Score

I went to the last day of Thunder in the Rockies. I was teaching a basic rider course all weekend so I couldn't make it until today. Thunder Mountain Customs was there selling some parts. I picked up a halogen headlight for $4. One like it in the Harley P&A book sells for $329. It has a tiny ding in the chrome that's barely noticeable, but they can't put it on a new custom. The guy didn't want to have to haul it back.

Nice score Hot01, glad to see somebody can get some good deals!!

nice!

Great find Hot01. I just have one question, what you going to buy the rest of us with your $325 savings :roflmao: About dang time some good luck flies your way. Enjoy it, you earned it

Ancient Chinese art of Ti-ming. G4U Hot01.

Well I went back and looked at the book again. It isn't the $329 one, but at the very least it's the $90 headlamp. Either way, I'm still very happy with it. I asked the guy how much. He said $5. I had 4 in my wallet, and my friend had nothing in hers. He took it. :roflmao:

good timing abby, by the way how was the thunder in the rockies this year.
I was still up in oregon, trying to find an excuse to come back early to make it (and to beat the rest of the week which is to be cold), did the 105 hurt it much

Was it that hot? I was in a parking lot all weekend, and although it was sunny and warm, it didn't seem that brutal.

It was OK. It was Friday through Monday, and I didn't get there until Monday. It was pretty disappointing to me. More food and clothing vendors than anything. I was hoping to see more bike stuff. The show was over by the time I got there too. I think that if you came from a distance to be there for the event but also do some riding up in the mountains, it's probably a pretty good time. People were telling me that it's like a mini-Sturgis. It's not remotely close to Laconia, which I would have thought of as a mini-Sturgis. Never been to Sturgis though. Maybe more like Harley Rendezvous but far more civilized and sober.

It made me think twice about joining that HOG chapter though. There were Thunder Mtn HOG folks volunteering all over the place. I'd heard the dealer likes to put the chapter to work, but for as much as they were charging for stuff, they can pay folks. I went to the HOG pin stop hoping that someone from national was going to be there, but there were two local chapter members handing out the pins.

And as far as batting my eyelashes, I think that guy figured I didn't have a clue about the headlight and just wanted to chat it up with him. I realize I'm not an ace mechanic or anything, but sometimes I want to slap these guys up the head when they assume I'm lucky if I can pick a Panhead out of the crowd. :gah: But that's OK I guess. I'll take their $4 headlights. :roflmao:

When I said national, I meant people that work for HOG - the regional or national folks. There isn't a national chapter, although you can be a member of national HOG without belonging to a local chapter.

After re-reading what you wrote, you have to be a national member before you can join a local chapter. If you go to the HOG website, you should be able to get more information on the benefits.

I hope you meant "pea" brain.

I learned something new this weekend. First, it turns out that what I thought was a small cosmetic blemish on the headlight wasn't. It's a little notch in the bezel that a ridge in the glass fits in. Good news, right?

No, there's still a reason I got it for $4.

The mounting bolt that came with the headlight wasn't long enough to fit through the triple tree. Easy enough, use the bolt from the old headlight, right? No, different threads.

OK, so exchange the little mounting block thingies so you have the correct thread, right? No, and here's why I got it for $4. I think they chromed the mounting block to the housing with the bolt, nuts, and washers all attached. Nothing was moving.

The next day I run to the dealership and get the correct bolt. Well, not really. Right threads but way too long. I also realized that although the nut wasn't moving on the mounting block clamp, the block itself was spinning freely, meaning that the headlight was going to flop around like a fish out of water unless I could manage to break the nut loose. :gah:

This is where I learned something. A friend of mine was helping with this absurdly long and complicated headlight replacement. Knowing I had just purchased a Dremel tool, he said he could cut the bolt down. Cool! I never would have thought of that. I bought the tool for art projects. I had no idea how useful it would be. He was still trying to break the nut loose when I suggested that we just slice that f*%^er off too. He did. We managed to find an assortment of nuts and bolts and washers from all the assorted headlight pieces strewn about the garage and put the thing together.

So now I have my $4 headlight that's perfect!

There aren't a lot more. I can't figure out what happened to all of them. I probably had my eyes closed. I'm famous for that. My favorite one is the one where I'm standing over the bike looking back. I think there are a couple more since the last time I posted the link:

Abby - a set on Flickr

Most guys would sacrifice their right testicle to be with a woman who can spot a Panhead at 100 paces!:roflmao: