What do you expect to be able to do after the work that you CAN'T do now?

Will you be taking your bike to the drag strip?

Reality check: Harley's are wonderful bikes, I love mine, but they are not speed machines. In stock form, virtually every 600cc sport bike will blow them away in any head to head competition. Every 750cc will do it with ease, and every 1000cc and up will do it with the rider half asleep.

You can spend a ton of money with engine upgrades to achieve a bump in HP at a specific RPM, that most likely you will never see while recreational riding. You may see it on some Dyno report that you can tack on your garage wall and brag about, but it means very little to your riding.

The cost vs. benefit analysis is so minimal that unless you just have bags of money to throw away the only gain, may be in your mind, but insignificant on your bike.

Would you spend money on an Elephant for ballet lessons?

The one possible exception is bumping a 883 to 1200. But you're not talking about much of a bump going from 96 to 103.

 

Right on the money. Had a sport bike, completely different machine. Harley does not pretend to be a sport bike. I love mine, would say I am a walking Harley billboard.

 

This ^^^ is a very cogent post indeed and after researching performance mods for my Harley (I'm a drag strip rat in my Vette modding it to the 10's) I came to the same conclusion as Lone Wolf wrote above.

 

I agree with both comments above. I've been riding street since I was 18 and dirt since 11. My Rocker is my 14th street. I'm not a fan of sport bikes but I am a fan of muscle bikes. I loved my Honda V65 Magna and actually preferred it over the Yamaha VMax.

I had planned on buying an HD VRod Muscle. If you want a quick Harley, look at the VRod. It is a thrill to ride. When I went to Barbs HD in N.J. it was to buy a VRod Muscle. It was gone by the time I arrived. As I walked through a building full of used bikes, I spotted my Rocker and was smitten by the looks.

If you are an aggressive rider you won't be disappointed with the Rocker. It has plenty of torque coming off the line and will run up through the gears quickly. Even though I am used to quicker bikes, I thoroughly enjoy "getting on" the Rocker. I was most surprised how well it handles curves and turns. I expected with the extended rake to have difficulty doing U turns. Not the case. Riding through the twisties is also very satsfying. I also like how well it goes through turns and curves one handed.

In my humble opinion I'd spend the money on accesories to personlize the look to suit your tastes. It is a great platform for modding.

 

^^^ Agree....while browsing at my local HD dealer a guy pointed out that a Harley is a build a bear for adults. Lol

 

So I now officially own a 2009 Rocker C in vivid black. Interesting story I bought the bike from a 57 year old man who won the bike in a raffle in 2009 and has kept it in his living room for the last 7 years. The bike has been started regularly and kept with fuel stabilizer in the tank, and when I test rode the bike this morning everything ran well. The bike only has 1500 miles on it, the rubber isn't even broken in yet. I test drove it to make sure everything felt right, and then loaded it on a trailer and took it to the local Harley dealer for fresh fluids and a good general check up. The bike is completely stock just as it came off the dealership floor.

 

Wow sounds like you won the Rocker lottery with that find. where's the pics? you can't post that kind of story without pics. lol

might be a good idea to replace those tires- they do dry out after a few years and the rubber compound will be significantly harder.

 

Awesome! Congratulations. We sorta have a rule around these parts. Ya gotta post pics. Lots and lots of pics!

 

That's exactly how I like to buy bikes myself, let someone else eat the initial depreciation, but leave it alone so I can make it all mine!

 

Finally got time from work yesterday to pick the bike up from the local HD dealership.

As you can see it is completely stock.

Now I'm in the process of deciding what I'd like to do to the engine, going back and forth between allowing the HD dealer to install a 103 kit with some upgraded heads, or going the 107 kit route. Everything I do from here will be bolt on while keeping all the original parts untouched so that it could always return to stock if desired. I'll focus on the engine first and the visual accessories later. One exception to that, I have already ordered a Danny G. seat with the gel option which should be here in a few weeks.