To recap expenditures so far. $262.26 invested so far. Plus the cost of the bike $400. Total is
$662.26. Not bad so far.
Had to purchase turn signal stays. Those were a little pricey from Honda. $32 each for the right side. Could have gotten them online for less but we won't get into that. It was a lot to register the bike. $92.46. Didn't expect that. That can't be figured in the cost of the bike though. Also, insurance is pretty good, $42 a year.
When installing the turn signals found out that the turn signals themselves are junk. Cracked all the way around. Will have to replace them. $25 each online. Will go the online route this time. Replace the one rear right stay. The turn signal isn't cracked so that is good.
Also, I am going to replace the handlebar grips and add some reflectors to the sides of the radiator. $10 each for the reflectors and $10 for a set of grips. That might do it.
Cleaned on the bike on Thursday. Darrell pressure washed the bike. Looks tons better. Will work on that some more.
It looks better and better. Fired the bike up on one press of the starter, in 40 degree weather. Pulled off the choke after a couple of minutes. Awesome.
Didn't show the bike this weekend. Didn't get the parts in time. Also, will work on it for a year and make it look better. Unless it gets sold before then. I would like to keep it to tinker with.
Probably will spend another $100 and call it good. Unless we find something else. Hope not.
Time to speak my opinion on a few things.
I know there are a lot of people out there that think that Harley Davidson is the only bike on the planet. They are the only American made bike. Indian is made in the US too now. Harley has a huge foot hold in America and they are going all over the world. I love Harley. I always wanted one since I was a kid. They are awesome. They also have come a long way. Especially since the AMF days. That is an era that needs to be forgotten. But, that was a big stepping stone for Harley. The Japanese were building quality bikes in the early 80's. They didn't leak oil. Were cheap and fast. People were buying them in droves. Which was putting the squeeze on Harley. There market share was going down and they were selling less and less bikes. The government stepped in and put a tariff on Japanese bikes 700cc and larger to help Harley. This helped them tremendously. But, Harley's quality had to improve. Which it did. Competition was a good thing. The 83 Magna, plus a lot of other Japanese bikes in the early 80's were part of the reason for Harley's success, now. They had to improve on everything, or fail.
Remember: It's not what you ride, it's that you ride.
I truly think that if it wasn't for the competition, Harley would have failed. I am glad they
didn't. All of the Metric bikes have there place, and Harley looks at them for trends and engineering. Harley's now have 6 speeds, anti-lock brakes, bigger motors. Harley will continue to thrive and so will the Metric bikes. Until next time, C Ya. Ride and B Safe.
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