So yea, its been a while :)
 

Hey guys (and gals), its been about a year since i've posted on here and i thought i'd make a triumphant return.

For those of you who don't know, i inherited my father's 1983 Roadster XLS after his unfortunate death in 1989. My mother thinks i have the maturity and riding skills to finally make it my own now, so im doing my best to restore it and get it goin right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...hinychrome.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...evebikenew.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...LS/nosissy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...LS/HDmacro.jpg
This is when i had the tank off a couple weeks ago, acid rinsed it for 2 days to get all the rust out of it
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ing/notank.jpg

everything cleaned up really nicely:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ckercovers.jpg
here's the old petcock...it's supposed to be white i believe.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ng/petcock.jpg

I completed the beginner riding course done by the motorcycle safety foundation and got my lisence last month, and have put about 300mi on thebike since then. I can't describe what a trip it is to take it out and ride, even thought it may not be running like a top right now. Not to mention i put drag pipes on it, and i LOVE the way the old ironhead sounds wound up...it's a real head turner. A lot of people can't figure out what model it is because of the tank size, which is awesome..i've never seen another like it. If the weather's nice, i'll get it out tomorrow.

Stay safe and happy riding,
Steve

Steve......That is a fine looking Sporty Roadster!!!

You've done a great job of restoring it, and I know it must be very special to have your Dad's bike, and be able to finally ride it. Your Dad would be very proud....The "Roadster" Ironhead is a rare bike these days, not sure of production numbers, but they didn't make very many of them. That's why people aren't sure what the hell it is. It's obvious by the frame and motor it's a Sporty...but the Dyna style tank makes you look twice ???...lol

Glad you took the MSF course, I took it a few years back to help get my insurance cost's down. I have ridden all my life, and to be honest the course helped me to be a safer rider.

I wish you the best with your Sporty, I hope she will give you many, many, safe, and trouble free miles. Take good care of her, you've got one worth holding on to.

GREAT JOB !!!....p.s. Don't be a stranger :)

FBR :cool:

yepper, nice ride forsure,
glad to see ya here ,
and out riding safely
Nice clean-up,
Great Lookin Ride
enjoy,,,,,,,,,,the fun,,,,,,,,,,,

Welcome back fellow Iowan. Nice to see your return, as well as such a fine looking bike. Nice work on all you are doing. She obviously needed some TLC, and you are doing that! If you make it over CR way on one of your rides, let me know. Take care and ride safe!

Nice bike. Thanks for sharing the pictures with us. Looks like your Dad left her in good hands.

Thanks guys, i went for a short ride this afternoon, and went up to Wieblers (local H-D shop) to look for a tank strap...but they had NO clue what i was looking for. ..heh. tell you what, though...motorcycling seems to me like a fraternity, every single biker i saw waved and nodded, whereas car drivers didn't seem to give a second glance. She was running really great this afternoon too, finally got to rip through the gears for the first time, felt amazing, sounded absolutely incredible...although my tach isn't working right, i need to clean the connections i think.

FBR: i think there were just over 1000 roadsters made in '83, but the page that the info was on closed in the last few months.

And im calling it a night :)
Steve

that's a sweet ride