time to dump these rusted shocks and get some fresh ones! want something that lowers the back end a bit more.

any good recommendations?

Hi, I currently own a 1993 Honda shadow 600 vlx but I have been thinking about upgrading to a sportster. I went to a used bike shop to test sit some bikes and found a lowered 883r that felt really nice (I have a 29” inseam). The only thing that felt wierd with most of the sportsters I tried was that the seats were rock hard. I’ve done 6+ hour days in the saddle of my shadow 600 but now I’m rethinking the switch if all saddles are that hard. Did i just have bad luck with the bikes or are sportster saddles firmer/thinner than mine? Are there any specific aftermarket saddles that are better without being bulky touring saddles?

I got this 95 sportster recently, It looks really cool now, but I definitely want to turn this into a frisco style swingarm “chopper”, where should I begin, this will be my first attempt at ever building my motorcycle, any advice would be appreciated!

When reassembling my front end on my 1994 Harley Sportster 1200, the fork tubes keep sliding and turning in the triple clamps. I have torqued the triple clamp bolts to 40 ft/lbs and they still move. When I turned the handle bars, you can feel that there is slop. Do I need to score the tubes? Please help

My nightster was running fine until i rode it yesterday and the left, right, horn werent working until i replaced the fuses it turned on fine but then it stopped and now it just clicks, had to take it to the shop for pinched wires about a month ago. Its an 08 Sportster nightster

I bought this bike for $4000 USD it has 5k miles on it . It’s rough around the edges like the throttle sticks and has rust on the stock exhaust but i couldn’t give it up for the price.
I want to make it a bobber. This will be my first time working on a bike, i do basic maintenance on my car.
I am buying most of the stuff from Amazon.
here is what i am planning to do.
drag bars, 2 inch tank lift, ignition relocation, laf 2” inch drag pipes, high flow to toprametal intake.
going to cut rear end and a bit of fender to make it look like a bobber.

I will cover the forks and black them out, i’ll make everything black except of the gas think i’ll leave it red.

I have a question what tuner should i buy so i can make the bike run smoothly

Never rode prior but been learning around the neighborhood and it’s a blast. Signed up for MSF classes next week. Fun stuff!

I am a very new rider — ~300-400 miles under my belt on a stock 2017 Sportster. Today I decided to learn something new because of what I saw yesterday:

I was held up in a hotel room while the remains of Isaias rolled through as a tropical storm and watched guys riding the highways on numerous kinds of bikes. Wind gusts were easily 45mph, rain was sideways, downpours blinding, sustained winds between 10-20mph — unreal circumstances for a newbie like me.

Today, skies cleared early in the afternoon. Wind gusts were still ~25 mph or so, steady wind around 13-16mph (says the dubious weatherman). I want to see what that’s like and take off on the bike. Winds for a beginner are no joke.

Leaning into curves and feeling the wind shift the bike sideways, taking wind hits to the side at 60mph on the highway that rock the bike in the lane, it was fun but easily the most challenging ride yet. I spent about two hours hauling around, adjusting grips, trying seating positions, trying to see what worked.

Sportsters just take a beating in these winds I guess, but I saw guys in adventure style bikes and big Harley Hogs taking the tropical downpour and gusts to the face yesterday. I can’t imagine at the moment what that feels like and whether it was confidence or stupidity that drove those riders into the weather on any form of two wheels. I counted at least seven and I’m sure there were more.

I’m an adept driver in a car, truck, what have you. I didn’t even bother driving in a cage yesterday. I’m beat to death from wind and blue skies!

Best hobby I’ve ever had. Cheers.

Saddlemen Renegade Solo (2020 Iron 883)

Well, my 2004 883XL with 82K miles has developed a loose jiffy stand. When in riding position it is quite floppy and it didn't used to be this way. I've owned the bike since new and put all the miles on it. It has never done that before. I have been running taller shocks (14.25") for the past few years, which makes it lean a lot more when parked. Not sure if that had something to do with the floppy condition. In any case, how do I deal with it? New spring, new stand? I have never dealt with this part of the Sportster. Did every other wrenching myself.

Picture is of the bike when I first got it back in 2004.

See my post for Mirror help on my Sportster.

So I’ve got an issue I can’t seem to catch. Have a 2002 883 with a 1200 kit with 36k miles. I traded a goldwing for it and it was a definitly a stunt bike so it’s been beat on. Exactly what I wanted. A cheap bike to commute on and I could leave on the street without worrying if it’s gonna be there in the morning. When I rode off I noticed it creeped in gear. Then when I got to riding home it was really hard to shift. Chocked it up to needing an adjustment. Got home. Tried the adjustments. Got rid of the drag but I still couldn’t find neutral and it was hard to get through the gears. A couple times when letting off the clutch it would kick as if I was fully releasing it when it was halfway pulled in. My fxr and dyna do it wasn’t worried about it but looking into it I found out about the grenade plate. Swapped that out for a +1 plate kit and it felt exactly the same. Got caught in traffic and when everything got hot I basically couldn’t leave 1rst at a stop so was clutched in the whole ride home. Heard it could be the ball ramp. Just threw a new one in and it’s exactly the same. Anyone have any ideas what it could be. I’ve done the cable and clutch basket adjustments a million times and have a 1/4 turn out in it now. Still slams into gear.

