The Quest for The Dead River

While I was looking for interesting places at Altas Obscura and saw the pictures of the Dead river I decided I would put it on my list of places to check out.

The weather was supposed to be in the mid 50's all day today and I decided to see if I could find it and check out the sights along the way.

I left Crystal Lake and headed Lakemoor to pickup RT120 to Waukegan.

Once I got to the lakeshore I saw signs for the Waukegan Municipal Beach so I decided to check it out.

Doesn't look very beachlike does it? 

 I drove a bit further down the road and came upon the actual beach.  There were tons of kites being flown which was neat.

The Whistle Goes WOOOOOO!

With spring finally peeking It's head up the days are getting warm enough to ride with a destination in mind.

I decided to head down to Bob's motorcycle shop in Dundee as he's shutting down and will be closed by 4/31 at the latest.

I bought some chrome head bolt covers to hide the rusty hot mess that mine have become and of course ended up buying the wrong ones.  Oh well anyone need a set that are too small for an 03 sportster?

I then checked my map of places I wanted to check out to see what was close.  I saw 2 Toots Grill in Bartlett or Priscilla's Ultimate Express in Hanover Park, IL.  Due to the fact that I had limited time and had to get back for a 3 hour accounting class I decided to hit 2 Toots.

Valentines Candy and Card Run

I had a few spare hours before class this afternoon and I needed to grab some Valentines gifts.  I noticed the sun was out and after finding the thermometer was at a balmy 45F I decided to take the sportster.

A quick run to grab a card and then to the Thornton's in Cary to get some Nutrageous bars for the burgermodel was all I had time for but it was a great day to ride.

I did find my throttle return was loose but I got it all straightened out.

Some pictures of the bike outdoors with all the modifications in place.  Now that you can see the rear you can get a look at the red turn signals and the custom chrome taillight visor.

3/4LB Cheeseburger at The Spot in Marengo, IL

The weather outside is still firmly in winter mode so riding is out of the question but food must still be consumed.  Seeking a great burger I and my lovely burger model made the short trip over to Marengo Illinois to visit The Spot.

If you haven't been to the spot you're in for a treat.  It's to quote their slogan "a sick little bar", mainly a dive for locals to eat and drink the day away but don't let the cluttered atmosphere and bleary eyed clientele fool you, they have a world class burger.

Note the dim lighting and overexposed windows, You are now experiencing "Blearovision"tm

As the map on the wall shows they have quite a far flung clientele.

We started with the Mac and Cheese bites, typical bar food but on special for $3.25.

Now for the burgers

They take 12oz of fresh ground beef and through some sort of black magic manage to make a burger that is perfectly cooked and juicy in spite of it's massive size.  Fries or onion rings are optional and I would recommend just ordering a burger unless you are extremely hungry as the fries that we ordered could not be consumed after the massive burger.

I got the Spotburger with everything and onion rings.

The Spotburger virgin ordered hers with pepperjack cheese aka the "HotSpot"  We were strongly urged by a patron to order a fried egg on top of the "Hotspot" which he referred too as a "Tyson Burger" but much like the cannibal who ate the clown I bet anything named after a guy called Tyson tastes a little funny.

Can I get a bite?

If you'd like to try your own 3/4lb Spotburger head to
The Spot

214 S State St, Marengo, IL 60152

(815) 568-8676

If the owner Ritchie is working, pester him to do some magic tricks. He is an awesome bartender to shoot the breeze with.

Fork Boots Redux

After installing the fork boots and getting the bike all put back together I realized that they had a bit too much slack.

After I installed the nacelle I had to push them down even more so they were looking pretty bunched up so I removed a total of 3 pleats from the bottom of each boot and punched new drain holes on the 2nd lowest pleat of each.

Here is how they look presently, I think I may cut out another pleat to give them a bit less slack.

A crash bar by any other name

I've always liked the idea of a crash bar on my motorcycles.  We all try to be careful but I personally have dropped a bike or two when I put the kickstand down and either caught it with my foot and knocked it back up or didn't extend it all the way and it snapped back up on it's own.  Luckily most times I've noticed or heard the kickstand flip up but when I didn't the bike fell over as I got off.  Luckily I put crash bars/case guards/engine guards on my Zephyr so the one time I leaned it over nothing happened but the guard got dirty.

On the Sportster I've debated installing a guard.  They do not usually make a bike look better but I have had the jiffy stand flip back quite frequently so I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before I screw up.  I decided I'd see if I could find one cheap and throw it on and if I didn't like the looks sell it on craigslist.

I found an ebay seller liquidating a pile of NOS 49018-88C engine guards from a dealer who went under.  I figured I'd throw in a lowball bid of $40 and see what happened.  The guard sold for $60 but the seller offered me another for my $40 bid so I jumped on it.

The install was quick and straightforward.  Remove the two upper engine mount bolt and the 2 upper lower engine mount bolts and install the guard.

I think it looks fine and goes nicely with the 50's and 60's look I'm going for.   We'll see if I change my mind but for $40 it's cheap insurance.

Here are some pics of it installed.

The Nacelle From Hell

I really like the look of a nacelle with fork books on motorcycles.  I also really hated the way the stock sportster headlight looks.  Luckily for me Harley has a nacelle kit for sportsters and dynas, unluckily it was discontinued in 2007.  After trolling ebay and only finding buy it now auctions for $400 and up and a few completed listings for around $300 I figured it might be like finding a unicorn.  On a whim I stopped in the local dealer and asked them to run the part number 67971-04.  They searched other dealers and found some that showed them in inventory and said they possibly could order from another dealer.  I asked how much and was told the msrp was $199 so it'd be 220 with shipping.  They wouldn't give me the dealer list so I was stuck having to go through them but they said they'd get a firm price and call me back if they could find one.

