Opinions on Bonneville / Sportster

[sx66gns]

I meant pipes that sound good , forward controls , I hear complaint after complaint about the seat and the need to add a rear seat.

there's no way i'd ever put forwards on a Bonnie.

in fact, i really don't like the sporty customs with the forwards or the bonny America either.

but that is solely my opinion and most Americans disagree.

to me the sporty and bonny should be mid or rear mounts...nimble and quick handling in the corners...that's the beauty of them...

if i were you i'd ride them both with midmounts before making any rash decision about forward controls...


edit: unless you're really tall, that is...

aye , the America is stock with forward controls , all that I've seen here in the US anyway.

[celt]

aye , the America is stock with forward controls , all that I've seen here in the US anyway.

yep, it's like the 'sportster custom' version of the bonny.

the American Way: make it bigger, slower and less responsive. make it more comfortable at the cost of worse handling.

[jstark47]

So let's say you have 8,000 allocated for a bike , should I just go ahead and plan for another 2,000 for either choice in accessories?

Can't speak for the Sportster, you'll have to ask Celt or Nalian, etc. For the Bonneville, it's quite rideable "as is" -- I rode mine bone stock for 7-8 months before I started to change things. It's a matter of personal taste. I know some guys with '01's or '02's that are still stock, they like 'em as is.

I decided to change out the pipes on mine after a RAT pack ride. Everyone was warming up their bikes, mine stalled (forgot to set the choke), and I didn't know it for 5 minutes - couldn't hear the difference!!

[celt]

So let's say you have 8,000 allocated for a bike , should I just go ahead and plan for another 2,000 for either choice in accessories?

Can't speak for the Sportster, you'll have to ask Celt or Nalian, etc. For the Bonneville, it's quite rideable "as is" -- I rode mine bone stock for 7-8 months before I started to change things. It's a matter of personal taste. I know some guys with '01's or '02's that are still stock, they like 'em as is.

I decided to change out the pipes on mine after a RAT pack ride. Everyone was warming up their bikes, mine stalled (forgot to set the choke), and I didn't know it for 5 minutes - couldn't hear the difference!!

the sporty is rideable 'as-is' for some.

i had the dealer do a stage 1 (hi-flow air filter, less restrictive (but still 50 state legal) pipes, race tuner to get the EFI to talk with the new components - but you can do a cheaper remap too..

here's the deal:

a bonnie or sporty is a very capable bike AS-IS.

but to get better sound and performance, you're going to want to increase the air intake and exhaust on either bike.

if you are capable and mechanically inclined, you can do a stage 1 on a sporty yourself and save a lot of money.

for instance:
Aftermarket (non HD) pipes, Aftermarket air cleaner and aftermarket race fueler done by yourself can be as little as $600-700


if you go the Harley Screaming Eagle route, you're looking at over a grand.

if you want GREAT performance, get a 2-1 pipe...but it'll cost ya.

it all comes down to what you want and how much loot you have.

do you want a capable but quiet bike? stick with stock.

do you want a quick bike? open the airflow and it will be a bit louder.

do you want it loud and don't care about performance? get a drag pipe and take out the baffles.

i have read that bonnies are similar to sporties -
capable, fun bikes stock; quicker and great sounding bikes after you open them up.

[sx66gns]

wow , thanks for the responses.