I was not sure if I will like “performance” pipes for the Shadow or not, and a guy on the HondaShadow.Net forum had a used set of Cobra Slashcut drag pipes for sale, for about a third of the price of new, so I went ahead and bought them. If I decide I don’t like them, I can sell them and I am not out much money. They should look something like this:
http://www.cobrausa.com/content/index.cfm?siteaction=CruiserProducts&bikeID=55
They should be here at the end of next week.
I put the first coat of LG on the front fender, side covers, and tank. They were already pretty shiny, so it was hard to tell if there was much difference. The directions say to let it sit out in the sun to “cure”, but I only had about an hour of sunlight left, so I don’t think it did much. The directions also say to add 2-3 additional layers of LG, for a much deeper shine and color. I will try that in the next day or so and see what it looks like.
After hearing rave reviews about this product, I went to Advance Auto Parts and picked up a can.
It is kind of pricey, a 16oz can is $22 USD. I will polish up the bike with it and see how it comes out. Stay tuned…
After the first fairly long trip, it was quickly discovered that the stock seats were extremely uncomfortable, for both the rider and the passenger. So, I began to research aftermarket seats. I found that most people seemed to like the Mustang seats, so I watched to see if I could find them for a good price.
In the meantime, I had joined a Honda Shadow forum at www.hondashadow.net, and found a post from another rider who was selling a barely used Mustang seat for a substantially reduced price. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had the new seat, a Memphis Shades windshield, a windshield pouch, and a Cobra sissy bar. The bike dressed up quite nicely. By the way, www.hondashadow.net is a wonderful site with lots of friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable people. If you have a Honda Shadow, I highly recommend this site as one you should visit often!
I have been pricing some performance exhausts, but have not yet decided what direction I want to go.
My wife and I had been talking about getting a bike, and had looked at Honda GoldWings because we wanted to be able to do some long range trips. Based on our research and the sage advice of 2 of my best friends (who happen to ride), we decided to get a smaller bike rather than jump in over our heads with a big touring bike.
After deciding how much we were willing to spend, I jumped on eBay to try to determine which makes/models were in our price range. The first bike I found was a 2003 Honda 750 Shadow American Classic Edition. It was described as being in pristine condition, and the pictures seemed to bear that out. There was only 90 minutes left in the auction, so I lurked until there was only 30 seconds left, and put in my bid and ended up winning!
It was located in Jupiter Florida, which is about a 3.5 hour drive from our house, so we rented a trailer and drove down to pick it up that Saturday. It was, in fact, very clean and only had 2,600 miles on it. We completed the sale, put the bike on the trailer and brought it home. As a side note, on the trip, we saw the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile driving down I-95!
The bike was completely stock, with the exception of the aftermarket saddle bags.
I parked the bike in the garage, because I had been planning on taking the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course, and did not have my motorcycle endorsement yet.
Two weeks later, I had successfully completed the course, got my endorsement, and was good to go.
Welcome to my blog about motorcycle riding. I returned to riding after a 30 year hiatus, and have been getting my “feet” back under me and learning to ride all over again. I am going to chronicle my rides, adventures, experiences, and pictures. I am also rebuilding a “project bike”, and will document that effort as I go along.
Thanks for stopping by!
Iggy