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For those of you who read my January 25th, 2008 post titled Dyna Touring Bike - 2 Bikes In 1 you know I have been adding only detachable accessories to my Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider motorcycle. Without the accessories the Low Rider has a chopperesque look but with the accessories it looks like a touring mount. The best of both worlds! I call my motorcycle The Transformer.

The latest accessory is this Harley Davidson hard coated polycarbonate windshield. The retail cost of $340 was an issue for me. A fellow HOG member offered to loan me his new shield for my trip to Pennsylvania. I wasn’t going to take him up on the offer until the weather report started to scream RAIN! Fortunately for me, my friend decided to trade in his Dyna but kept the shield. He sold it to me for a price I couldn’t refuse!

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Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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The recipie for cleaning melted plastic, melted rubber, and even girlfriend skin from your beautiful chrome pipes is Blue Job Chrome Polish + Elbow Grease. You can purchase Blue Job at J&P Cycles but you have to supply the Elbow Grease. J&P Cycles® - Motorcycle Parts and Accessories

Blue Job is different from abrassive chrome polishes as it is an oxidizer and will not scratch your beloved chrome. No swirlies or spider webs or any scratching at all!

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff by Jay Green
4 Comments »

Previously I put the question to you, my readers, whether I should try to do my own 5,000 mile service or pay the professionals. Everyone seemed to think it is worth it to pay the guys who know what they are doing in order to keep my motorcycle safe and at its best.

Nothing against the dealership, but I can’t afford full fledged Harley Davidson service. Besides, I only trust two mechanics with my bike. One of the two is my friend Scott who is wrenching at Custom Cycle & Machine in New Castle, Delaware. I think of Scott as a performance guy. He is the guy to see if you want a bunch of mods done to your bike so it creates gobs of street pounding horsepower.  [Read more →]

Tags: Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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I have a question for you guys and gals. It’s time for my 5,000 mile service on my new Dyna which is under warranty. It has been 1 year since Diana’s Sportster has been serviced. I was going to take them in and have them both professionally serviced which will run about $500. A very good friend reccomended we service our own bikes for a fraction of the cost. I am sure we could successfully change the fluids and plugs, but I like the idea of having a pro do it because they may notice other things that need attention. Considering that I blew up my first Harley by installing the battery backwards, my mechanic told Diana to take my tools away, and I hate working on the bikes….  what do you think? What do you do?

Anyone and everyone is welcome to comment on this as usual. An e-mail address is required, a website address is optional. Your e-mail address will be held confidential.

Tags: Technical Stuff by Jay Green
12 Comments »

Not all motorcyclists like to wear patches and pins on their jacket - gasp! What do you do with all these neat HOG patches and poker run pins if you don’t want to permanently adhere them to your favorite leather jacket? I understand Steve Johnson’s point when he says that bikers should wear what they normally wear. I don’t normally wear patches and pins. I don’t normally wear vests either. I had the poker run pins on my denim jacket for a while. I thought they looked a little funny so I recently took them out. With the pins in my denim jacket it looked like something Jeanie Bueller would wear.

Here’s a thought: lets put these patches and pins in a cool shadow box! Go to AC Moore or any other craft supply store and buy a shadow box. Buy a piece of colored foam core to mount the patches and pins to. I got a red piece. You will need some glue and a pair of pliers that have a built in wire snipper.

1. Cut the foam core so it fits into the frame.

2. Glue the patches on the foam core.

3. Clip a little bit of the prongs off of the pins so they don’t go all the way through the foam core.

4. Stick the pins into the foam core with a little glue on the back of them.

5. Put a weight on the patches and wait for the glue to dry

6. Clean the glass for the shadow box

7. Attach any hanging hardware to the shadow box frame if needed

8. Assemble!

9. Hang it on the wall!

Still plenty of room to add pins and patches to for a few more seasons.

Tags: Technical Stuff by Jay Green
8 Comments »

Once again HLFX Dave from the Road Grits Cafe comes through with another product reccomendation. Yes, Dave knows his Love Rubs!

I’m not much into cleaning and polishing. My bike is no trailer queen show bike, but I was pissed when some plastic got melted onto my pipes. This can happen from sneaker and shoe soles coming in contact with the pipes, rainwear, stray plastic bags in the wind, etc… Another common problem is bluing of the pipes from heat. Dave suggested I get Blue Job to clean my pipes.

This polish with the funny name is highly reccomended for cleaning chrome exhaust pipes and removing heat stains. It is available at J&P Cycle.

Regarding the J&P Cycle website: you can go to J&P and do a search using product name. J&P Cycle has Rider Forums where people discuss products and problems like cleaning stains and melted plastic off their pipes.

If you have any secret techniques for cleaning your pipes or have experience with Blue Job, please leave comments on this post as we would like to hear about it.

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff, The way I roll: Stories by Jay Green
13 Comments »

If you buy a Harley Davidson Dyna model and plan to use saddlebags you will have to “relocate” your turn signals. This also applies if you plan to use a detachable backrest. I wanted both, so this was an immediate modification that I performed on my brand new Harley Davidson Lowrider. I saved a few hundred bucks on labor by doing it myself but I hated every minute of it. I’m not a mechanic and I already blew up my first bike by installing the battery backwards!

First you have to ask yourself: why does the factory put the signals where they are if you have to move them to make the bike somewhat functional? Well, they do look awesome in their original position and that must sell bikes. Also the original license plate holder is a cheap piece of crap. Also, they must be making good money selling these relocation kits, not to mention the labor to install them. They aint no dummies at the factory!

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Tags: Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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The great Buzz Buzzelli of American Rider magazine hits the nail on the head with his article 2 Bikes in 1. He must have read my mind when he wrote this.

Last August I made the decision to upgrade from Sportster to Big Twin. The reason was that my wife and I wanted to do more touring and the Sporty felt cramped for that type of riding. I wanted a bike that would be both Boulevard Brawler and Touring Bike. You can accomplish this by using detachable components. Buzz wrote “Any one of Harley’s five FXD models is a perfect candidate for the convertible treatment. For those riders who want the stark minimum in mechanical encumbrance, the FXD Super Glide is clearly the prime choice”.

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Tags: Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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I’m no expert but this is the way I put my Harley away for winter. Please consult your motorcycle owner’s manual for your bikes specific requirements.

Maybe you’re hard core and not ready to call the riding season over. Maybe you ride all year round. Not Me! I’m not a cold weather rider. Thank God I left my home of New England many years ago. I put the bike away yesterday.  This is what I do…

It’s a three step process:

·         Battery Tender

·         Fuel Stabilizer

·         Jack

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