Joined
·
114 Posts
I have been riding since I was 5 and had to slide off the seat of a Rupp 1.5 hp minibike to reach the brake. Rode a Yamaha XS400 in High School then started living in big cities and over seas where owning a bike was too dangerous or just impractical. I finally bought a new 2004 XL1200C when I spent a couple years back up in WI and brought it out to Vegas with me 10 years ago. Put 40k on the odometer and made it unrecognizable to guys who sold them. Blacked out the chrome, jockey shifter, apes, lots of hand made add ons and off the shelf performance upgrades. Rode it to Sturgis 4 times, 1080 miles each way and once even did the iron butt straight back. Never really felt the bike fit me but loved the way it handled.
I got a chance to test ride a couple touring models when the new frame came out and fell in love. It was like the bike was built for me. Almost bought a Road Glide every year since but other things came up till now. Mid August of this year I sold the Sporty and got my 2015 Vivid Black RGS. The price was right and I got their .99% financing so I bit. One of the toughest things about changing bikes is that I had spend soooo much time on making that XL mine and now I had a totally stock bike again. Luckily I have my knowledge of what works as well as the massive collection of information on the web to help me from buying parts over and over like the last time before finding what works.
I began my research a few weeks in advance since I knew I what I was getting but wasn't quite ready to buy yet. This forum was one of the main sources of help for me since the 15 is a new beast but a lot have gone before me. I knew what I really needed first so I could keep the search small but there are certain things every stock bike needs to be comfortable as a good long distance ride. Windshield, seat, grips and bars are essential. If one of those isn't right for you it will be a bad ride.
The proud new owner.
I started with the windshield since it was fairly easy to pick and would help even on shorter runs. Freedom Shields has a great rep here, they have every inch of size covered and a good price. I went with the 14" after a lot of measuring and dark grey tint for looks. It showed up about a week after I ordered it, looks and works great. Here is a shot of me on the highway with it installed. They say it should be level with your mustache area and it comes up just a little below so my first mod was a success in my book.
With that taken care of I started to look at grips but HD doesn't make the style I like anymore and nothing they have now intrigues me. The aftermarket stuff hasn't hit me yet either so I decided to wait till at least Vegas Bike Fest to see if anything looked better in person.
I wanted to nail down a solid Stage I setup since the HP and Torque numbers are pretty bad stock and the sound is kinda sad. I loved the V&H Sideshots I had on my Sport but not the right look or sound for my RG. I've always thought the Rinehart sound great but everyone has them and I need to be somewhat different. Started seeing a lot of good things on Fuel Moto and decided to spend time looking at the Jackpot pipes. Literally days of searching for video and listening to different pipes as well as studying hundreds of dyno sheets gave me a solid plan.
I got a chance to test ride a couple touring models when the new frame came out and fell in love. It was like the bike was built for me. Almost bought a Road Glide every year since but other things came up till now. Mid August of this year I sold the Sporty and got my 2015 Vivid Black RGS. The price was right and I got their .99% financing so I bit. One of the toughest things about changing bikes is that I had spend soooo much time on making that XL mine and now I had a totally stock bike again. Luckily I have my knowledge of what works as well as the massive collection of information on the web to help me from buying parts over and over like the last time before finding what works.
I began my research a few weeks in advance since I knew I what I was getting but wasn't quite ready to buy yet. This forum was one of the main sources of help for me since the 15 is a new beast but a lot have gone before me. I knew what I really needed first so I could keep the search small but there are certain things every stock bike needs to be comfortable as a good long distance ride. Windshield, seat, grips and bars are essential. If one of those isn't right for you it will be a bad ride.
The proud new owner.
I started with the windshield since it was fairly easy to pick and would help even on shorter runs. Freedom Shields has a great rep here, they have every inch of size covered and a good price. I went with the 14" after a lot of measuring and dark grey tint for looks. It showed up about a week after I ordered it, looks and works great. Here is a shot of me on the highway with it installed. They say it should be level with your mustache area and it comes up just a little below so my first mod was a success in my book.
With that taken care of I started to look at grips but HD doesn't make the style I like anymore and nothing they have now intrigues me. The aftermarket stuff hasn't hit me yet either so I decided to wait till at least Vegas Bike Fest to see if anything looked better in person.
I wanted to nail down a solid Stage I setup since the HP and Torque numbers are pretty bad stock and the sound is kinda sad. I loved the V&H Sideshots I had on my Sport but not the right look or sound for my RG. I've always thought the Rinehart sound great but everyone has them and I need to be somewhat different. Started seeing a lot of good things on Fuel Moto and decided to spend time looking at the Jackpot pipes. Literally days of searching for video and listening to different pipes as well as studying hundreds of dyno sheets gave me a solid plan.
