Harley Dyna Glide Page 1

"Moses used to sniff the lines
Noah used to rock the boat sometimes
Mary used to get undone
Jesus rode a Harley Davidson"

Introducing my newest bike - my 60th birthday present to me..........a year early! Found in a Harley dealership with just 54 miles on the clock, it's a 2002 model year Dyna Glide Low Rider 88 cu in (1450 cee cee) first registered in 2004. Short version of the story.......Bought by a rich guy who owned a factory, who hadn't even passed his bike test. He took it to his factory and hid it away, where it remained unused for 5 years! It's got a few small marks where things have been dropped on it but nothing serious, apart from that it's a "new " bike. It was fitted with "Screamin' Eagle" pipes, a stage one air cleaner and Dyno Jetted from new. There's also a genuine Harley cissy bar and a "Sundowner" comfy seat - again all fitted from new. On the first ride out the engine was still very tight but its loosening up the more it's being ridden.

Not quite sure what I expected - having never ridden one before. I had an idea but whatever it was, it wasn't what I got! Imagine everything you'd absolutely hate about a bike - then multiply it by a factor of ten and you'll be somewhere near. It's quite a shock to the system after years on Jap bikes.

After ten minutes on it you begin to enjoy it - just a bit - as the deep guttural throb of the big vee twin tries to seduce you into becoming it's friend. ........After half an hour, the ice is broken and you're having a hoot - with a big stoopid grin on your face, laughing inside your helmet like the demented idiot you are for buying one of these ridiculous things in the first place! Ridden as it should be this thing is chill city - very relaxed and under-stressed.

The build quality whilst falling just short of abysmal is more meccano set than motorcycle!. It doesn't go, it doesn't stop, the handling has all the rigidity of a wet bus ticket, yet the subtlety of a slab of granite........I shan't go on. BUT - there's something genuinely endearing about it - you can't help but love it. I think we're going to get on together just fine - only time will tell but initial signs are good. Best of all for me, the little aging legs can reach the floor no probs. One thing's for sure, whatever you ride after giving one of these things a go is going feel about as bland as a bucketful of whitewash!

The original air filter cover centre was damaged so I picked up this Screamin' Eagle one to replace it.
The the timer cover was painted to match and the original screws replaced with stainless steel ones

Fitting the buckhorn bars to give a more comfy (for for the ailing old bones) riding position, this shot shows how short the wiring loom is.
I had to dig out more from the bowels of the spine frame!

Next job when the front is sorted will be to do something with that awful number plate and rear light. We Brits must
have the fugliest number plates in the world. The plan is to fit something like a Sparto style rear light
and mount a slightly smaller plate underneath it - and bin that backrest. That's one of the nicest things
about owning a Harley though - you can make it whatever you want it to be!

Now that the bars are higher, and the indicators were mounted on the originals the wiring for those is now too short to reach.
Rather than extend them I made these mounting brackets. I never really liked the indicators on the bars anyway

Next job was to paint the front fork lowers black. I want to de-chrome some of the bike,
I don't mind chrome but you can have too much! Next up - sort out a new brake line, I've had
2 made up so far and both have been wrong....maybe time to change supplier!

Starting work on the rear end. The original ugly Harley rear light has been removed and replaced with this
nice clean looking jobbie, the plate can now be mounted below the light. Also note that the back rest has
gone, I'll make up a quick release arrangement for that so it can be put if anyone wants to ride pilion

The new light is only temporarily mounted here - the number plate doesn't belong to the bike either,
it's an old one that was lying around the garage. Eventually that seat will go to to make way for something less bulky

I'm going to try and mount the light with the bracket below the rear fender to make it look a bit neater.
I'll also make up some indicator mounting brackets to match the ones I made for the front

The rear wheel on the Harley is a pain to get off because the mudguard comes down too far
and the wheel won't pass underneath it without jacking the bike up to an unsafe height.
While I'm working on the back end I'll chop about 4 inches off it