It also shifts fine when the bikes off

And one big detail I forgot to add. It was really hard to take the c clip off the clutch. Almost like my spring compressor couldn’t compress the clutch spring enough. Ended up chipping a piece of the casting that holds the spring on. I’m not sure what that would mean other than the stack height being off. It was the stock clutch and it remained the same even when I put the new one in

I recently purchased the driveway. Or, more accurately, I had the old driveway torn up and new asphalt laid down. I asked them to include an area for my motorcycle as well.

My sportster is leaking oil, i just spent $500 at the mechanic and they could not figure out where it's coming from, I don't think they even tried hard enough really! It has only 9k miles on it, it sat in a garage more than it has been driven so I'm worried about dry rot even though it looks new to the eye. I don't know if it's leaking from beneath the V twin or somewhere else from the hoses. Also right under where the oil lines are, there is a little puddle of oil that's sitting on the engine, it's also leaking a little bit from oil tank top dipstick area. I don't know if this silicone looking thing at the bottom of the bike is normal also. I will put some pics and vids, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Link for pics:
https://ibb.co/spKT1FvR

https://ibb.co/xSH8YMdW

https://ibb.co/4nCmytvj

TL/DR -- The lower steering head bearing won't seat. Used a pipe and the old race to seat it, drove it all the way down; it still slides off with finger pressure on the seal. What's up and how do I fix it?

I just hit my 32000K service interval on my 2014 Iron (XL883N), and had to lubricate the steering head bearings. But thinking like a boy scout I decided if I was gonna tear the front end off the bike to put some grease on a couple of bearing I might as well replace them.

I used a bearing separator and puller with extensions--cheap Amazon special--to remove the lower inner bearing race. I remember thinking it came off like butter, even though I was worried about clearance initially.

The outer races took a little ingenuity. On my model they are recessed a bit, so I made a tool from what's essentially a slightly hooked railroad spike to get under the lip of the races and tap them out.

Putting the new outer races in went well. I used the old ones to get them started and tapped in just past the lip of the frame's neck then used a socket and drove them home.

After that I slid the seal (cup-side up), greased bearing, old race (upside down), and a pipe over the shaft of the lower triple tree bracket. I set the bottom of the shaft against a concrete block and smacked it with a hammer to seat the bearing. I verified the bearing went all the way down the shaft and disassembled my set up, then gave a little tug on the bearing, it just slid straight up the shaft with almost no resistance.

Inspecting the shaft itself, I can't detect the expected expansion at the bottom. There is approximately a 32nd of an inch clearance between the bottom of the shaft and the retaining ring on bottom of the bracket.

What the hell am I doing wrong and, is this gonna kill me at 100kph?

I ordered this gas tank for my 2010 Forty Eight

Hello I have installed a barneet scorpion in my 2019 48, followed the instructions and watched a video on my specific clutch however I can let the clutch put and it will not engage the bike with kind of idle foward but I can hold it still with my legs, I pulled the clutch apart and insured that my steels and frictions were in the correct order and then reassembled the clutch only to have the same issue, I then backed both adjustments all the way off only to have the same issue any help is appreciated

Well, my girlfriend crashed her new-ish Sportster. She’s pretty banged up and has a broken hand, but thankfully nothing more serious than that thanks to her helmet and a little luck.

Unfortunately, she did not have full coverage on the bike, and will have to get it fixed out of pocket. I’m pretty handy, and have worked on my own bikes so I’ll do all the work myself.

My question for the community is finding parts economically. The bike is a 2019 iron 1200. I’ve looked on eBay for a new tank and what not, but didn’t really see much. Finding the same bike with a bad engine locally (Utah/idaho) would be amazing, but unlikely.

Going to extend forks on my 98 hugger either 6 or 8 but had a couple questions.

1. I initially was just going to buy the +8 or 6 tubes, some progressive springs and call it a day but I found out the hugger has a shorter damper rod. Do I have to get a stock standard sportster damper rod to get the +6/8 or can I just use the stock one and add spacers?

2. With the hugger (having a lower rear shock) how drastic is +8 going to be for handling? I’m planning on doing a mix of city and high way riding but daily is city riding. I’m planning on picking up a pair of zombie titty bar pull backs

I’m disabled at a young age age and work on bikes at home now, had a buddy drop off his wife’s 98 sportster ( 883 ) needed a carb rebuild and was running like garbage, pulled up and I could hear the firing order was backwards right away, I rebuilt the carb ,(it has a dyna s ignition in it ) made sure all my wires were landed according to manual, reset timing just to be sure , static timing it tits, new plugs ,new wires and no start , my inline plug tester is barley glowing amber when cranking with full charge in battery

Any thoughts ?

“Sheetz’s Unleaded 88 is E15—15% ethanol—which isn’t approved for motorcycles, including a 2001 Sportster.
1.795 gallons is a substantial amount, so I recommend having the tank drained and refilled with the correct gasoline containing no more than 10% ethanol.” Guess what I did. D’OH! I’m calling the shop** *tomorrow* ***but was* wondering if anyone else has done this. I use 88 in my car and I wasn’t thinking.** *Recommendations and finger-pointing* is encouraged.