the only day forecast without rain. Roll on the summer!