My Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow! Sorry guys! Its not a one-off! It's nothing spectacular - just a bone stock Harley Davidson - they say that's the rarest Harley in the world..
Last Monday, an age old dream of mine came true. I drove home on a brand new Ember Red Sunglow 883 SuperLow! Why Harley?
Don't remember when my knees first went weak seeing an American twin: but it sure was many many years ago! A time when you couldn't just ogle at a Zero or a WCC chopper just by typing a similar name on the net...back then one had to have influential friends who had "mad" cousins in America who came back with those precious mags with chopper pics in them. I was stoned speechless by a Harley ad sporting a springer softail classic that said "Park Loud". The first time I saw a Harley video was unbelievable; it was of a group of hogs and left me an insomniac. Several years later when i first got a ride on a Sportster; i ended up with more sleepless nights. That pimped up 1200 gave me more thrills than a 200 Kmph+ run on a first-gen Vmax that had left me scared s^&tless and was my motoring nirvana moment till then. It was no longer about pure speed, Harley is a MACHINE..the vibrations, the music from the twin pipes is so raw...I just had to get my hands on one.
Come 2010: Mangoes to the rescue....a Harley could be brought from a neighborhood store: I had just moved in to Hyderabad and had a wicked grin on my face seeing the Banjara Harley shop for the first time. Sometime in December 2010; we paid a visit to the showroom and it didn't go down well with me. The salesmen were quite hostile and were guarding the bikes like the pope's army and wouldn't let us even touch the bikes. It was all too frustrating an experience and I hadn't also planned for the moolah then. That experience it now seems saved me quite some dough coz after a few months the CKD Harleys came in. Suddenly it all made sense ( DKGs post on his new SuperLow was the catalyst) and I put my money on a SuperLow 883 in July. Why a SuperLow?
Chrome...Classic looks....affordable. The Iron is a mean machine; may augur well as a second bike; but in my opinion you got to have a chrome laden Harley and get over it before moving into the new-age blacked out Harleys! The Iron also has very hard suspension and is a little too tall for my puny frame. If cost wasn't a factor I would have loved to go one of the big twins though! The Machine:
Quality of paint and chrome arrests all your attention; its quite a looker. I loved the new color – Ember Red Sunglow: makes the bike look more substantial than the black one. But the stock exhausts are a disappointment –Think Hendrix Stratocaster without Marshall Amps. Now you know why the rarest Harley is a stock Harley! You’ve got to liberate the soul of a Harley – the stock pipes NEED TO GO! The Ride:
Pulls like a train this beast; goes cleanly off the line – torque is good in lower gears; you’ve got to rev cleanly and keep upshifting – there is relentless pull right upto an indicated 140 Kmph. Buffeting gets too mean after that and you have to let go.
For the first time I’ve ridden a Harley that has working suspension; ride is pure comfort on clean roads- the downside being a complete inability to tackle speed breakers. You’ve just got to stop and move as slow as possible over them; move across them (carefully) or avoid them by maneuvering hopefully though the sides where they taper off…That’s the only concern. The Iron would fare better over speed-breakers; but would make all other good bits feel bumpy.
I did join the Hyderabad HOGs last Sunday for a 200 Km ride; quite an experience running alongside various Harleys – Nightrod, Iron, XR and a custom 1200 Sportster with V&H short shots – pure thunder from them : I thoroughly loved it…waiting patiently for the ride next Sunday.
Have a feeling this won’t be my last Harley – there’s a world out there waiting to be explored and experienced….
Last edited by josepeter : 24th November 2011 at 12:44.
Reason: Added write-up on decision, initial ownership experience and added pics..
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