Harley Davidson 2003 Anniversary Electra Glide - FLHTCUI
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Just recently I won best bike in Show for Valhalla Harley Riders. I was proud to receive this award because I love my FLHTCUI and think it is perfectly set up for the long haul, it is already the Harley Davidson ultimate touring bike but I think I've made it better.
Motor.
The Heart of all Harleys is the motor and the Twin Cam 1450 unit is powerful right out of the box. I had run two Evo's putting on loads of performance goodies and notching up over 150,000 miles and when I first rode my Twin Cam I thought the performance bettered both previous Evo's even with all their performance modifications. In time though ones mind turns to improving and the one thing a big touring bike needs it is mid range pulling power. I achieved this performance upgrade by going from 88 cubic inches to 103 cubic inches and as anyone will tell you where power is concerned there ain't no substitute for cubes. I also wanted to maintain relyability and to this end fitted all Harley parts by Harley mechanics at Harley World Chesterfield. I went the whole HOG and had the Screaming Eagle Heads with the 1550cc stroker to give a massive 1700cc. Boy does it work? You bet it does. The pulling power was tested to the full this summer when Silver Dream pulled me and Jennifer and two weeks luggage over the highest mountain passes the Alps had to offer with no effort or constantly changing down to keep in the power band, wherever and whenever I wanted torque and power it was there. To ensure the reliability I demand I also hopped up the starter motor to maintain ease of starting.
Frame.
I have done two minor modifications to the frame. The first was to put on front fork lowers in Chrome. This was an ease of maintenance thing as it is so much easier to clean chrome forks rather than alloy ones, a splash of hot soapy water and they are good to go. The second modification as far as the frame is concerned is to have a Rivco centre stand. I did have the H-D show stand but the 103" motor needs an oil cooler and you cannot have the HD Oil Cooler and a centre stand; but the lads at Harley World told me of the Rivco item. It is far more substantial than the HD item and lifts the back wheel one inch off the ground and the bike will not roll off it as the bike was prone to do with the HD show stand.
Lighting
I love to show the bike off to her best and can also say safety is a consideration. The lighting starts right from the fender tip lamp all the way to the rear fender tip neon. I have lights on the side of the front fender, around the front disc covers, on the fork sliders; the next lot are on the rear floorboards. I then have a plethora of lighting around the tour pack, neons under the pak and under the saddlebags. I have extra braking lights in the tour pak and on the tour pak wing - it is impossible to show the lighting in a picture but suffice it to say when I run up the motorway on a starry night I reckon from outer space a spaceman would think a small village was on the move!
Communication.
As you know the glide has CB as the standard form of bike to bike communications and H-D also give the Ultra Glide Rider a fantastic CD/Radio system. Passengers are also well covered by rear speakers and rear rider controls. But I wanted more. I wanted to chat with my BMW riding friends and use my cell phone whilst on the bike. the solution lay in an Autocom Pro 7. I now have a blue tooth system for the cell phone, I have my phone on me, turn on the bike and hey presto I have hands free cell phone use through my helmet speakers and microphone; magic.
Navigation
The Pro 7 can also cope with my voice guidance
from the Garmin GPS2610. This is by far the best navigation unit I
have owned. I have detailed maps of all Europe and North America, I
also have World main roads covered!.JPG)
I am not sure how I would get anywhere now as I
totally rely on this fantastic navigation aid. It allows me to plan
routes on my lap top and download them, of course you can do it directly
within the unit but the last trip to Faak am See I planned excellent biking
roads through the Alps and could follow those routes with the greatest of
ease, not ever having to stop to refer to detailed maps. The unit will
also give many useful information inputs, like speed in KPH, Destination
Arrival time, average speeds etc. etc. I can strongly recommend Garmin
2610 to you. I have recently added a remote aerial that improves the
satellite signal to the 2610 unit.
Entertainment
The standard CD/Radio with built in CB is of course brilliant but the latest HD extra adds an unbridled listening pleasure which is a handle bar mounted digital music player. With a 1gB memory card I can have 100's of tracks to shuffle and easy listening pleasure. I have upgrade J&P speakers front and rear to give more watts!
Luggage
Of course the Glide comes with more than adequate luggage space and even comes standard with Tour Pak and Saddle Bag liners. I have added a T.Bag that fits on the top of my tour Pak. I can leave the 1" thick soft liner when carrying delicate items like my lap top and camera or I can remove this padding to give significantly more storage space. It has many useful pockets and a neat little rain cover.
Comfort.
Whilst on my 2003 USA Home Coming Tour I called
into Corbin Seats, Hollister, CA to have a ride in seat made to order.
We selected carbon fibre finish leather in grey and black to match the bikes
anniversary colours along with the gold piping as the gold coach line on the
'03 Glides Anniversary paint job..JPG)
The seat has two kinds of foam, the top layer forms to your particular arse
shape over the first 1000 miles. It is a firm ride but I have done a
1000 mile Saddle Sore ride in a day to no ill effects; so it is comfortable.
It is also heated which has come in very handy when caught out on
particularly cold mornings. Here is the first shot of my Corbin seat
whilst on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) - the Policeman was just there for
his break, honest. Of course I have highway pegs but I also have
highway pegs for my pillion. They are both Kuryakin items, the rear
ones also have a position for short legged people!
Safety
I now have Howards HOG horns to cover the safety aspect. I did use BJ's but after two sets that stopped working after about a year a piece I thought I'd give Howard a chance. Firstly they are very loud but the second thing I do not know and that is how long they will give a very loud audible warning to encroaching cage drivers. I also have HD fairing mounted mirrors which ensure I have no blind spots by using all four mirrors. Tyre blowouts, especially front, are the motorcyclists worst nightmare so I have invested in Ultra Seal front & back. After having two helmets stolen in Dublin, the one and only theft from my bike, I now have two helmet locks. To improve speed of braking reaction I have an extended EZ rear brake lever,
So there we have it the essentials that make my Glide the exceptional touring machine that it is. Of course I have many chrome and other little add ons', like the thermal drinks holder, the windscreen bags, the pouch fairing lower box lids, the saddle bag lid pouches, flag poles, etc, I have 54,000 miles on her now which I think is a mighty fine achievement and must say that I think she is well deserving of her accolade as the Best Bike in Valhalla 2005.
I also currently fly a black ribbon in respect of our parted brother Rainman, Albert van der Eijk.
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