My (almost) New Harley !

[Kerryd]

Well I did it. I found a scoot I liked (through a friend of a friend) and I bought it.

A 2003 Anniversary Edition Heritage Softail with just over 13,000 kms on the clock.

After driving it around town for a bit, took it for a ride to Rayong (with about a dozen other friends) and back yesterday. Nice ride (although I cringe a bit everytime I pass a gas station now though).

[HDRIDER]

HI

Congrats on your "new" bike, nice looking, did you buy it from Wrangler? (Mike)

[pluto_manibo]

Nice ride Kerryd. The twin cam must be awesome. I am looking for a new scoot as well, if you know of someone selling a street bob dyna....preferably matt black...

[ajahnlau]

Looks great,now change them pipes.LOL

[HDRIDER]

Looks great,now change them pipes.LOL

Hi

He he i was thinking the same thing.

[bobbin]

They look stock. Why change them?

Ah..you want LOUDER right?

So you can be heard from 2km away not 1km.

It's a nice ride, why spoil it going for the a**hole effect.

[bobbin]

They look stock. Why change them?

Ah..you want LOUDER right?

So you can be heard from 2km away not 1km.

It's a nice ride, why spoil it going for the a**hole effect.

Oops...

Did I say that out loud?

[HDRIDER]

HI

Your right they look stock, that’s why, nobody said anything about louder, you can get very nice looking pipes there don’t sound louder then stock.

Kerryd, be prepared to hear all this bullsh.t about Harleys and the driver.

[bobbin]

HI

Your right they look stock, that's why, nobody said anything about louder, you can get very nice looking pipes there don't sound louder then stock.

Kerryd, be prepared to hear all this bullsh.t about Harleys and the driver.

That might be true but I would put money on the fact that 9 out of 10 after-market exhaust systems available here in Thailand would be louder than the stock exhausts.

As a young man I owned a HD Sportster 883 for 2 years. No electric start. I've earned my Harley chops. Sold it to finance my first trip to Thailand 37 years ago.

[Kerryd]

I actually bought the bike from a friend of a friend. I (and a Thai friend of mine) had been checking online ads, and some "word of mouth" offers. When I got back home at the start of the month, my buddy took me to various shops (Wranglers, PowerStation, Hot Rod, etc). Saw a lot of nice bikes, and was almost going to buy a Heritage Softail from Power Station (2004, with low mileage) for (about) 800k.

I had actually been planning on buying an older ('94) Softail from Wranglers for 500k. My buddy checked it out, said it was in good condition, but he figured as an older bike I may have to spend a lot more money on it. I told Leigh that I was going to be arriving on Thursday and would drop in the shop on Friday to check it out personally.

Around 6pm Thursday afternoon, someone else went in, looked at it and decided to buy it. When I got to Wranglers on Friday the guy showed up to pick it up (guess I was a day late and a dollar short !).

Then my friend took me to see someone you may know (Min, president of Burapa). He made a call and an hour later this guy shows up (from Chon Buri) with the bike in the photos. My buddy and Min checked it out (as they have quite a bit more experience than I), and agreed it was top notch. We haggled price a bit, and then the guy who brought the bike went home (leaving the bike at Min's shop).

I refused to drive it home until I had at least made a sizeable payment on it, despite my friends telling me it wasn't a problem. A couple of trips to the bank later I picked it up and made a rather slow trip home (having been riding a little 200cc Phantom, it took a little while to get used to the bigger machine). Oddly enough, the bike came with the rear seat and back rest, but no rear foot pegs (been using that as an excuse to ride around alone, while the g/f stays home or has to take a taxi).

The first thing just about everyone I run in to tells me to do is change the pipes ! I keep telling them that I don't want the neighbours to start throwing rocks at me when ever I start up the bike (or when I come home in the wee hours). I laugh when ever my friends drive through a parking lot and all the car alarms start going off.

I'm making some minor changes (adding a crash bar, changed the handlebars, ordered the rear footboards, new brake cable). Not sure about changing the pipes yet. They sound alright when I crank it up, without the adverse side effects of setting off alarms and shattering windows !

[pluto_manibo]

"loud pipes save lives!"

[dave_boo]

For as much as the Harley clique like to extol the fact that having one is a sign of independence and this and that, I find it rather telling they wouldn't let someone express their individuality by leaving the stock pipes on it....and it would be individualised because I've seen maybe 2 in my whole 29 years of life that haven't had stock pipes. Everyone else puts V&H or something on their bikes; I always wondered why.

[Lickey]

Aint "Let The Good Times Roll' a Kawasaki advert intro? or Suzuki? definitley not Harley Ferguson!!

[ajahnlau]

For as much as the Harley clique like to extol the fact that having one is a sign of independence and this and that, I find it rather telling they wouldn't let someone express their individuality by leaving the stock pipes on it....and it would be individualised because I've seen maybe 2 in my whole 29 years of life that haven't had stock pipes. Everyone else puts V&H or something on their bikes; I always wondered why.

V&H add a little more rumble[not excessive] and a few horses.

[deckx]

nice bike ! although i'm not a harley man myself, maybe when i'm an old fart and can't sit on the rice rockets

don't change the pipes, blatting up Pattayaland at 200 DB is so not cool !!!

[The Vulcan]

For as much as the Harley clique like to extol the fact that having one is a sign of independence and this and that, I find it rather telling they wouldn't let someone express their individuality by leaving the stock pipes on it....and it would be individualised because I've seen maybe 2 in my whole 29 years of life that haven't had stock pipes. Everyone else puts V&H or something on their bikes; I always wondered why.

Now you've seen 3 !

[bobbin]

KerryD

Glad to see that you have a sensible Canadian attitude to this question of whether to noise-pollute or not.

Your bike looks good to me with the stock pipes. So does The Vulcan's bike.

The factory puts some fair effort into creating good-looking pipes that stay within reasonable sound limits. Why so many owners second-guess them at considerable costs to themselves seems to come down to the noise issue. "More is better" is the mantra. Don't go there. Just say no!

Another point is that the owner only hears the machine at idle and a bit of throttle twisting. While actually riding, he is trailing his sound-print behind him. And, while accelerating hard, only the people he passes (in a 2km radius) are left to deal with the noise. It's like throwing your garbage out the car window.

[Kerryd]

Another point is that the owner only hears the machine at idle and a bit of throttle twisting. While actually riding, he is trailing his sound-print behind him. And, while accelerating hard, only the people he passes (in a 2km radius) are left to deal with the noise. It's like throwing your garbage out the car window.

I noticed that on a recent road trip. In and around town myself (and others around me of course) can hear me easily when I goose the throttle, but on the highway, once I hit about 80, all I hear is the roar of the wind in my ears, and the roar of which ever bike is ahead of me (if it's not too far ahead).

When I come home in the wee hours though, it's quiet enough that no one notices (and car alarms don't start wailing).

I've noticed that a lot of the guys riding the fully loaded Ultra Classics type bikes are also running stock pipes (probably so they can hear their stereos while they are riding) !