Looks much more capable. I would ride it a bit before swapping. Mine seemed a little twitchy on the freeway at 70 or above, and that was only going to 13s.
I suppose if one is used to sport bikes they might not notice or care but I am not.
Yes and I need the extra tire fender clearance. I am 170 lbs before riding gear and I had the 13" spring adjuster set on the next to stiffest setting and i was still bottoming out the tire on the fender occasionally. And this was riding on paved roads. It was driving me nuts. I fore sure ride the bike before I decided to lower the front forks. It has a little back to front rake right now which I don't think looks too bad? Here is side pic in the garage, still raining here. Tomorrow I will get it outside for a better view and maybe a short ride too. I also should get the last coats of silver and clear paint on the front fender tomorrow as well. G.B.
Bu the way, the guy that bought my sporty sold his very clean 97 with low miles in less than a week for $3000. That bike was to pretty to scramblerize.
Oh Wow handirifle, I didn't see that you sold your Sporty already. That didn't take long, cool! $3,000 seems high for a 97' doesn't it? I paid $1,700 for my 97' 883 that had 19,000 miles on it. It was super clean except a cracked rear fender, dents in the tank,and dry rotted tires.. Perfect chrome, no corrosion or pitting on aluminum parts. clean motor with not leaks or gunk, Now I will say that it hadn't run in 5 years. So I needed to clean the tank and go thru the carb along with replacing a fuel line and some vacuum lines. However my bike came with (3) seats, sissy bar, crash bar, windshield, highway pegs, (2) exhaust, (2) chain guards (1 chrome / 1 black), shop manual, fork bag, (2) sets of mirrors. I got over $500 for selling most of those parts above that I didn't need. So in the end my bike cost me under $1,200. This is what it looked like when I dragged it home. I liked the way it looked and sounded with the Vance & Hines Straight shot exhaust. I could have gotten it running and put new tires on and been riding it all this time, But nooooooooooo. I couldn't leave well enough alone. Haha G.B.
Yea I sold mine for $4100. Rode it 150 miles to buy my ultra, and rode the ultra home. Then I picked up the sporty with truck and trailer. The guy bought it while on the trailer, just heard it start, and it was covered in bugs, front to back.
He sold his in about 3-4 days for listed price. I keep telling folks sporties are going pretty high dollar here. Finding a low price one isn't impossible, but not easy either. The Finance mgr had a 2003 there in the showroom, the he got off a guy that was too ill and old to ride. Like yours, it was a barn bike, had not run in several years, and he got it for $100. Unbelievably lucky find on his part.
Yea I sold mine for $4100. Rode it 150 miles to buy my ultra, and rode the ultra home. Then I picked up the sporty with truck and trailer. The guy bought it while on the trailer, just heard it start, and it was covered in bugs, front to back.
He sold his in about 3-4 days for listed price. I keep telling folks sporties are going pretty high dollar here. Finding a low price one isn't impossible, but not easy either. The Finance mgr had a 2003 there in the showroom, the he got off a guy that was too ill and old to ride. Like yours, it was a barn bike, had not run in several years, and he got it for $100. Unbelievably lucky find on his part.
All things considered it sounds like you did well handirifle! Congrats again! G.B.
Just went for a little ride to test out the 15" shocks. The bike rides and handles great! I have plenty of rear tire/fender clearance and run a softer spring setting for a better ride. I am going to leave the front forks at their current 2" drop for now. I like the slight rake the bike has without a rider on it and it handles just fine.
So the bike is done except for a gas tank swap. My perfect 99' silver Sport tank is not so perfect. While the outside and paint is perfect with not one chip or scratch, the inside not so much. When I bought the tank I could tell the inside had been re-coated. So when I rinsed a little fresh gas through it the other day, big chunks of the sealing material came out. So it will be a little bit of a project. I need to strip the sealer out of the tank and assess whether I need to reseal it or just clean it well?
My next project is to put a new stator and voltage regulator on my 97' Electra Glide.
Thanks again to all that helped with comments and suggestions on this build, I greatly appreciated it! G.B.
Looks REALLY COOL. I kinda like the blue and silver myself. Lol
Thanks again handirifle! Yeah I have always liked the blue on this bike and even more with the silver fenders. It might be easier to bondo the dents and repaint this tank blue vs strip out the failing sealer and re-seal the tank silver tank bought for this project? I will figure that out later. I next need to install a new stator and voltage regulator in my Touring bike to I can get it back on the road. G.B.
Amazing job on the scrambler...thanks for sharing your journey building it. Really enjoyed this thread. Makes me want another Sporty...
stratplexi thank you very much! I love forums like this as they are so helpful sharing ideas and working out problems. I received lots of input and help from members on here and wanted to give back by keeping this thread going. I never built anything like this before so its not perfect but I am super happy with the results. Yes, with the prices on Sporty's I will keep my eyes open for another one. Thinking a hard tail conversion might be the next project???? G.B.
04-30-2020 | 05:32 PM
