Only 67 miles per tank, what's up - wtf -

Really appreciate the encouragement and support guys. I've been reeling from my bike being knocked down for the second time and had to get a taillight this weekend before the cops stopped me. I'm copying the most pertinent posts here and will definitely take this issue to the dealer next week, when time permits. I needed to shore up my courage to speak plainly to the service guys at NY HD, since they do have lots of experience.

They're really good guys, but still have to toe the party line, if you know what I mean. Still, I see them retaining as much personal integrity as possible while doing their jobs. The parts guy found the tail light cover for me and I opened the brand new package and put it on. The service guy told me he had some in a drawer. I should have asked him first. I jokingly mentioned it to the parts guy and he gave me the part free of charge. Not too shabby, eh?

Know why? 'Cause Erik Buell was an engineer on the FXR project before he left H-D to go out on his own. Slight chance he knows a thing or 2 about handling ;-)}

I didn't know that, I knew he was with HD but not that he was on the FXR's . Yes he sure does know a bit about handling, notice the engine he chose for the Buell"s.Not just because it fits better in a sport bike set up. Guy's used to say to me when I had the Sporty I had 1/2 a harley...so now I tell the same guys ridin TC's they got 1/2 a Sporty.

Good Indy's don't have to advertise,they let their work do itfor them.

HellBoy ,its good you found a decent dealer, if they are they should fix ya up. Good luck!!

LOL !!! There's a bit more to it than that though. I saw one of the orignal Buells, which was a totally re-designed British Silverstone Formula I bike with a 750cc 2-stroke "square 4" engine - Erik Buell bought the rights to that bike with the intention of making a truly competitive American-made FI bike. It was faster than the competition too (189 mph in testing @ Talladega). But H-D didn't want to put any $$$ in that project & Erik didn't have enough $$$ to make more than just a few of those.

Then he found out that there were 50 XR1000 engines sitting in a warehouse & got H-D to make him a deal on those. Designed the RR chassis around that package & I've seen one of those too - only 50 ever made. Eventually they worked out the deal where he'd use the Sportster engine/trans package in his own chassis & H-D would sell & service the bikes. The XB12 is a 1200 with lightened flywheels; the XB9 is a 1200 with shorter stroke lightened flywheels to make it 984 cc's, but the 1125R uses a Rotax engine.

I'm really surprised they don't sell better than they do - the handling/braking is actually superior to the Japanese sportbikes & the 1125R will run with a Ducati or Aprilia all day long. And I met one fella outside Denver, Colorado who picked up a new XB9 in Atlanta & rode all the way out & back. Heck of a way to break in a new bike, but he didn't have a single problem.

And the Pro Nitro boys use a 4-cam BT engine - cam, lifter, pushrod setup similar to a Sportster with a gear-drive cam for each valve & the pushrods running straight. That setup will rev higher without bending pushrods. It's still 50-year-old technology - but it works !!

Really interesting guys. I knew the Sportster was designed in response to the success of bike's like the Triumph, but know little of it's history.

Lucifer, by "half a Harley" do you mean Eric Buell's designs are part of my 2003 model?

They called it 1/2 a harley 'cause it is smaller, lighter, shorter wheel base and it's not a Big Twin.They just like knockin Sporty's and their riders.(They always forget to add faster and more agile)Like they rode a BT outta their Mother. I called the TC 1/2 a Sporty because they bolted the tranny to the case similar to your Sportys one piece unit and they have 2 cams witch is only 1/2 the cams in a Sporty. And it shut them up.LOL
The Buells are on a Sportster platform, Art said why that is,so you do basically have the same engine as a Buell, just they're tricked out to put out sportbike numbers in Ponies and more torque than most of the Japanese bikes. Going uphill shows em that. I too don't understand why they haven't sold better.

