Harley Davidson Street Rod.
Nice one!
I have a 2008 XR1200, and have also owned 1985 FXRS, 1984 XLS and 2004 FXSTi
Hi Millsy,
Didn't realise you were in NZ! What are the roads like out there?
Not sure how to upload pics onto this site, but you can see 3 of my bikes at www.gscustomdesigns.co.uk - this is Gavin, one of my buddies and bike club brothers.
1. On the Home Page - my custom Ducati 900 Monster
2. In Gallery - customer bikes - my "Cherry Pie" Harley FXSTi, we built in 2005
3. In Gallery - customer bikes - my recent XR1200 - bought July 2008 - the first in Scotland.
I got to be honest though, I'm disappointed with the XR. The roads round here are twisty and bumpy, and the bike handles like a fat pig! It also weighs around 250kg, so is a bitch to get settled down for bends. The motor is great fun, but the ride is disappointing for our conditions.
So, I could spend £7,000 on performance up-grades, suspension, wheels, brakes, exhaust etc. etc.......or I could sell it and buy the new 1100S Ducati Monster (95% bhp, 165kg, Ohlins suspension.....), which, for about £2,500 more than the XR will give me the kind of smiles per mile that the XR lacks!
I had 4 Ducatis before switching back to Harleys - because all of my buddies were getting older and slowing down - but I miss the Dukes.
One of our club has the Night Rod Special and he LOVES it. Rides it really hard, so I'm certain you're going to love the Street Rod.
So, I just got to a) start making money at this trading caper, and b) speak really nicely to the missus, and put my name down for the new Monster!
Looks from your profile that you're also into sports bikes is that a ZXR?
Good to catch up with a fellow biker,
Alec
Had another look at your profile pic, sorry, I think it's an R1 / R6?
Alec
The roads out here are great fun, probably a bit like the scottish rds, all twisty country rds, and fast straights, the surfaces not as good as uk though... bit of grit and gravel around at the moment too(winter), the street rod jumped over a foot on a fast bend, I probably should wait till it warms up a wee bit!
Love the website, dude thats a mean cherry pie.... I must admit I'm finding my harley a bit heavy too(280KG), especially coming from japa sports bikes, (thats one of my r 6's from the uk in the avator pic btw ) but I am trying to slow down a bit, but I still cant resist giving it a push , im sure I'll get used to it, especially the wobble on the front wheel on high speed cornering but ive only had it a few weeks so stay tuned...... Looked at the monsters, and triumph spped triples, dont think i like the riding position, sat up a bit too much for my liking, I sold a bandit 1200 last year, just didnt like being sat up there, how do u find it?? maybe u should swap for a street rod!
The roads out here are great fun, probably a bit like the scottish rds, all twisty country rds, and fast straights, the surfaces not as good as uk though... bit of grit and gravel around at the moment too(winter), the street rod jumped over a foot on a fast bend, I probably should wait till it warms up a wee bit!
Love the website, dude thats a mean cherry pie.... I must admit I'm finding my harley a bit heavy too(280KG), especially coming from japa sports bikes, (thats one of my r 6's from the uk in the avator pic btw ) but I am trying to slow down a bit, but I still cant resist giving it a push , im sure I'll get used to it, especially the wobble on the front wheel on high speed cornering
but ive only had it a few weeks so stay tuned...... Looked at the monsters, and triumph spped triples, dont think i like the riding position, sat up a bit too much for my liking, I sold a bandit 1200 last year, just didnt like being sat up there, how do u find it?? maybe u should swap for a street rod!Hi Millsy,
Yeah - I know exactly what you mean - "trying to slow down a bit" - just the same feeling I had 4 years ago when I sold the last Monster, and bought the Softail, which we turned into the pro street custom Cherry Pie. First time I jumped on it and rode off like on a Duke, till the first fast right hander - touched down the exhausts, big shower of sparks, pulled the bike upright and nearly rode into a wall! Knew right there and then I couldn't live with a showcase bike!
So, as all the guys switched from GSXRs, Bandits, ZXs and so on, to chops and cruisers, I thought the XR would be a good compromise, but it ain't! At motorway speeds - 90mph plus, the wind blast is painful, and the bike doesn't feel planted on the road.
I reckon our roads are very similar to yours. We live in a rural area, and even in summer there's loads of **** on the roads from all the farm vehicles, and gravel washing off the fields and tracks onto the roads - always on the racing line through corners! Plus we get a lot of rain. But, hey, when it's fine, and we take off over to the West Coast, where the only other road users are sheep and rabbits, we can let it go a bit!
