Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. My story..

The updates here have been loooooong over due but its mostly cause u wanna squeeze in some riding in ur free time and not jus cause I'm lazy ..

The bike I would admit has been an absolute bum buster .. Go on a very long ride and you'd forget that you have a bum attached to ur body after about 200 to 250 kms and this is in stock condition that my bike is in, as regards to the seat and the shocks; I didn't even have the pre-load adjustment on the shocks tweaked.
But the part above the neck would be sporting a ludicrously big and smug looking smile and the heart would be in bliss till u hit a speed-breaker or pot-hole; no the bike won't scrape it's under-belly or mis-behave but u get reminded that you do have a bum and it's in a very hellish place....

Now a smart question would be to ask me why even after having ridden the 'Schatten' for almost 2500 kms I haven't upgraded the seats or the shocks...
The answer is simple 'The prices of Harley upgrades are eye-watering and besides that I'm in love with the stock look of the bike...!!!!! It's an absolute BOMB..!!!!!
There is no way that anyone would miss this bike on the road..!!! Furthermore, you connect with your bike on a personal level i.e jus like you'd feel for an actual person; it's not jus a bike anymore(atleast for me with my bike) and once you go on the HOG rides you want to give your bike a different look than any other Iron on the road; so most of time has been going in researching and finding things that I feel would contribute to give me the final look that I want for my 'Schatten'.
And the things I've found till now are - NONE(mabe one or two but bought none.. hahaha). But I feel I'm on the right track with my approach.

There have been two changes to my ride one is the addition of Vance and Hines Twin Slash Slip Ons (you would have to hear them to believe how loud they are) and the other is Highway Pegs. Both these changes have been born of necessity.

Vance and Hines Slip Ons cause my bike earlier sounded like a jumped up sewing machine instead of a 300 kilo - 883cc blacked out monster.. Well now it sounds like a 500 kilo mad, black and wild HOG with a Frowning Lunatic sitting on top of it..!!! The roads open up with a twist of throttle as people turn to see what all the racket is about!!! Absolutely LOVE IT!!!!
And the Highway Pegs were bought cause of a kind of medical emergency as I was genuinely concerned about my buttocks and now I have another place to rest and stretch my legs, mercifully..

During this period I've met people who wanted to know which sportster to start off on and I think now having ridden this bike for the distance and period I have and ridden the other bikes and seen them on rides and the overnighter; I can give a view point of what I honestly feel about the sportster range.

A Lowdown on the Sportster range:

With mid-mounted controls Iron is easiest to ride in traffic but Superlow and 48 with forward mounted controls are more comfortable on long-rides. So if u do city riding, Iron is the best.
I've felt that Iron scores above 48 cause even though 48 is the best looking Harley you can find, the small fuel tank is a huge liability on a long-ride in a group. And inexperienced riders that go for the Sportster class bikes would struggle a little with a 1200cc engine.
Superlow(only in my opinion) doesn't have the road presence of a Harley till you get some customization done on it and even though it has a decent fuel tank size and great comfort for long-rides you won't take it for one cause it scrapes almost every speekbreaker and going over bumps is a nightmare(as I found out on Ranthambore trip) and road quality outside the metropolitan cities is questionable at best.

And I really feel that the ride quality on any Harley should not deter you from getting one cause there are infinite seats and shock upgrades are also available for every bike and on the economical side you have Road Zepplin and AirHawk Seat cushions available which completely transform the ride !!! I've seen even the guys on Fatboys use AirHawk seat cushions..!!! So jus get the HOG that you Love based on ur fit and needs and u can make it truly yours.. There really are infinite things you can do to a HOG..!!!!

Thanks.

Some pics..

My First HOG Ride..











Another Sunday ride, this time to Murthal...



You can see the V&H exhausts in this pic..




Outside President's House on a Sunday morning..










After the Ranthambore ride..



I'm the first guy from the left sitting in the front row..!!

Thanks guys..!!!! Cheers..!!!

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. My story..

The pics are awesome. But, did the security guard at the Rashtrapathi bhavan let you click pictures...you know ??

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. My story..

Thanks TheArcher84..
The security guard is the army soldier right? he only took the pics , we were jus in front of the last barricades, there were many people there many cycling groups and other motorcycle enthusiasts also.. Amazing environment. We chilled out and some guys smoked while the army guards took pics with the bikes. It was great..

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. My story..

A much needed update on your thread, glad to read your experience Harshit. My bum/tailbone is beaten on every uneven tarmac but the excitement and rush that our Harley's give us is nothing that can be described with words. Kick ass would be apt though.

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. My story..

Thanks buddy..
We are bound to have this problem cause of the slammed suspension there isn't much travel available for the shocks. But what I specifically don't like is people going for seat upgrades before they discover all the options cause in my opinion Harley Davidson should provide good seats upfront on bikes that cost as much as a car or even more and in the end they stand to gain from it cause people go for seat upgrades and HD sell them their customized seats; not a good way of doing business from the customer point of view.

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

What is the on road price in delhi and also share its specs please

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Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

Would you mind visiting HD's India website and getting all details yourself?
FYI, you'll find specs and pricing together in the same tab.

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

A second over-nighter for me and some issued that I faced in the 400Kms ride to the first one partially addressed.
One was the harsh stock seat of the sportster and the second was an additional place to rest the feet when on the highway.


The solution to the Stock Seat is usually an expensive seat from HD but I've found a pretty cost effective and yet an even more comfortable way out.
That was 'The AirHawk seat cushion' all of $90 and the relief it provided was priceless..!!!


The second was mounting Highway Pegs to the Engine Guard (for Rs 2700) which was very helpful until they gave way during a ride which was unexpected as it was a Genuine HD Accessory..!!!
Beats me.. But will get them fitted again from HD soon.

But here are a few pics from the Overnighter..



The HOG Family before the Flag Off.. Many were there only to see off the riders.






Our small group of riding buddies left before the HOG on the way back from Bharatpur.





Me riding on Yamunex on the way back from Bharatpur..!!!
Though I'm against excessive speeding (see signature); I wanted to see what the Schatten could do and I did exceed some crazy speeds on Yamunex with more go still left in the engine.. INSANE bike I must say...!!!!!

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

I am sure you had a blast, I am facing some issues with my tailbone and guess Airhawk is something I'll have to resort to as well.

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

Are you using forward controls?

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Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

No forward controls bro, just the stock mid control foot pegs for me.

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

Its a perfect solution. A new seat would also have a break in period and even then I suspect it would be as comfortable as the AirHawk, it's like riding on AIR..!! Super comfy and it isolated from the vibrations coming from the seat. HD has a similar cushion with the name Road Zepplin but I've seen far too many of its specimen not functioning properly(air leakage from the valve).
So it has my recommendation buddy. Go through youtube and if u like it go for it.


On superlow there are forward controls installed from the factory I guess.. right?!?

Re: Booked my Brute - Iron883. To be called "Schatten"

Congrats for an awesome ride. I guess you are the 1st person I know who's 1st bike is a Harley.. Awesome!!