Here ya go: http://www.sportster.org/history/

That was fun, thanks Art.

re-post:
I asked a friend to help me install the derby cover and the 100th Ann. air filter insert on my 2003 Sporty. Insert was easy, but the derby cover leaked oil. My friend has 30 years riding experience but obviously was asleep at the wheel in this instance

Now my clutch was fukkkkkded. I barely made it to NYC Harley. They treated me like a hospital emergency case, put me in front of 50 bikes, added oil, put the derby cover back, added some motor oil and adjusted my clutch properly, (it wasn't right before, as I've learned). All this for a twenty dollar handshake!

The mechanic thinks my poor mileage would be helped with a tune up. I'm inclined to believe him after his last performance. He prefers Sporty's himself. He also told me I was riding the clutch too heavily from when he adjusted it. That what city driving will do I guess. I'm working on it....

in 1952, Harley started building the K model, a 750 cc flathead. the racing version was the KR. in 54 the bumbed it up to 883 cc. in 57 the put on overhead valves and called it the Sportster. Where the big twins are like caddies or lincolns, the sportster's are vettes and mustangs. all through the years if you wanted to race a Harley ,you got a sportster and with a little tuning you would win most any race you could enter, dirt or tarmac. there are lots of books that tell H-D's history. i have one, Harley-Davidson the ultimate machine by Tod Rafferty. not the best book but it hit some of the high spots. thats where some of the history came from. check out some of them at the library. you may find it interesting. you can learn where your bike evolved from, and how it got to be what it is.

I've browsed through some of the Harley Davidson books and couldn't figure out which was best to buy. I've heard the Willie G book is good. I'd like to know which one is considered the definitive version.

My Sporty doesn't seem that fast when compared to my friend's black out Dyna, probably just my lack of serious skill. I've put 1000 miles on mine since getting it. Another thousand and it'll be ready for the 5000 mile servicing. Don't know if I should get a tune up sooner, or just wait until then. Seems to be running well now, after HD added oil and adjusted the clutch, but the MPG hasn't improved much.

Wait A Minute Hellboy, So Your Saying That When They Did Your Stage 1 They Didn't Tune It? Tune Up Is Basicly, Changing Plugs, Maybe Wires, Air Filter And Adjustments To The Carb, Sounds Like A Stage 1 Package To Me? Starting To Sound Like Your Dealer Is All Nice But Full Of Sh!t, If You Barely Got Back To The Dealer On Your Clutch Being Mis-adjusted, How Would They Know If Your Clutch Wasn't Adjusted Correctly Before, And How Do You Ride A Clutch Hard, Sounds Like You Need To Get Some One Else To Help You With Your Bike, Because You Might Just Surprize Yourself By Winging It On Your Own, Best Way To Learn Your Bike. Did He Not Seat The Round O Ring For The Derby Cover, Just All Seems Funny, Not Bashing Your Bud, But For 30 Years Exp. To Mess Up Some Thing Like Clutch Adjustment And A Derby Cover, But At Least Every Thing Worked Out For You.

I think sportster boy has a point. Sounds like the dealer is giving you good lip service. My 96" stroker gets 50mph consistantly so the mileage you are getting just doesen't make any sense.
Sportsterboy, maybe his friend doesn't have much experience with sportsters. I know I don't after over 30 years. A friend of mine called me one Saturday (years ago) and told me she had broken a clutch cable on her sporty. I told her no sweat go down to the dealer and get a new cable and a primary gasket and Ill have her fixed in 20 min. After I got it back together I realized the dogs (which are nothing like a shovel set up) would go in the right way and the wrong way. I sent her off to get another primary gasket, feeling like a damned fool and took it apart again. I have heard there are a lot of things like that you run into on a sporty. I had a chance sometime later to get an iron head sporty that needed the transmission rebuilt for 900 bucks and I passed on it. Still kind of kick myself for that but bread was tight back then. AL

Dang getting a sportty for 900,wish I would run across a deal like that,with all the work I did on my tranny,I know it inside and out....

