What did you do on or to your other bike part 2

[the Ferret]

Congrats pdedse.

[peterbaron]

+1, pdedse

[pdedse]

Yep, it's here. I only sold the W800 to pay for it. Found a no-nonsense dealer in Sublimity, OR (about an hour and half away) that doesn't charge shipping nor set-up, and OR has no sales tax which makes new bike purchases more attractive. I saved a little more because I was able to use the W's license plate which still has 2 years of registration. Funny, I've used that plate on the first W800 I bought (café version), the RE INT650, the blue W and now this bike.

I held back from two very good deals on second hand KLXs because I just wasn't sure if the W would sell this late in the fall. The guy in NV was the only one who responded and by the time that finalized, the second hand KLXs had already sold. With the W sold, I thought why not as it nearly came out even.

I've come full circle as my very first bike I purchased in 1982 was a '78 Kawasaki KLE250, which was also green.

[Cormanus]

Congratulations pdedse.

[SportsterDoc]

pdedse: That Kawasaki is downright ugly, but since you are such a good guy, I would allow you to hide it in my garage!

[pdedse]

pdedse:  That Kawasaki is downright ugly, but since you are such a good guy, I would allow you to hide it in my garage!

Thanks for the kind comments folks.  It is hideous so I understand the need to hide it!  Aren't you in NM?  We'll likely be neighbors in the future, so...

[SportsterDoc]

pdedse:  That Kawasaki is downright ugly, but since you are such a good guy, I would allow you to hide it in my garage!

Thanks for the kind comments folks.  It is hideous so I understand the need to hide it!  Aren't you in NM?  We'll likely be neighbors in the future, so...

It is actually is a good looking dual sport and probably considerably more HP than my air cooled XT250s.  Unfortunately, if I were still riding, the seat is about 5 inches higher than I would prefer.  Yes, central NM, 40 miles south of Albuquerque. Come on down!!

[pdedse]

pdedse:  That Kawasaki is downright ugly, but since you are such a good guy, I would allow you to hide it in my garage!

Thanks for the kind comments folks.  It is hideous so I understand the need to hide it!  Aren't you in NM?  We'll likely be neighbors in the future, so...

It is actually is a good looking dual sport and probably considerably more HP than my air cooled XT250s.  Unfortunately, if I were still riding, the seat is about 5 inches higher than I would prefer.  Yes, central NM, 40 miles south of Albuquerque. Come on down!!

And of course, I love the way it looks.  If a bike's visual appeal doesn't immediately speak to me, there's no combination of hp/torq figures, top speed, fuel economy, braking power, reliability, utilitarianess that will persuade me to buy it.  And regarding seat height, I get punished the other way...the question is always how can I make myself fit these classic looking bikes with the 30-32" seat heights. 

I'll be in Tucson, but I have a good friend in ABQ and will make my way there from time to time.  It would be so cool to meet you in person.  If you recall, we "met" on the sportster.org site about 18-20 years ago.  I think you helped with some electrical issues my '04 Sportster was having.  Such a beautiful bike, with real rattlesnake-skin grips!

 
And it has been the only motorcycle that I buggered up real good-like in an accident.  Broke my collar bone, but otherwise I was fine.  The bike...tank was trashed, handlebars bent up, mirrors broke, exhaust all sratched up and dented.  I did ok.  Insurance paid me $2,500 (not totaled) and then I sold it as is for $2,200, which came out to about what one would have paid for the bike second hand, maybe a little less.  But I got my fun out of it, about 33k miles over 8 years.  Still, a bike I could have kept for lots longer.

[SportsterDoc]

Did that Custom have the 4.5 gallon tank?

Let me know when you may be in the area.  I would appreciate being able to meet.

I only met one person from one of the Sportster forums.  We met up in Victorville when I commuted (Triumph Bonneville?) from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Sportster.org ended circa 2012. I started posting on it circa Dec 2002/Jan 2003.  Not only was Doug Mansfield running out of space on his university computer, but his brother's demise seemed to affect him. 
 
It was replaced by the XLforum, but the ads and pop ups are now so intense, it is irritating to even browse.  I have posted only occasionally in the past couple of years.  I still have some stickies in the electrical section.

Sportster wiring sure got more complicated in 2014:
https://sportsterpedia.com/doku.php/techtalk:ref:elec09

And new "Sportsters" are not Sportsters.

[pdedse]

Did that Custom have the 4.5 gallon tank?

Let me know when you may be in the area.  I would appreciate being able to meet.

I only met one person from one of the Sportster forums.  We met up in Victorville when I commuted (Triumph Bonneville?) from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.

Sportster.org ended circa 2012. I started posting on it circa Dec 2002/Jan 2003.  Not only was Doug Mansfield running out of space on his university computer, but his brother's demise seemed to affect him. 
 
It was replaced by the XLforum, but the ads and pop ups are now so intense, it is irritating to even browse.  I have posted only occasionally in the past couple of years.  I still have some stickies in the electrical section.

Sportster wiring sure got more complicated in 2014:
https://sportsterpedia.com/doku.php/techtalk:ref:elec09

And new "Sportsters" are not Sportsters.

The '04 1200c did have a 4.5 gallon tank, and it was the first year Sportsters were rubber-mounted and so the vibrations were much less than previous models, or so I'm told.  I did my very first multi-day on my Sportster, four days beginning along the coast in Washington, then ferry to cross back over north of Seattle, beautiful hiway 20 east, dry side of WA, a little Ranier and back home.  Along the way, struck up a conversation with another rider that was completing a trip home from China, and he was riding his BMW to Kentucky.  He told me about a site called advrider.com, and that's what started a "rest of my life" interest in motorcycle travel.  

From that trip in summer of '07
 
I even packed another helmet...I have no idea why.  Olympic National Park
 
Deception Pass


Diablo Lake along hiway 20


My first mc camping experience


Dry side of WA


Mt. Ranier


Sometimes I think OR has a lot of variety to explore...it does, but WA might have just as much or more.