My Harley-Davidson Ramblings

I mentioned in "My Trip To Harley's 105th Anniversary" part one, I almost lost my custom horn cover. The bracket broke from the vibration caused by the engine. The cover and horn was hanging by the two wires connected to the horn and that saved it from falling off.

When I got home I looked at the parts I had and came to the conclusion that the cover could not be saved. The mounting hole was gone and fabricating a new bracket and welding it to the cover was not an option because I don't have the equipment. Plus, after welding the new bracket back on the cover it would need to be powder coated. I think it would be a waste of money. I already paid $117.00 for the cover and a new horn. I could not even save the horn because the screw that adjusts the sound got broken. The reason I changed the horn cover in the first place? The OEM, cow bell horn cover was hitting my knee when I rode the bike and at idle the cover would shake so bad it looked like it would fly off the engine.

I decided I would relocate the horn to the front of the bike. I saw some Harley models like the new "Rocker", that has the horn mounted in front. I went over to my local Harley store and checked out what it would take for me to mount the horn to the front of my scoot. I had the counter guy Jim, look up the cost of all the parts needed. I was not happy about the total cost he gave me. I had him order only the bracket that holds the horn to the frame of the bike. Aftermarket horns give you a metal strip with holes as a bracket. So I ordered the horn. It only cost me about one third the price of the Harley horn.

I now had to figure out what I would put on the bracket were the old horn was mounted. The bracket is also the motor mount. I looked at the broken horn cover and said to myself, I would like to save the Harley-Davidson medallion. This medallion would look cool in-between the two jugs. I even thought, a Wille G. Skull in the middle of the medallion would even look better.

Boy, I'm lucky I live close to the Harley store. I found a skull that fit right in the middle of the medallion. I then decided, why not go the whole, Wille G. Skull Theme, on the scoot. I purchased the derby cover, timer cover, top handle bar clamp, skull license plate bolts and a timer cover for an XL. I'm going to attached it to the chrome cover on the new horn.

In order to use the horn on the front of the frame I had to splice longer wires to the horn wires in the wiring harness. Then run the wires under the tank and out the front where the horn would be mounted. It took about forty-five minutes to reroute the wires. I don't use butt connectors, I solder my splices and use shrink tubing so no moisture can corrode the splice.

After the horn, I put all the skull replacement parts on. The scoot looks like a different bike now.

I had the "Live To Ride, Ride To Live" Derby Cover and Handle Bar clamp on the bike. There for sale at my eBay store. They are priced to sell.

My next Post, I will have comments and photos of my last two Harley dealer functions I attended.

Slide show below shows how changing a few parts can really change the look of your scoot.

Meaning Of The Day: Wiring harness - The main collection of wires that are usually bundled up in some protective tubing.

Now You Know, Biker Joe

Let's have a show of hands, who watched American Chopper last night? American Chopper has "Jumped the Shark". For those of you who don't know what "Jump the Shark" is, Google my friend.

I watched this program for the last time. Sorry, biker buds, I know this Blog is about motorcycles and what better place to get info on motorcycles, to watch biker TV programs. This program is a total waste of my time. The whole story line, if that's what you want to call it, was about the Teutul's helping a woman sponsor a charity, a car show, not a BIKE SHOW, for her brother who passed away a while back.

Now, I'm not against charities. "Stand up for Cancer" was on last week, I watched it. Come on this program is about motorcycles! What ever happened to "Biker Build-Off", "Build or Bust", and "V-Twin TV". (I heard V-Twin TV is coming back in Oct.) These programs where about building scoots. That's what bikers want to see. The technical and mechanical side of the story not an on going family feud or a company "giving back to the community". We all give back to the community in one way or another.

So what do you think, biker buds? "Just say no" to American Chopper?

Another program that started last week, "Sons of Anarchy" on FX, cable channel. The second episode aired the other day, Wednesday. OK, my opinion, it sucks big time. Hardly any bike time and the lead actor, Ron Perlman , "Hell Boy" and "Beauty and The Beast" fame, I heard is scared crap less, riding a scoot. Katey Sagal, "Married with Children". I can see her joining a biker gang after living with Al Bundy all those years, also stars in the series. I'm going to watch it one more time next week. I have this, three strikes your out rule or philosophy with new programs. If it sucks again I'm moving on. The vibes I'm getting from the biker forums out there, I hear others feel the same way.

What do you think? We need your opinion.

This bike is no more. After I detailed this scoot, getting it to look like this was no easy task, it was totaled in an accident. A car turned right in front of the rider. The rider was not seriously injured, but the bikes frame was bent to hell.

Meaning of The Day: Went down - Crashed. Can be any type of accident at any speed.

Now You Know, Biker Joe