Get off my bike, you damn dirty apes!

There were a few safety issues that need to be addressed before I really could start riding my new sporty.  One of which was the front tire which was almost bald and thoroughly dry-rotted.

I ordered in a new Avon and, rather than mounting it myself, I took it to Dave at Dave's Cycles and Small Engine in Round Rock.  His price was reasonable and he got it back to me super quickly. I was very pleased and plan to take more of the items/jobs that I can't/don't want to deal with over to Dave's in the future.

Anyway, I got it back home and installed Friday night and so I decided to take the bike for a short ride.

This was the first, and well only, time I've really ridden the bike for any length of time. My original intent was to ride the bike as it was configured for a few weeks before jumping in and making a bunch of changes.

Fuck that, those ape hangers have to go! No disrespect to those of you who like them but that was the sketchiest, most uncomfortable ride I've had in a while! They had to go!

Fortunately I had a pair of tracker style bars I picked up from the last Voodoo Vintage swap meet. These fit my style a little better, are more comfortable (to me, anyway), and I definitely feel more in control with them.


I also changed out the vibration dampers that support the risers as part of the swap. The originals had long since hardened and I'm sure contributed to my less-than-relaxing ride.

I still need to clean up the electrical following the swap. I'm sure you can imagine the horrible bird's nest of a wiring job I discovered that was done by whoever installed the apes.  But I'll save that rant for another post.

There also were several other maintenance items that need to be addressed which I will get to as time permits....