Scooters
 

OK, I know a few members here ride bikes. I owned a few bigger "riceburners" when I was younger, but couldn't get my wife to consider riding. So now that I am single again, I am dreaming of the wind in my hair again. I always said if I bought another bike, it would be a Harley. I have ridden a few, years ago, but really don't know what I am looking for. I want something comfortable, even for two, that I could take an extended trip on. Don't want a new bike, something older that needs some attention is more my style. Like to build to suite my taste, even a "needs restoration" would do. Give me some ideas folks :confused:
This doesn't have to happen today, tomorrow, or even next week, but I am looking.

If money was no object...

Don't get me wrong, I have no objection to money, I just don't ever seem to have any...but I digress.

If money wasn't an issue, I'd get a Road King/Electra Glide just for the creature comforts. If I was to by a HD that I was going to ride both out on the highway and around town...Heritage Soft-tail would be the style I'd look for. I've heard from a couple of guys that Sportster will knock your teeth out...even if your not wearing dentures. I'm not much on the history of HD so I don't know how far back the Heritage goes...but I've always thought they were good looking bikes. If only the dam things didn't cost about half of what I paid for my house.

There's a '02 Road King listed locally for $11K and a 09 Heritage Softtail Classic for $16K, just don't know if I can go there. Couple of Wide Glides and Super Glides listed too, looks like I just need to start making calls and spend a few hours looking.

That's what my local dealership (Old Fort) was asking for a two-year old with V&H pipes, saddle bags and re-tuned....apparently the scooters preform better when the ECM has been "informed" of the changes down stream. To me, that's still allot of money that I could use some where else (cough, pay off my truck...cough). But at the same time two years ago when diesel was pushing $5 gallon I was filling the Boulevard for $15-ish and I could get a tank in the Pavement Princess to go further...time wise. One thing I'll never do again...black & chrome:-banghead

Got that right. All three of ours are black this season. 3/4 of a mile of dirt driveway. What a mistake.
I'd offer up my wife's '85 Superglide for sale, except it needs over a grand put into before it'll be rideable again. Besides, she wants too much for it.

My wife has made it clear there's no way in the world that she'd ride solo on a scooter. And after what the father-in-law told me about a couple of her bicycle wrecks as a child....I couldn't afford to fix the scooters after she was done.:-X14 With that said...I'm still looking forward to the day we get a 2nd bike that's more suited to a fat-boy & his beautiful bride on a road trip. If I could only nail those 6 magic numbers....:-kneeslap

Here's a pic of her bikes. I bought the brown one to ride while I was restoring mine. She started riding it when the Superglide broke down and she likes it...now that I've painted it black.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...DSCN3153-1.jpg

Nice rides! Hopefully I can find what I am looking for soon. Hard to tell when you really don't know just exactly what you want.:-X10

Answered your PM...good luck. I'll see if I can get away with one more pic of how the bikes look now.
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...2101909-00.jpg

Yes, they *are* painted to match.

You're starting to make me drool now, guess I've got the bug for sure:-X14

You can't really see it in that pic, but all the style lines that usually catch the sun are highlighted with blue pearl. I used a $10 Harbour Freight airbrush to do it and it came out better than I would have expected.
I call the bikes "Crow colored", because they show just a bit of the blue in the bright sunlight like a crow's feathers.
Yeah, well, it's my last name...you didn't think I got my handle off a bottle of whisky, now did you?

Crow, I decided to pass on the Heritage that I PMed you about. I'm going later to look at a '77 FLH Electraglide, any thoughts, good, bad? I am very hesitant to buy a scooter that I have never laid eyes on, so I'm going to keep it local.

Well, looked at the 77 FLH this evening. Nice scooter, runs like a charm, new paint, battery and tires. It's an older restoration, but very few miles since. Showing 40K on the OD. Fellow has owned it for the last 23 years, bought a later model Road King. It has the typical shovelhead oil leaks, but nothing excessive. Road it up and down the gravel road he lived on as there were no rear brakes, he's waiting on a MC kit that's ordered. Asking price $5500. Here's a couple of pics

You did notice that one of the FLT's is a Shovel? I'm a Shovel kinda guy.
I like it and for that I'd buy it in a heartbeat. You do like to tinker, right? Anybody who'd think about putting a Mercedes diesel in a 53 F100 ought to be able to handle an old shovel without too much problem, but there *will* be tinkering.
That'll be a 1200 I believe, or 74". I've got a manual on pdf for the FLH but it starts at '78 1/2 to '84. Prolly help out with the basics , though.
If you decide to ditch the solo seat for a 2 up piece, keep me in mind. I'd like to change my modern cop seat for the older looking one. Gonna keep the air bag, though.

I had a 53 F100 about 30 years ago. My wife just found some old photos of it. I'll have to scan 'em and put 'em up.

There's no thinking about it...I saw the thing with my own two eyes in Hot Springs during the June GTG. I heard a rumor that shovel heads were in high demand during the cash for clunkers because of all the oil they leaked:-X05 Sometimes I think it would be neat to have an older bike...but then I'm the first to admit that when I go for a ride I want to relax and not have to worry about what needs to be fixed or tweaked when I get back. Guess I'm a slacker when it come to scooters. The EFI on my Slut-Zu-Key has spoiled me.