So this past Friday I took the ERC(Experienced Rider Course), since it is soon becoming another Marine Corps requirement. Throughout the whole course I was scraping my kick stand, but I scraped my V&H Short Shots TWICE! I didn't think is was possible, but somehow I did it. What sucks is that I have them wrapped all the way till the mounting bracket, so it tore the **** out of my pipe wrap(SUCKS). Since I didnt have any extra wrap to fix it, I took it to Harley to see if they could help me out and salvage it. They just cut it back some and used some extra pipe wrap they had laying around to "patch" it. So I wont be going through anymore turns leaning that much again! By the wait I still have the stock suspension with no lowering kits or anything like that.

 

At least your getting your money's worth out of the tire tread!

 

Oh well, it gives your bike character...Do you want it to look perfect? Pipes look better scraped. At least it is not the paint...

 

Yeah, the N loves to scrape parts... My kickstand has at 1/4" or more ground off the front edge, and my muffler clamp bolts are almost totally ground flat. If I need to remove 'em I'll need a torch! Oh well, I look at it like it keeps me from getting stupid in the canyons! :-) It's a safety feature.... ;-)

 

I have cycle shack wide oval slip ons on my '08 Nightster. With the wider muffler I scrape hard parts frequently. Last month I scraped the front muffler so hard on Hwy 1 in Northern California that I thought I was going to lift the rear wheel off the road on a hard and fast right turn. I paniced, popped the bike up straight and found myself on the wrong side of the double yellow. Gave me instant pucker power. So.......last week I gave in - installed Progressive 412 Shocks. I wimped out and went with 12" shocks (stock being 11") - didn't change the look of the Nightie too much - but now I can't scrape that front muffler even when I try.

 

On an old set of pipes a buddy of mine had, he scraped so much, so often, the pipe was completely ate away where he would hit. That was on a stock suspension 883C

 

I have the ERC coming up on the 8th of May, the Navy requires it every three years no matter what now. I think the Military's tactic to start lowering motorcycle accidents and deaths in the services is to make it completely uncomfortable and ridiculous for a rider to ride. I guess I can look forward to trashing my lower heat shield.

 

yea they made me go thru it too. such a waste of time. its just a BRC review.

 

It Sux that you scraped the pipes. But look at the other side of the situation..... You worked your bike and tires to the edge to get that scrape. A Blemish to a Beautiful bike and pipes....But bragging rights also.

 

I ride with rockets thru the twisties all the time. I replace kick stand springs once a month, and i put clear fingernail polish on the scratches on the underside for the forward exhaust every 2 months to prevent rust damage. It's not a big deal. **** happens, if you're not scraping on a nightster, you're not riding hard enough. At least your controls don't scrape.