Primordial
Active member
- Joined
- May 15, 2013
- Messages
- 36
Hey everyone, I'm Nick, living in the Charleston, SC area but originally from the Los Angeles area. I'm prior Air Force of 11 years where I served first as a mechanic, then as an Emergency Manager/CBRN (WMD) specialist. I now work for my local county government as an Emergency Manager and a couple years ago started a small side business selling aftermarket parts for Harleys. I'm on my third Harley/fourth bike right now and since it's "done enough" (it'll probably never be finished), I figured why not get a Buell. My first bike was a '78 Suzuki GS750 I bought for $550 to learn how to ride. It served its purpose, but when I deployed to the Middle East I bought an '06 XL883 Sportster and passed the GS750 on to the next owner. When I got orders to Korea I sold the Sporty, and picked up an '07 FXDC Dyna Super Glide Custom when I returned. It was a nice bike, but it just didn't have the nimble feeling I had with the Sporty so I sold it after my daughter was born. Feeling the need for a bike a short time down the road I decided to get a used Harley so I could feel easier about customizing it since the purchase price wouldn't be as high. That itch netted me a '96 XLH883 Sporty. I couldn't leave it alone for long so I sold a bunch of parts off it to finance my changes. I did everything but the paint on it and now have a nice swingarm chop that has a mix of parts that were either made by me or came from 1973 to 2011 Sporties...people look at it and can't tell what year it is. It's a nice matte black with silver flake and pin stripes, 12" apes, and a bunch of other mods that would take too long to list. Even with the apes it feels more nimble than the Dyna did, but it just wasn't quite enough for me.
So, on to the Buell part of the thread...I decided to build a bike from the ground up and chose a '99 X1 as the canvas. Overall, I plan on keeping the bike looking pretty stock with the exception of changing over to XB forks and wheels, and I might pass on the air box and fairing on the opposite side, but I haven't decided on that last part yet. That said, the bike is going to have a completely custom look. Being prior Air Force (I was medically retired in '08), I decided to make this into somewhat of a tribute bike. To do so, I'm going to coat literally every possible part that I can in a four-color digital tiger stripe design to match the new ABUs (the Air Force's new camouflage pattern). Obviously some parts won't be able to be done (i.e. tires, rotors, etc.), but otherwise I'm going to do as much of the bike as I possibly can. To carry on the color theme, I plan on doing the Buell graphics in Sage Green (one of the main colors in the pattern), and outline them in as close of a blue as is used for the name tapes and rank insignia as possible. I may not be able to make the pipes match, but I know I can get an 1800 degree-capable coating from the same company as the rest of the product I'm going to use, and I'm hoping I can then apply the color theme over top of that (maybe after a couple coats), but I'm going to check with the manufacturer to see what their thoughts are.
It's not going to be a quick build, mainly due to funding, but so far I have the frame (with title), gas tank, oil tank, XB rear wheel spacer/adapters and '03 XB forks on the way. Obviously I have a long way to go, but I figure that will allow me to coat the parts as they come in.
So...if anyone has any X1 parts they'd like to clear out, I'd gladly take them off your hands! This is the perfect chance to get rid of those undesirable little odds and ends that nobody wants to buy! In any case, my intent wasn't to make this a 'parts wanted' thread, but rather just to introduce myself and my plans for the 'new' Buell coming my way.
So, on to the Buell part of the thread...I decided to build a bike from the ground up and chose a '99 X1 as the canvas. Overall, I plan on keeping the bike looking pretty stock with the exception of changing over to XB forks and wheels, and I might pass on the air box and fairing on the opposite side, but I haven't decided on that last part yet. That said, the bike is going to have a completely custom look. Being prior Air Force (I was medically retired in '08), I decided to make this into somewhat of a tribute bike. To do so, I'm going to coat literally every possible part that I can in a four-color digital tiger stripe design to match the new ABUs (the Air Force's new camouflage pattern). Obviously some parts won't be able to be done (i.e. tires, rotors, etc.), but otherwise I'm going to do as much of the bike as I possibly can. To carry on the color theme, I plan on doing the Buell graphics in Sage Green (one of the main colors in the pattern), and outline them in as close of a blue as is used for the name tapes and rank insignia as possible. I may not be able to make the pipes match, but I know I can get an 1800 degree-capable coating from the same company as the rest of the product I'm going to use, and I'm hoping I can then apply the color theme over top of that (maybe after a couple coats), but I'm going to check with the manufacturer to see what their thoughts are.
It's not going to be a quick build, mainly due to funding, but so far I have the frame (with title), gas tank, oil tank, XB rear wheel spacer/adapters and '03 XB forks on the way. Obviously I have a long way to go, but I figure that will allow me to coat the parts as they come in.
So...if anyone has any X1 parts they'd like to clear out, I'd gladly take them off your hands! This is the perfect chance to get rid of those undesirable little odds and ends that nobody wants to buy! In any case, my intent wasn't to make this a 'parts wanted' thread, but rather just to introduce myself and my plans for the 'new' Buell coming my way.
