My 1996 XLH 883 Hugger             Deutscher Text hier klicken

I wanted a Harley since I was 10 years old. It just didn't work out all the time. When I had roughly 27 years, a close friend of mine bought a Softail Custom and let me ride it. It was absolutely THE thing to have. But my banker didn't go for it, so I   weaseled around on a Yamaha Ténéré until I could afford my very own Sportster at the age of 30. I was surfing the net one particular monday evening in May 1996 and happened to click on the Harley Davidson site. There it was. The picture showed a Hugger in red-metallic paint, and the price seemed reasonable enough. The following morning, I paid avisit to the Harley Dealer in Lille (about 60 km north from my home) and ordered an all black Sportster Hugger.

The following three weeks of waiting were rather difficult for me. I watched all the Harley films like Easy Rider and HD and the Marlboro man, started to flip through numerous catalogs and imagined myself on my sled. A XLH is the smallest Harley, but damn, it's 1000 times better than the biggest jap-bike. I came up with some ideas of how to change the looks, because a stock bike was not an option. When the bike arrived, forward controls and a Drag-Bar were installed the same day.  A long and warm summer followed and I put about 8000km on her while touring France with my brother Martin, who came over from Berlin, D  on his BMW.

In autumn 1996 I had to move back to Germany for a year and shortly thereafter my first crash happened. Wonderful occasion for a new frontend and the 8000 km service at HD Bielefeld. I chose the Rev O Lution 6° rake tripple trees and got the tubes 2" longer (one inch over standard XLH). Another 12000 km in the following 10 months, then I had to move back to France again. The bike served as an every day vehicle and it showed. 20000 km in 15 months on a Sportster is something. Because I had to look for a flat and a garage, I left the bike in Germany at FS Motorcycles, today known as Ride Inn Minden-Herford. They would also do some major work on her.

I wanted a real big gas tank with a classic design, get her lower and make her longer BUT we had to keep an eye on the money. So I started to shop around for used parts that could be useful. The swingarm is a TTS FXR part, that we revamped  a bit. It's 10 cm longer than original and real sturdy. The rear fender was on a 1970s FLH, the gas tank is a Quickbob for 1974 FX and the seat belongs on a 1958 Panhead. A Suzuki GSXR got rid of its rider in a quite spectacular way, and I got its rear brake. All these parts made for a fine, long and low look, but the longer swingarm (which can host a 200/45 tyre)  was not exactly compatible with the standard size belt. I wanted a chain, but Frank at Ride Inn got hold of some nut, who made belts to custom specifications.

The 1997 autumn was warm and sunny until november, and I didn't have my bike around. Good work takes its time, and my sled arrived by lorry two days before the annual "Salon de Moto", where I wanted to show off with it. I remember very well arriving at the transport agency and seeing it for the first time in new shape. Perfect! The invoice was scotched to the seat and twice as high as agreed on. But the bike won first price in the chopper category and on the following monday I paid the bill.

Lucky me. LowBoy made 400 km with it's first long belt. Ride Inn sent a new one in exchange that lasted 25 km. Only then they sent me a chain and sprocket kit, and no more problems ever since. All this without payment, as a kind of garantee exchange ... good service. I have changed the carb and the cams and spooled another 15000 km on the counter (showing 43000 km by Feb 2001). Due to some health problems (backpain) Low Boy was sold on 06-mar-2001. I did not want to get rid of the bike, I simply didn't ride it anymore and the cash came in handy for our new house.....  it sucks to sell a bike. I got a little bit less than I wanted and the buyer (the boss of my favourite bar) paid a bit more than he wanted, so it's been a fair deal.

In Short:

The Sportster is a very good and versatile motorcycle. The price is absolutely OK for a 900 cc bike. It's light, handy and has the real Harley feeling. No other engine is longer in production (they've made the 883 since 1957). If you are looking for a reliable and easy to maintain motorcycle that has a heart, a character, and if you can pass on the bells and whistles that come with the Big Twins, you finally found it. I rode my Ironbutt 1000 on it, so whoever tells you that a Sporty is no tourer, just don't listen!

