My latest acquisition - 2004 Heritage Softail (FLSTCI)
I've done more lurking than posting recently for a variety of reasons. The main reason is because as of February, my beloved '05 Softail Springer is no more. I won't go into all the details, but suffice to say, I've been doing a lot of pondering as to where I should go from here.
Then, in July, I was admitted to the hospital with a BAD case of pneumonia. I had fluid in all sorts of places and infection was growing rapidly. My heart was weak and one doctor said, "You're living off of your right lung. The left one is doing nothing." After about a week and a half with a chest tube and flushing my chest cavity four times, they got ahead of it. In the end, it was discovered that I needed a triple-bypass. Nice. One of my doctors put it succinctly, "You had an earthquake. We see it all the time. You come in for one thing and a slew of other issues come to light. Our job is to fix them all up and get you back on your feet." Over the next few weeks, they did just that. I have a bunch of stories to tell and a scar that will help me tell them. In the end, I was lucky they found the blocked arteries and I'm already on the mend. I'm ready to feel what healthy FEELS like!
I spent about a month in the hospital for a variety of reasons and just got home a few days ago. After several delays in my discharge dates, the nurses and staff were working diligently to get everything in order so I could come home this past Saturday. One of my nurses told me that walking would be the secret to my success. I had been working hard, getting out of bed and doing plenty of walking leading up to and after the surgery. All the staff were very happy with my recovery from the procedure and rumblings started about discharge dates.
When they let me go, they rolled up a wheelchair and said someone would wheel me out to the waiting car. I politely asked if it was okay if I WALKED out of the hospital. They still had the chair handy if I would have needed it, but after all that hard work, it just didn't feel right to ride out of the building. We left the unused wheelchair at the door and I've been improving every day. As you can imagine, I am glad to be home! But, this post isn't about ailments or accidents, it's about this 2004 Heritage Softail, how it came into my life, and what my plans are for it going forward.
At the same time, my sister and bro-in-law were at the local H-D dealership, who just happened to be having a small auction with several trade-ins. My sis and bro-in-law were talking, and he mentioned that he'd like to make good on a conversation we'd had some time back about us working on a bike together. They called and let me know about this '04 Heritage and if it was cheap enough, would I be interested in working with him on it to get me back on two wheels.
We did a little scurrying of the interwebs, looking for values and trying to figure out what a good price would be. In the end, we all agreed and they bid on the bike for me - and we won the auction. It's got some miles, and it needs some work, but he rode it home (mostly) and it's got a few upgrades that could come in handy down the road. It was cheap enough that we have a lot of room to work with in making it mine, and it appears to have solid bones to start from. Now the question is where to go from here?
I'm in no condition to be tearing into a bike build right now, but that's okay because the bike is a work in progress. Bro-in-law already spent some late nights tinkering. He replaced the battery, which cured a variety of running issues and there are a few parts on the way, like throttle cables and such. More to come. The first goal is to get it rideable - brakes, throtle cables, fluids, etc. We painted one of my other bikes and he mentioned that if we wanted to, we could pretty much do whatever we wanted with color.
My '06 RKC and the '05 Springer were so "me" it's rediculous. Even my sister said, "That is sooooo you!" many times. I found myself wanting to do some of the tricks that worked so well on my other bikes, but then decided to let this bike find it's own way. I didn't want to recreate what I had already done. Those bikes were perfect for me, and this one will be too. Only it'll be perfect for me in its own way. I'm still going with a vintage theme and there are a lot of questions to be answered yet, such as color and a slew of details, but suffice to say, I'm really liking something like this, and of course, there WILL be wide whites!
I'm not a chrome monger, and the spokes and stuff might be a little over the top for me, but you can't go wrong with tru-duals and beach bars! I'm not going for a cholo style, but some cues do work well with a Heritage softail. I'm also wondering about this kind of treatment for a paint scheme. I like the tank design and can go with about any emblem that fits the bill. @Architect posted a cool photo of his tank, which is also pretty cool. I'm thinking something retro-ish, but perfectly suited for this bike.
I'm kinda diggin' the Icons RK treatment H-D came out with recently. Thoughts?
I don't know if bags will be part of the plan, but we'll see as it comes along. It'll be a long-ish project for the obvious reasons, but I thought it was significant that it came into my life on the day I walked out of the hospital. The fact that my bro-in-law and sister thought of me just makes it that much better. I'm even thinking of getting a personal plate for it "RTHQKE". I've not even seen the bike yet. I can't drive for weeks, and I'm still recovering, but plans are to meet up with my ride-to-be this coming weekend.
Hope you like it, and I hope to upgrade this thread as work progresses. Of course, I'm under doctor's orders to NOT ride for a while, but I'm ready whenever he signs off on me!
Progress is being made.
The motorcycle is over at my bro-in-law's right now and he works on it from time to time. I went over this weekend and we did a few things. I helped as much as I could while sitting on a little wheeled chair he had (being honest). It was nice to be out, but relying on him (and others) is a bit of a change for me. I'm learning, and everyone has been great. I feel better every day, and I'm longing for the day I get cleared to go riding again! Until then, I'm having fun spending the time out in the garage with him. He's been great for my sister, and I respect and get along with both of them very well. We did our Grand Canyon tour together last year and had a great time. We're planning another trip for 2025.
Eric replaced the battery during the week and had the bike back up and running before I got there Saturday.
My plan is to ride this bike on our next trip, but we've got to get it ready first. To start, he located new throttle cables to replace the snapped ones. We also got the bike on a lift so we could change/check the fluids. The bike had some rust on the air filter, so we assume it sat outside (car port?) at some point. And, the chrome on the top of the front rocker box is bubbled, possibly from fuel or? We'll see if we can locate a replacement. The rest of the chrome cleaned up pretty well!
This was the extent of what rust we could find. Looks like it sat outside, but there is minimal rust elsewhere.
The bike has a bunch of add-ons, and it appears that it was someone's baby at one time. LED headlights, SE plug wires, Love Jugs, and a bunch of chrome bits were all on the bike when we got it. There was also an LED brake/turn light on the rear, but that won't work with what I've got planned, so it'll go in a box for another project down the road. The bags will not be used, except maybe to store some of the smaller bits we take off and don't use. There was also a "Punisher" skulz on the backrest which won't be going back on either.
So, we started taking an assessment of what we needed, and what we wanted to keep. I will say that this bike will undergo a pretty extensive transformation before all is said and done, but for now, we removed the tank, bags, seats, and a few other things and began cleaning. We swapped out the fluids (which didn't look bad) and a new set of plugs. I made a list of things to have on the way for later, and we plan on doing a little more next weekend. We plan to work on the bike as time permits and keep it fun. If it begins to get tedious or drudgery, we'll take a break. It'll take some time for my recovery, so we're not pushed for time.
Are they Screamin' Eagle wires? =)
New bars are on the way, and we'll measure for a new front brake line once they are installed.
From here, we're thinking of tearing off the fenders in preparation for painting and we want to take off the exhaust and check inside the cam chest to see what's inside. Right now, it's anybody's guess. That will likely be this coming weekend. Stay tuned!
It's good to hear that you're on the mend from your health issues.
It sounds like your Sis and BIL are good people, and good luck with the "physical therapy project". It should help keep you in good spirits during your recovery.
08-26-2024, 07:13 PM
My latest acquisition - 2004 Heritage Softail (FLSTCI)
