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

How lovely to go back @Sandi T - Covid certainly derailed a lot of plans.

 

Not mine but sorting a few jobs/issues out for a friend who's going to Ireland on it next week.
A real blast from the past here with carb balancing on a 1997 Kawasaki ZX9.

I can't remember the last time I used my vacuum gauges and chuckled to myself when thinking about the modern way. No multiple bits of vac pipe and service fuel tanks, long screwdrivers and bent spanners, nope, just your smartphone, Tunecu or similar and your OBD2 device.

 

Whilst the Triumph Tiger is great and was perfect for me doing the NC (just IMHO - each to their own) the fireblade is still the one I love.
Had a run out this morning for a few hours, but didn’t want to go too far afield as it was threatening all sorts weather wise.

 

I've had similar thoughts @Boothman about the StreetTwin and 765rs.
The ST gives some nice days out but if I want to really wake myself up then the 765 is in a different league.

 

This past Saturday I bought a new Harley Low Rider ST. Since I'm on the "replacement program" and don't have the space or money to add a bike, I'm saying goodbye to my Fat Boy, fondly known as El Gordo. But the good news is that the person who is buying Gordo is my boss, friend, and riding buddy, Leila! She's been riding a Sportster and has been looking to get a bigger bike for awhile now. She fell in love with my Fat Boy the first time she saw it so all this worked out really well.

I've really enjoyed the Fat Boy but realized that I'm a Low Rider gal at heart. I should have realized that awhile ago as this is my third one. Third time's a charm, right?!



My new bike! I think this paint job is a love it or hate it sort of deal, but the first time I saw it I fell in love with it. It's reminiscent of muscle cars from the '60's and '70's and that's by design. H-D started doing something called the Enthusiast Collection a few years ago and this "Fast Johnnie" paint job is part of that collection. They have this Celestial Blue paint with white racing stripes on just three models: the Street Glide ST, the Road Glide ST, and this bike, the Low Rider ST.

All of Harleys bikes designated "ST" have the Milwaukee Eight 117 cubic inch (1920 cc) engine. The Low Rider ST is linked in style back to the FXRT's of the 1980's. And it's definitely linked to the "Club Style" bikes popularized in California much more recently.




Here's the story behind the "Fast Johnnie" moniker. This photo of Johnnie the racing piglet is iconic in Harley history.



Although I had the fob in hand and the bike out the door Saturday afternoon by 2pm, we set a new all time heat record that day. So even I couldn't bear to brave the heat to ride more than just home from the dealership. But I knew I'd be able to ride the next morning on our weekly Sunday ride.

There has been a rash of new bike purchases in our group, enough so that I'm sure there's some psychological principle behind it all. The person in the foreground in this photo just bought an anniversary edition Heritage Classic earlier in the week. He and I went out again the next day to continue our breaking process. This is the most difficult time I've had keeping to the break in recommendations because this bike wants to fly! Or maybe it's I that want to fly on this bike!

Interestingly, our group today had among the bikes a Victory, Suzuki, and BMW in addition to four Harleys. Our buddy with two Triumphs has been laying low for several months sadly.



We ate breakfast at Coyote Pause, one of our staples. I was so engaged in eating and conversing that I didn't even think to take any food photos! What the heck?

The Victory rider and the Suzuki GSXR rider had decided at breakfast that they wanted to trade bikes for the ride home. So we chose a spot for them to switch back which was also a nice opportunity to get a drink and rewet our neck scarves. It was another boiling hot (I'm talking 108ºF) day. But I was determined (and happy!) to ride more so some of us got in about 90 miles.



Miles after two days.......393 miles to break in completion!




I got the bike WAY earlier than anticipated. This model in this paint job is in high demand and only 2,000 Fast Johnnie bikes (counting all three models) were made in total. I'd put down money to order one and was told that it would probably take 4-6 weeks minimally to see it. So imagine my surprise when I got a call on Friday afternoon that my bike was in! I was stunned and not quite ready. I was all set to order parts for it and have that all squared away when the bike finally arrived. So now I'm ordering parts but already riding the bike. Definitely the preferable order of events!

Anyway, I figured the one "mod" I could do in the meantime is what I always do first off, and that's get rid of the fugly plastic reflectors. So I spent a chunk of my Sunday afternoon post-ride doing just that. I have to say, I think Harley is using some different sort of nasty adhesive for the saddlebag and fender reflectors. It's the most difficult time I've ever had in getting all the goo off after removing the reflector. The fork reflectors were a piece of cake and left very little residue when I pulled them off. But, a very simple mod--and the least expensive one I'll do!







I worked so hard to "roll" the stuck adhesive off that I got a blister on my thumb!



I'll post about the mods I do so I'll probably be on the Post Your New Mods and/or What Have You Bought Recently threads a fair amount. But with this bike, mostly, as John Travolta said in the movie Wild Hogs, "I just wanna ride! I just wanna ride, man!"

 

Beautiful, beautiful bike and a superb paint job IMO. Any upgrade plans, Sandi, and are you going to stage it at all?

You just reminded me (again) that I need to get rid of my fork reflectors!!!

 

Nice one Sandy, enjoy your new Harley

 

You have answered my question @Sandi T . Enjoy your new ride

 

I'm working on my customization and upgrades right now, @learningtofly. In fact, that's why I've been lax in finishing up my Sturgis ride report (just added some earlier today). I feel like a little kid with the excitement! But if I was a little kid, mom and day might be paying for the parts.

