This is one of the hardest things I've ever done...
- Thread starter CRCKR
- Start date
CRCKR
Active Member
Man is it ever. I rode down to Cave Creek last summer and everything was OK until I got on a stretch of fresh blacktop asphalt in nearly 120 degrees ambient temps. I came super close to passing out on the bike after only a few miles and had to pull over onto the shoulder. The desert felt 50 degrees cooler than the road. Of course it didn't help that I was hung-over as a bear... but I promised a buddy I'd ride down and introduce him to some folks I know down there.
oldhippie
Senior Member
I had it easier talking my wife into me buying my '09 UCEG since she really knew how much I loved riding plus she was going to ride with me (short lived however since knee problems, back issues and carpal tunnel issues have kept her off for too many years now
). My way of talking myself into the added debt was the length of time I keep my bikes. Other than my first bike, which was just to get my feet wet and figure out if riding was for me, my other bikes I'd owned for 17 yrs V45 Magna, 9 yrs Goldwing and now my '09 I've owned for 9 yrs and still going strong and should be hitting 50,000 miles this year. Of course since I live where the weather is less than nice 6 mths of the year I don't get the mileage on like you could in Arizona. I was thinking about getting a new bike this year until I started up and took The Mistress for a nice 550 mile ride and that idea faded fast.
I think about a new bike from time to time. A good clean and polish later with a nice ride completely changes my mind!
CRCKR
Active Member
It isn't that I don't LOVE my Superglide... If I were staying in Arizona all of the time I probably wouldn't even think about trading it in. It is mainly that riding it from Arizona to Florida 1 or 2 times a year on a great bar-hopper/switchback hugger isn't as comfortable as riding an 850lb sled.I think about a new bike from time to time. A good clean and polish later with a nice ride completely changes my mind!
In any case, after giving the bride some time to think about my reasons to get the new bike she agreed to let me make the decision and even asked me to look at the Streetglides because she likes the idea of the stereo (which I have NEVER missed and used only one or two times on my last Electraglide). I've got an appt. at the dealership this Saturday and I'm thinking on this REALLY hard.
Good luck on which ever way you go.
oldhippie
Senior Member
Best of luck on your decision. I agree the SG will be loads more comfortable on those long rides. Sounds like your better half is letting it sink in and being seduced by the thought of that sexy SG.
CRCKR
Active Member
OK... Here is an update.
Left home at 6AM to get to the shop by 9.
Took the new FLHTP for a ride and I am so used to my Dyna sitting fairly low (even with a cush Mustang seat) I really didn't like it. I'm 6 feet tall but between the height of that awesomely comfortable seat and the angle of the handlebars it wasn't for me. SOOooooooo I set my eyes on the Streetglide. I asked the salesman how close he could get that to the Electraglide I tested and he came back in typical salesman fashion, excited that he could offer me a deal even HE could not get. I thought about it for a while, the number was good...but the payments were a little over the monthly I have in my budget so I had to politely hop on my Dyna and ride back home.
Ding ding ding! Memorial Day WEEKEND traffic leaving Phoenix! 5 hours of 30MPH crosswinds later (including and one stop at the Veteran's Cemetery and one at the VFW to get a refreshment) I finally made it home and there is a message from the Sales Manager asking if I was upset because I just stopped listening. I called back and said, no. I just have a budget that the wife agreed to and since we could not sit within that # I had to leave. I let him know that there are some bells and whistles I cannot make the purchase without but I dropped the SE Exhaust and Intake. The bells and whistles already on the Streetglide FAR outweigh the one's I can "live without."
More updates to come, one way or another.
Everyone be safe.
-'Cracker' Scott
Left home at 6AM to get to the shop by 9.
Took the new FLHTP for a ride and I am so used to my Dyna sitting fairly low (even with a cush Mustang seat) I really didn't like it. I'm 6 feet tall but between the height of that awesomely comfortable seat and the angle of the handlebars it wasn't for me. SOOooooooo I set my eyes on the Streetglide. I asked the salesman how close he could get that to the Electraglide I tested and he came back in typical salesman fashion, excited that he could offer me a deal even HE could not get. I thought about it for a while, the number was good...but the payments were a little over the monthly I have in my budget so I had to politely hop on my Dyna and ride back home.
Ding ding ding! Memorial Day WEEKEND traffic leaving Phoenix! 5 hours of 30MPH crosswinds later (including and one stop at the Veteran's Cemetery and one at the VFW to get a refreshment) I finally made it home and there is a message from the Sales Manager asking if I was upset because I just stopped listening. I called back and said, no. I just have a budget that the wife agreed to and since we could not sit within that # I had to leave. I let him know that there are some bells and whistles I cannot make the purchase without but I dropped the SE Exhaust and Intake. The bells and whistles already on the Streetglide FAR outweigh the one's I can "live without."
More updates to come, one way or another.
Everyone be safe.
-'Cracker' Scott
If it's meant to be it will happen, good on you for sticking to you guns.