YEA, YOUR PROB. RIGHT, HAVEN'T HAD THE OPERTUNITY TO BE TAINTED WITH THE BT, ALWAYS DELT WITH SPORTYS, SPEAKING OF TRANNYS, ON MY 89, ONE DAY GOT OFF WORK AND IT WOULDN'T SHIFT INTO ANY GEAR, WENT TO THE INDY I USED AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE FORK FINGER DEAL THAT SHIFTS THE GEARS, $3 PART, GREEN HORN AS I WAS, PULLED THE HOLE TRANNY OUT, TOOK IT TO MY INDY, THEY PUT THE PART ON THE TRANNY FOR ME, CHARGED ME NOTHING, I PUT THE TRANNY BACK IN AND ALL GOOD FROM THERE, THAT'S WHAT I MEAN BY WINGING IT HELLBOY, SOME TIMES YA JUST HAVE TO TRY FOR YOURSELF, WORST COMES TO WORST TAKE IT IN. MISS MY INDY SHOP, THE ONE I'M TALKING ABOUT SOME MIGHT NKOW, KT'S CYCLE'S, HE'S MOVED UP IN THE WORLD NOW IN A BIG SHOP ON I-10 OUTSIDE BAYTOWN, TX. USED TO GO TO HIS SHOP BASICLY A GARAGE AT HIS HOUSE. THAT'S WHAT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE AND QUALLITY WORK GETS YA. UNLESS YOU WANTED TO DRIVE TO MANCUSO, OR STUBBS. DROPED IN 2 GALLONS AT 100MILES YESTERDAY, SO STILL EVEN WITH MY SETUP, GETTING GOOD MPG, YOUR BIKE MUST SMELL LIKE A TRUCK STOP HELLBOY:roflmao:

I agree Sportsterboy, the jury's still out on whether the dealer's legit or not. Gotta say the mechanic who came to my rescue wasn't the one who did the Stage 1 set up, so perhaps his comments were a little out of context. he said my bike shouldn't be "popping". The previous owner had told me all the fluids and tuning were done just prior to my buying it in January, so perhaps there wasn't much more needed than the standard re-adjustments after Stage 1 installation. I am learning fast though and would love to get my own hands on the bike eventually. One thing holding me back is that I have no garage or place to do that kind of work, being a NYC apartment dweller.

I agree Sportsterboy, the jury's still out on whether the dealer's legit or not. Gotta say the mechanic who came to my rescue wasn't the one who did the Stage 1 set up, so perhaps his comments were a little out of context, he said my bike shouldn't be "popping". The previous owner had told me all the fluids and tuning were done just prior to my buying it in late January, so perhaps there wasn't much more needed than the standard re-adjustments after Stage 1 installation. I am learning fast though and would love to get my own hands on the bike eventually. One thing holding me back is that I have no garage or place to do that kind of work, being a NYC apartment dweller.

I also think the mechanic's assessment of the clutch setting might be the HD spec set up, even if it was basically OK before.

You have my sympathy I could never live in a big city like NYC. I'll bet they have a big club scene there though. You may be able to find a Sportster riders club that would give you someone to ride with and get advice from and maybe even a place to work on your bike. Al

Thanks Al. I have two friends who ride, but coordinating schedules isn't easy. I'll probably join the NYC HOG group, just to see if I like that scene or not. I'd love to have a house with a garage, but I can't make the same money I make here anywhere else.

Or have to spend as much !! I've been to NYC several times & like Vegas & L.A., I say everyone should go one time just to check it out. Got some funny stories I could tell you about NYC from back when I was driving semis - y'all are crazy up there

But I will bet you that there's @ least one good independent shop not all that far from where you live - just have to ask around. As mentioned, the best shops don't advertise 'cause they don't need to. I'd sooner have diptheria than go to a H-D dealer.

My rider friend has a custom shop he deals with. I'll most likely check into it when the time's right.