The 520 Chain Cafe: December 2010

I thought I'd do a post about the changes I've made to my Sportster over the years. I bought this bike brand new in the spring of '03. I'd been doing some bike shopping, primarily looking at naked sport bikes, the Yamaha FZ1 being in the lead of what I'd been looking at. I decided to have a look at what Buell offered, so went to the Harley dealer. I wasn't all that impressed at the XB series, but got to looking at Sportsters during the visit. I'd always loved the basic look of Sportsters, but never seriously considered buying one. After some thinking I decided to give one a try. For better or worse, I went with the XL1200C, with the two tone paint.

Below is the bike after a few needed changes. First was the SE air breather kit, SE2 slip-on mufflers and rejet to the carb. The bike ran 100% better than the corked-up and too lean engine as delivered. I also added a tach kit. The stock short rear shocks were awful to say the least, so I scored a new in the box set of adjustable 1200S shocks on ebay cheap. They were a huge improvement! The other changes were cosmetic, like the smoked turn signal lenses. This was how the bike was for the first couple years.

The bike was very fun to ride, and I loved the engine, but I never liked the forward foot position or the 21" front hoop. I probably should have just bought a 1200S instead in the first place. I had been looking at sported-up Sportsters, and decided to do so to mine. I got started in the summer of '06 with the first round of mods. They included Crossroads rearsets. The rearsets won't work with a stock 2-2 exhaust, so I picked the Vance and Hines SS2R system. It is a very light weight system, and relatively quiet. I also installed Stuntme clip-ons purchased on ebay. The HD "headlight visor" flyscreen was mounted, with the headlight mount "eyebrow" placed below the top clamp. I had also been using an 883R seat by now. I laced an Excel 19 inch front rim to the stock hub, and mounted Avon Venom tires front and rear. The fork brace is a vintage style piece from Trak-Tek.

Much better, but just getting started. At the end of '06 I began to do some more mods. The big one was to make a custom tail/seat piece. Below is the start of it. I bent up tubing to get the shape of the bum stop I wanted.

Then i skinned it in steel, and blended it into the bike. It uses an aftermarket GSXR integrated taillight. I also converted to 520 chain drive, with Renthal sprockets and RK x-ring chain. I bought a stock HD used hub and laced an Excel 18" rim, using Buchanan stainless spokes, as I used on the front. I also trimmed the cam and sprocket covers.

Ready for '07.

For '08 I bought a cheap dinged up tank, and welded in a CBR600 fuel filler.

I also braced the swingarm...

...and made some lift blocks to raise the rear ride height.

I also added a larger side mount headlight, trimming the flyscreen to fit.

By now I installed Progressive front springs, and made the forks air adjustable.

Done for '08.

Just minor cosmetic changes for '09.

I haven't done any big changes in the last couple years, as I really like the way the bike looks and performs currently, but I'm always thinking of what I might do next. I've considered engine mods, but it runs very good, and is very reliable, so plan to leave it alone for now. I'll likely lace an 18" rim on the front at some point, and I've thought of going to a different gas tank. I love the Sportster tank shape, but have been thinking of something with a better cafe' look. The bike is an absolute blast to ride! I've also had a great time working on it, and have done 100% of it myself. Most of the mods have been fairly low cost, and I even came out ahead on some of then by selling the stock parts.