Regarding any stage kits for performance, I'll probably just do a Stage 1, at least for now. I've ordered mufflers from Rinehart. Nice thing is in the Softails, the cat is in the mufflers so one doesn't really have to do a full exhaust. And a full exhaust right now is unbelievably expensive. So I'll also do a tuner. The bike already has a high flow air cleaner/box. And, holy moly, that 117 M8 is pretty darned great as is!

Mostly I'm changing out things like grips, pegs, some farkles. But I'm also upgrading the lighting with Custom Dynamics turn signals and taillight. I'll wait on the headlight because, geez, speaking of expensive!

I have put Le Pera seats on most all of my Harleys and love them. So I'm in the process of designing and ordering a seat for "Johnnie". That'll probably take 3-4 weeks to see but I'm a lover of anticipation so that's good.

Oh, and I'll do the 8" KlockWerks Flare Windshield that is designed specifically for the Low Rider ST.

Now get out there and banish those fork reflectors, Tony!

 

Saw this today on the internet but no other details. Can anyone shed any light on what this is?
I'm not usually into Harley style bikes, and presumably this is Harley engined but other than that I don't know the models at all, plus this is possibly a one off custom anyway.

Got to admit this got me ticking.

Any info appreciated.

 

Looks like a modified/custom v-rod to me?

 

https://darkkustom.com/harley-custom-breakout-giotto-altre-by-box39/

 

Looks the part don't you think?
I'll have a read up on that, cheers.

 

Well done, @tcbandituk! Thanks for finding that. Quite a unique bike!

 

I rode my new H-D Low Rider ST on our Sunday morning ride last weekend. After we all had breakfast, I enlisted my buddy, Russ, to ride some additional miles with me to add more break-in miles on my bike. He recently bought a new bike, too, and was also looking to hit that "magical" 500 mile mark. Although I'm sure there's not all that much magical about it.

We rode across town to the west side of Tucson where we did a big loop through Saguaro National Park West. I led the ride and decided to make a pit stop at the park's visitor center, known as Red Hills Visitor Center. It was pretty hot that day so spending a little time inside the air-conditioned building was a welcome if brief relief.









Miles on the day and total miles on the bike after todays ride....





I rode to my local dealership today to buy some parts and now have 415 miles on the odometer. So I should hit 500+ on tomorrow's Sunday group ride.

 

Loving that bike! What parts did you pick up, Sandi (presumably to be fitted when you pop the bike back in)?

 

Took about 10 seconds on Google image search

 

Yes, didn't think to use that until after I'd posted, but then thought it may be good for discussion and comments.
Cheers.

 

Oh my goodness, @learningtofly. I have a whole list of parts and most of them had to be ordered. The nice thing is that my dealership is giving me a 15% discount on the whole order! I'll post my mods here as I get them fitted. Two of the things about which I'm most excited are my Rinehart mufflers which have bronze end caps that match the wheels and bronze touches. The other is a "Kickflip" Le Pera seat which I've customized in a simple (and hopefully tasteful!) fashion. Oh, the other one I'm eager to fit is a KlockWerks Flare windshield. I have one on my Street Glide and love it. I hit 500 miles today on our Mt. Lemmon ride and am going to post a few pics from the day here momentarily.

 

Today's Sunday ride went up Mt. Lemmon. We haven't been up the mountain in a very long time and riding up today made me realize I've missed it and reminded me what a gem Mt. Lemmon truly is. I rode my new H-D Low Rider ST with the "excuse" that I want to get my 500 miles so that I can then ride it with impunity!

This is a map from the base of the road up Mt. Lemmon (known as the Catalina Highway). It's just under 20 miles to the base from our garage and the road up from the base to the top is about 25 miles each way. There were absolutely TONS of motorcycles--and cars and bicyclists--on the road this morning because the weather was glorious.



This was the first time I rode the Low Rider on Mt. Lemmon and it was an absolute blast! I'm loving how this bike handles and feels and it took to the twisties like honey to cornbread...which I had at the restaurant at the summit.

We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into the parking lot to see that the Iron Door Restaurant was open. I had checked the web page a few days ago and it said they didn't open until 11:00. We arrived at about 9:30 and they were in full swing. Hurray!

There were seven of us today. As usual, I was the only woman. Par for the course. Brands/models represented included one Suzuki GSXR 1000, one Triumph Thruxton, 1 BMW R1250RT, and four Harleys--my Low Rider ST, Steve's Road Glide Special, Russell's Heritage Classic Anniversary Edition, and Chas' Road Glide Ultra.



Johnnie's first time on Mt. Lemmon--but DEFINITELY not his last!



The view from the patio where we had breakfast. This is one of Ski Valley's runs. Ski Valley is a tiny downhill skiing operation and the farthest south of any ski resorts/operations in the United States.



We got a nice table for seven in the corner. There's a lattice "ceiling" on the patio which casts amazing shadows. Fortunately they aren't that noticeable when you're on the patio.



This was the temperature up here as we were eating our breakfast.



And this was the temperature when we arrived home! Cooler than we're used to but not nearly as lovely as 66ºF.



There are about six hummingbird feeders hung along the desk facing the ski run. And many, many hummingbirds all trying to find their perfect spot for a bite to eat. Here's one a of several pics I snapped of some of the hummers we saw.



I checked to see how close I was to hitting 500 miles on my new bike when we parked and put kickstands down in our garage. Five hundred miles for a new Harley is that "magic number that means no more carefully keeping the bike under 3000 rpm's and you can let 'er rip!

Today's miles...



And my total miles on the odometer Official break-in done!



P.S. I forgot to mention that the altitude at the base of Mt. Lemmon is 2,500 feet give or take, and up where we had breakfast is about 8,500 feet! It is a truly glorious road, especially for those of us on motorcycles!