I'm not ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM anymore...

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

I'm That Guy with a Nightster.

Picked this thing up, or technically in the process...paperwork done but it's down in Texas so I'm actually picking it up Saturday. It's a 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster XL1200N Nightster (say that 5 times fast), in black and olive green denim (harleys word for matte finish).

pics



I'm more of a drag bar guy than an ape hanger guy, so he's swapping some drag bars onto it before I come get it. The crash bars are coming off as soon as I get it home.







For the purposes of showing with the revised bars, this is about what it should look like. This ones actually one I was looking at on ebay but passed it up because it was 700 miles away.

[D]

Awesome - I like the color scheme on your bike. One question, how do you take care of that flat paint? Can you wax it like regular paint?

Post more pics when you are done with the mods.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

to be honest, I have no idea how to take care of the paint lol

I'm gonna have to research that a bit before I wash it the first time. Right now I'm not even getting to ride it 'cause we got freezing rain, sleet, and 4" of snow in the two days since I got it home. I managed to put about 20 miles on it the day I got home and that's it so far.

I ended up getting it Wednesday because I was afraid waiting til tomorrow would make the drive take twice as long...glad I did 'cause most of Oklahoma got snowed on today.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

after some searching, it looks like Harley recommends just soap and water, and even that you can spot clean with...no crap - WINDEX. lol

Word is the spray-on waxes can be used but if you use the traditional wax that dries and gets buffed off, it will leave the bike shiny afterward.

Mine actually already has a small shiny spot on the rear fender, looks like a spot where the previous owner might have touched it with his foot repeatedly getting on and off the bike.

[D]

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.

Good luck with it and keep us updated on mods.


BTW, do you want your user name changed?

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

I'm not real worried about the name, I use it on a few other forums too and don't plan to change them, but thanks for the offer.

bringing it home:



In the garage before I started messing with it (except for taking off the engine guard). Pardon the messy garage, it's taken a dive since Christmas and I have had things to do that I enjoy more than cleaning my garage.





And after a coil/ignition relocate/wire tuck/air cleaner install/belt guard delete:

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

The air cleaner was missing a screw and an o-ring that I'm waiting on from the manufacturer, and I'm waiting on parts to put the turn signals back where they belong.

My clutch cable is too long (it's for apes and I have stock bars now) so I'm trying to find someone buying apes and wants to trade for their stock cable. It's still ridable at least, weather permitting, just looks a little goofy. When I'm replacing the clutch cable I might paint the polished aluminum inspection covers in the primary cover flat black. Fortunately I haven't missed any riding time through all this since I haven't seen the roads dry or the temp climb past about 42 since I bought the bike.

I already swapped brake hose and throttle cables for stock ones, throttle is adjusted but brakes need filled and bled.

Next mod will most likely be a Screamin' Eagle Pro Super Tuner. It's about the most capable EFI tuner available for this bike but it aint cheap at about $100 more than a Power Commander (and even that is at a considerable discount). The stock EFI map should be able to handle just the A/C but once I have a tuner I can drill out the baffles in the stock exhaust to get me a little louder before I can set aside the $650 for the exhaust I want.

[D]

awesome - you are doing some good stuff here!

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

got it all back together, took a few pics, put the stock air cleaner back on (so I could ride it), changed the oil and had time to go for a short ride around town.

Almost thought I'd fucked something up because the bike wouldnt start after i put it all together. Turns out I had each half of the coil running to the wrong spark plug, and it DOES matter because it's not a wasted spark ignition. Wouldn't really work to switch the spark plug wires and I didn't want to have to completely change my coil mount. Instead I took the connector apart and switched the signal wires. Thanks to the factory service manual, best $48 i've spent on this thing.

I love riding this thing. It might be my perfect motorcycle. I would have liked to ride longer today but had to stop cause I left with no gloves on and it was 38 degrees out.

I've got an air cleaner cover on the way from ebay, stocker from an Evo big twin bike. Gonna paint it flat black. Also I decided on a Power Commander V instead of the Screamin Eagle tuner, that should come in some time next week as well.

[D]

dude I cant believe I am saying this about a harley, but your bike looks great!!!

btw, I can picture some really cool shots with it against that brick wall!

Congrats again. And you rode outside with no gloves on when it was 38? That must have been a short ride or your blood is made out of glycol LOL

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

Originally Posted by D

dude I cant believe I am saying this about a harley, but your bike looks great!!!

to be honest...I never thought I would either.

I was with a buddy, looking at Buell's, when I discovered these bikes, sat on them and was pretty much instantly sold. About 6 months later, here I am owning one.

btw, I can picture some really cool shots with it against that brick wall!

I'm looking forward to the weather getting warmer, got lots of ideas for pictures with my good camera instead of my iphone lol

Congrats again. And you rode outside with no gloves on when it was 38? That must have been a short ride or your blood is made out of glycol LOL

It was all in town so I never got past about 35-40. Seems like that's about the speed where the cold gets unbreably painful without gloves IMO. It only took about five minutes for my fingers to go numb so I started putting my hands next to the motor at stoplights to warm them up.

I also wasn't wearing a jacket. Just a hoodie over a t-shirt over thermals, and thermals under my jeans. Oddly enough that didn't bother me, I was distracted by my fingers.

Come to think of it, that's about the coldest I've ever ridden. Previously I haven't ridden below about 43 because I have to hit a 65mph stretch of highway on my way to work. I got a leather jacket this weekend (previously I just had textile and mesh) and I'm gonna try to ride to work one day this week when it'll be about 30 in the morning and 50 on the way home. Gonna wear gloves this time.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

installed a power commander V and drilled some 5/16" holes in the muffler baffle plugs this morning. Sounds great, will report again when I have a chance to ride it. I may open the holes up some more to 3/8" or 1/2".



I rode to work on Thursday when it was 26 out. It really wasn't that bad except for my hands and my chin. I need some thicker gloves and something to cover the lower half of my face. A scarf did ok around my neck but my chin was in pain from the cold.

[D]

How did you drill the holes in the exhaust? Can you post some pics of what it looks like?

I tried punching holes in my 1000RR a couple of years ago and that was a disaster. Ended up having to change the muffler which was another disaster in itself cuz the first aftermarket I bought didnt fit, so I had to send it back and get a different brand all together...

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

yeah, I'll take some pics when I open it up some more. Basically there's a plug about 6" in from the outlet of the muffler, that forces the exhaust to run through the perforations in the baffle tube to the outside of the tube, and then after the plug it flows back into the tube through more perforations before exiting the muffler. By drilling the hole I provided a small path for the exhaust to travel straight through without passing through the perforated tube twice.

What happened with your 1000RR muffler that you had to replace it?

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

here's what I did...it's currently at 3/8". Sounds pretty good but I think I'm gonna go ahead and go to 1/2".

[D]

go for it - 1/2" that is.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

was going to and for some reason can't find my 1/2" drill bit. No idea where it could be. Dangit.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

Ok, got the air cleaner on for good.

In the last pics the A/C was missing a cover, and the covers run anywhere from $35 to $100 so I made one myself, that looks almost identical to one of the $35 ones. I couldn't duplicate the $100 ones since I don't have a CNC.

[ThatGuyWithTheDRZSM]

new mods, new pics, high res!

finally got around to taking some decent resolution pics with the nice camera instead of the iphone.









So I've now installed superbike bars, inverted my mirrors, installed an air cleaner cover, blacked out pipes, lowered headlight 1", swapped to some hybrid shocks with springs from a 1200C and shocks from 1200R, also blacked out.

[D]

Looks great!!! You've gone to town on this thing...