The way to XL-ency

I would not buy the SE ignition for the Sporty again. As a matter of fact, I didn't get any advantage out of it. As I consider my exhaust system as rotten. I kept the original pipes, closed the holes that the resonance tube made and put on cheap slip on mufflers. Now the sound is all there can be, but it cost power at the top end. The bike lost about 20 km/h. While I never ride very fast or accelerate into very high revs, it still sucks to have lost the HPs I bought with the other stuff.

Carbs

I tried a S&S super E, but that one is by far too big for the 883 engine. It makes for high consumption and low fun. The bike feels tired at low and mid revs. In fact anything below 1340 seems too small for that carb.

Next on the list was the Andrews Flowmaster (today sold under the Snarling Chicken brandname). A very easy to adjust carb, but not something that really makes a difference. I personally recommend it only for the rider who goes higher revs all the time. The bike will feel a bit more "willing", a bit more responsive, but I did not get additional power from that one.

Keihin CV40 + Dynojet Kit  is what I came back to. It simply works. I know, it's Jap Crap and all, but it needs no tuning, works in every weather and with the DJ there is no more Harley-Fart. The Kit smoothens the carb all over, makes for easyer starting and adds some punch in low and mid revs (I use the 180 needle).

Cams

I have Crane cams in LowBoy and am quite happy. Because I did not want to change lifters and springs, I went for a set of only slightly higher lift. This makes for a better acceleration in mid revs, but does not add a lot at the top end. Well, if you've seen her, you can imagine that riding at 160 km/h (100mph) ain't no fun anyway.

Tyres

DON'T MAKE THEM TOO WIDE. In fact a friend of mine has a 200 on his FX, and he is about the slowest vehicle in any curve in any given traffic situation. TOO WIDE SUCKS!

Dunlop Elite is a brilliant rubber on the Sportster. I got 22000 km out of the front and 16000 km out of the rear gum. While it is expensive, it makes good for it by its endurance. Uncritical in rain and a mediocre stopper. I had it in 130 and 140 (on the photos above).

Pirelli Route looks better because it is a bit wider in the profile. I have that one in 160 today and had to go to chain to make it fit in (well, I was going back to chain anyway). The tyre looks real fat but stays handy and maneuverable. It brakes a lot better than the Dunlop (maybe because it is wider) but is a bitch in rain. I changed the front back to Dunlop after 1000 km. The rear can slip as much as it wants .... it makes for show.

Gas Tank

I went for a classic Quick Bob, because it costs only half the price of the Sport Bob and can take more fuel. The installation is straightforward. The tank comes with mounts that have to be drilled, to make screws go through, and that's it. Spend an extra buck or two on the caps. I bought el-cheap-o and they were either so tight, that the bike stopped after 5 km (vacuum in the tank), or when I took off one rubber ring, the tank spilled fuel all over the bike.

Chain Drive

Yep. No belt. The chain drive works very well. I still use the first kit (26000 km on it) and it only gets a bit of grease every 300 km or so. A very nice thing is the ability to change ratios. I went for a slightly bigger front sprocket and so the engine turns a little lower than normal at any given speed. While this costs a bit of punch, it makes for very comfy riding and fuel-efficiency.

Swingarm

The TTS I use is really sturdy and high quality. The longer swingarm makes the bike difficult to handle in curves but very stable on straights. I have to admit that I put it on for the looks, but I can tell others that I had to do it, because the bike made a wheelie at every start .... question of power and tuning. With the longer swingarm I can keep her down .... you won't believe, but a lot of people really go for that. They stand there with their mouth wide open and look at the bike in disbelief. Always makes me grin.

Handlebar

I think a bar needs to be wide and low. Because of my size (1.96 m / 6'6") I can't use anything high or with a lot of rear bow. I want my back to be slightly slanted to the front, so at about 80 to 100 km/h the wind will "carry" me and no more weight on the wrists, neither pulling nor pushing. An Apehanger seems to be the worst thing to me. The back is bent, the arms have to pull the body to the front all the time and the rider will become tired a lot faster than on any other configuration. Maybe this Ape-shit has something to do with the Hard-Tail-Macho thing. Apparently everything incomfortable and unhealthy (Apehangers, rigid frames, forward controls) is way cool and manly.... I don't go for it! I want to ride!

Low Boy has about 60 HP and topped out at a measured 170 km/h.

last update 08-August-2001   www.shovelinfo.com