Be really interesting to see how you get on with the Street Rod after sports bikes - you couldn't get more different than an R6! My friend with the Night Rod is the fastest in our club - he rides really fast and smooth, and always seems to find the right line into corners to keep his momentum. I ride like a fanny - in fast, brake hard, wobble through the curve then blast out the other side. That's why I want another Ducati - even with a hangover it's such a forgiving ride, and when everything comes together on a perfect summer's day (not that often in Scotland!), it's the best feeling in the world!
Let me know how you get on as the weather improves.
By the way - did you feel the earthquake in NZ - heard the news this morning - hope you're all OK,
Catch you later,
Alec
Yeah - I know exactly what you mean - "trying to slow down a bit" - just the same feeling I had 4 years ago when I sold the last Monster, and bought the Softail, which we turned into the pro street custom Cherry Pie. First time I jumped on it and rode off like on a Duke, till the first fast right hander - touched down the exhausts, big shower of sparks, pulled the bike upright and nearly rode into a wall! Knew right there and then I couldn't live with a showcase bike!
So, as all the guys switched from GSXRs, Bandits, ZXs and so on, to chops and cruisers, I thought the XR would be a good compromise, but it ain't! At motorway speeds - 90mph plus, the wind blast is painful, and the bike doesn't feel planted on the road.
I reckon our roads are very similar to yours. We live in a rural area, and even in summer there's loads of **** on the roads from all the farm vehicles, and gravel washing off the fields and tracks onto the roads - always on the racing line through corners! Plus we get a lot of rain. But, hey, when it's fine, and we take off over to the West Coast, where the only other road users are sheep and rabbits, we can let it go a bit!
Be really interesting to see how you get on with the Street Rod after sports bikes - you couldn't get more different than an R6! My friend with the Night Rod is the fastest in our club - he rides really fast and smooth, and always seems to find the right line into corners to keep his momentum. I ride like a fanny - in fast, brake hard, wobble through the curve then blast out the other side. That's why I want another Ducati - even with a hangover it's such a forgiving ride, and when everything comes together on a perfect summer's day (not that often in Scotland!), it's the best feeling in the world!
Let me know how you get on as the weather improves.
By the way - did you feel the earthquake in NZ - heard the news this morning - hope you're all OK,
Catch you later,
Alec
Hey Alec
will certainly keep you up to date, weathers just starting to turn and im itching to suss out the street rod properly, got sum good rides and street racing weekends coming up, i'll be sure to post sum pics here. Bit worried about the tyres gonna replace them I think, the factory dunlops just aint rihght, too slippy, but ive heard that, made different.
We missed the earthquake, it was on the south island, we north, theres some great rides down there, get there soon hopefully, the roads are made better too..
will certainly keep you up to date, weathers just starting to turn and im itching to suss out the street rod properly, got sum good rides and street racing weekends coming up, i'll be sure to post sum pics here. Bit worried about the tyres gonna replace them I think, the factory dunlops just aint rihght, too slippy, but ive heard that, made different.
We missed the earthquake, it was on the south island, we north, theres some great rides down there, get there soon hopefully, the roads are made better too..
Nice one Millsy - pics look great! If you get bored, let me know and I can always send you some other groovy bike pics from my past.
I asked my buddy with the Night Rod, and he's running on Dunlops - reckons they're great for him. I'm on my second rear tyre with the XR, a Dunlop Qualifier, and it feels really planted. Maybe the warmer weather helps the rubber stick to the road better!
British MotoGP this weekend - can JT end his awful run of form, can anyone catch the Doctor, can Casey get his season back on track, can Nicky, Tony, Alex, Chris et al go a weekend without crashing, can Dani keep improving, can Dovi finish a race..........we'll just have to wait and see.........best season and closest racing for ages and I just love it!!
Oh, almost forgot - can Jorge look happy with second place for a change!!!
Send me as many pics as u want and i'll throw em up.....
Is your mate still running the factory ones?
Nice commentary, toseland needs to get his bloody **** into gear..........
Hi Millsy,
Good to hear back from you. When I get some spare time, I'll scan some more pics and mail them to you - thanks for posting the Cherry Pie and the Monster.
My mate is on his fifth rear Dunlop and his third front. Hasn't noticed any difference over the original factory rubber. Averaging 2500 miles per rear and 4000 per front. Really gets on well with them, and rides big mileages for the 6 months of the year we can ride here. You should be fine once you've replaced the factory tyres.
Have a great weekend - oh, I forgot - it's already the weekend in NZ!
Cheers,
Alec
Hey Alec
Well the weather still not improving down here, cold and wet. Went for a blast last weekend round lake Taupo which is about a 2 and a half hour ride, blow the cobwebs out a bit, just got to watch out for the ice in the shade...... my fingers where numb at the end..... must admit the street rods growing on me.....
just found out this week the wifes pregnant with no 3, I'm going to need some real good excuses to get out this summer,post your ideas here
BSD
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