The guy called back and said they had one but the price was now $250.  It was still cheaper than ebay and I figured at least I could return it if it was broken or missing parts.  I gave the go ahead and they said they'd call me back the following Tuesday to get my credit card once the order was final.  I swung by on Tuesday as I was in the area and it turns out the reason it had to wait 5 days was the dealers credit cards was maxed and they needed to pay their bill to use it again, I had to wait so I could order it through them and pay them for the privilege.  What a great system Harley dealers have a corner on the parts ripoff market.  Now I know why people were paying more money to deal with ebay sellers.

Anyways, the kit shows up that Friday and I decide it's going on immediately.  I verified I had all the part and then read through the instructions and found out that I had missed that I needed an in-lb and ft-lb torque wrench and blue lock tight so I immediately had to run back to harbor freight before I could get started.

Here are some before pictures

The instructions say I need to remove the stock bucket and visor.  I get the bulb out and find that while the instructions say I just need to break down the stock headlight connector and pull the terminals out the back and reassemble, my headlight also has 2 6pin Deutsch connectors for my speedo and tach and I would need to break both down to get the stock bucket off, it would be nice if the instructions even mentioned extra terminals.

Too many wires, not enough instructions

One of the 2 extra connectors

I checked the FSM and it said to pry the locking block out and I realized this was going to be a huge pain in the ass.  I started trying to get the first one apart without breaking anything and got nowhere.  I realized the I stood a good chance of breaking the block and needing extra parts and even if I got everything apart there was a chance I would end up screwing up the seal in the connectors.  I then said screw it and got the tin snips and just butchered the stock bucket.  I can get a new bucket but a new harness would be pricey.

I'm a terrible person

 For sale 02 Sportster headlight bucket, lightly used

 Down to the bare forks

Ok, now the stock parts are off.  Next step start putting all the nacelle parts together.  Just one problem each screw hole is full of shit and the screws are binding enough that I snapped off a few T15 torx bits.  I ended up having to oil up a qtip and put each screw in a tiny bit then back it out and swab the threads and put the screw in a bit more and repeat until the screw was able to seat.  I really need to buy a tap set.

Next step is put the nacelle on the forks using two flat brackets.  I screwed this up by having the nacelle on top of the fork boots. I then had to pull it back off and pull the boots down.  after reassembling I found the boots had angled the nacelle enough to cause the flimsy brackets to deform and no longer hold the nacelle to the forks and I had managed to pinch a wire in the speedo harness luckily not hard enough to break it but I'll probably have it fail at some point.  Luckily the brackets were so crappy I could recontour them by hand and get the nacelle mounted up right.

Next step screw in the rear panels.  Of course the directions don't mention that you have to unbole the brake lines on the right side of the bike to get that panel to fit.  I skipped to the left side and found that they had apparently used the rarest allen key size ever. I had 4 sets of allen keys and none had the correct size.  I decided to check the flip out set I carry with the bike and found the correct size, it was 7/64.  Unfortunately I didn't have the space to get to the screws with the flip out set so I gave up for the night.

The next day I got a allen set with 7/64 from harbor freight and I was finally able to finish the install.  It was probably 4hrs total and would have been so much easier with better instructions.  Keep in mind I had pulled the throttle cables out then I put on the fork boots or there would have been the need to remove the throttle as well which would have been at least and extra 20 minutes.  I also still need to make a cover for the backside as it's completely open and I'd like to shield the wiring to keep it from possibly rubbing the frame or getting wet.  Overall, way too big of a pain in the ass and you can see why Harley only had them from 2004-2007.


The finished product

Now that it's all done I do think it looks great but I dread ever having to get at anything that will require removing it. Though now I kind of want to paint the forks, it never ends.


Before and after Comparison

Fork me? Fork YOU! Protection thats ribbed for your travel.

I like the retro look of fork gaiters and decided I would like to throw a set on my 02 Sportster 1200.  Harley has some that are off the nightster available but they are too short for standard length forks and somewhere around $60 a set from what I've seen online.  There are also sets on ebay ect. for around $40.  I decided to see if there was a cheaper option and found some recommendations on xlforum.net to use Rancho shock boots off a 4x4 truck.  I found these Rancho RS1952 Shock Boots on amazon and one of the reviews said they were used on a Harley 39mm fork.  Other reviews said they had split sides on the bottom that made them not work well as for boots.

I decided that for $6 each I would give them a shot.

I got the forks and eyeballed them and decided to give them a shot.  According to my service manual I would need to:
1. Remove the Caliper
2. Remove the Tire
3. Remove the Fender
4. Remove the Forks

I knew I would need some tools so I found I needed a T45 Torx or star bit so I decided to run to Harbor Freight and Grab a full Torx set, a full SAE allen key socket set and some ratchet straps to hold the bike on the lift.

Indian Spring

61F on January 29th in Chicago, count me in!  There was some drizzle and the roads were wet but other than the front of my pant legs getting wet from road spray, it was a decent ride for January.  I got in a quick 45 miles of riding.  The bike was completely covered in crap but a quick hose off in the drive and wiping the chrome with some marvel took care of everything but the water spots from the 11 on the Mohs scale Crystal Lake city water.

Big plans

I like to eat strange food and ride to strange places.  When the sun returns in the spring I'll be posting about both.  Or I'll never actually post anything, it's a 50/50 at this point.