Category Archives: Harley Davidson parts

Taking a motorcycle trip? 5 tips to get prepared

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Summer is here and there is nothing better than taking a long trip on your motorcycle. You can take your Harley Davidson around town, across the state or even across the country. It really doesn’t matter as long as you are having a great time. For most people traveling is simply a way to get to their destination but for Harley Davidson touring motorcycle owners, the true fun is in the trip itself. Before you start planning a long road trip you want to make sure you have a check list of things covered to ensure the safest and most enjoyable trip possible.

  1. Map your route: If you are going to be taking a long trip you want to make sure that you know exactly where you are going. For example, if you are taking a trip from Orlando to Key West you want to know exactly which roads to take, the best time to be on those roads and so forth. The less you have to worry about that while riding, the more enjoyable the trip will be.
  2. Check the weather: One of the biggest problems Harley owners have is weather. Driving in the rain for a little is one thing, but having to do a long trip in pouring down rain is quite dangerous. You also want to make sure that you store proper rain gear.
  3. Storage: Speaking of storing gear, you want to make sure that your bike has all the necessary gear it will need for the trip. This is why touring bikes are the best for long trips. They have so much extra cargo space when compared to other Harley motorcycles. That extra storage is so valuable when you are taking a road trip but do not only take your stuff. Obviously you want a phone charger, extra clothes, water, medications, etc. but you also want to make sure you bring stuff you may need for the bike like a plug kit for the tires, road flares if you have to pull over and so forth.
  4. Big parts: There are so many parts to a motorcycle and if you are planning on taking a road trip you want to make sure that all those parts are in peak working condition. For touring motorcycles you may want to replace the dresser bars, fat mammoth spoke wheels, gas tank or any other parts that may need to be upgraded. A great example is the gas tank. There is actually a specific custom stretched gas tank for baggers that you can purchase. It holds more gas than standard tanks, perfect for long road trips.
  5. Small parts: This includes latch covers, dresser hand controls, mirrors and other small items. These are the ones that actually wear down more often because they are moving parts and they are smaller so they may wear down faster than handlebars would. They are also very easy and affordable to replace.

Before you take a long motorcycle road trip you want to also make sure you take your Harley out for a ride around town for an hour or two. Make sure everything feels right, you are comfortable and everything is working as it should. That way if any parts need to be repaired or replaced you can do it while at home, not while you are stuck on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.

If a part needs to be replaced you want to know about it as soon as possible before your trip but what if you want to upgrade parts as well? Maybe your Harley could use a new set of dresser bars, hand controls, fly by wire grips or something else like that? Touring motorcycles are better for long road trips but they also have more parts on them so they will require more attention. So be prepared as best as you can, follow this checklist for the best motorcycle road trips and enjoy the ride.

Buying Harley Parts Out of State

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When you are looking for Harley parts or anything else online you may come across stores that are not in your state. For example, if you are on Craigslist and you search for Custom Harley Parts you may be surprised to find a large number of sellers that are not in your city and some are not even in your state. How can this be? Why are they advertising so far from where they are and why would you consider even buying something from them? Let’s look at each one of those questions and others one by one:

  1. Why do companies post out-of-state ads: Many businesses rely on online sales as a huge portion of their income. For example, if they sell custom Harley Davidson parts they can actually sell those all over the country if they have a quality shipping department. Sites like EBay and Amazon do not worry about location as long as the customers are happy with the order. It is possible for a company in Florida that sells Harley parts to have a huge number of sales in Texas, California and other states as well. This inspires companies to sell on other sites that may localize their searches such as Craigslist.
  2. What advantage does this give you: Obviously if you need a part ASAP you cannot buy it from someone out-of-state. However, if you are not in an immediate rush to get a custom part then shopping from a company that isn’t in your state gives you the opportunity to find a better deal or at the least, a far better selection of parts. Let’s say you are repairing and replacing a Harley Davidson and you need new handlebars. You want something that will look awesome and the local stores don’t have the greatest selection. When you go online and look you find a set of handlebars that look amazing, they are for sale at a really low price, but they are sold by a company on the other side of the country. What’s wrong with that? You just found a better part at a lower price and you don’t even have to go pick it up.
  3. I miss the face to face: For those of you who get a little lonely understand this, most companies have a great customer service staff that specializes in internet sales rather than face to face sales. That means if you are on the phone with them they can easily walk you through their selection of parts, answer your questions and more. Try going to the local store and see what happens. The owner is out to lunch, the manager is busy and you get someone who has never sat on a Harley trying to answer your questions. Still happy you got the face to face attention?

The fact is that any company that has major online sales can afford to sell their products at a much lower price. Think about it like this; if you sell custom Harley Davidson parts and you only sell them to people who walk into your store you will need to make a large profit off each sale. However, if you sold those same Harley parts online and you sold a lot of them, then wouldn’t you be able to offer those same exact parts at a discount because you are making up the money in volume? That’s business 101 and it is also why you should buy your Harley parts online.

When It Comes To Custom Harley-Davidson Parts, Size Matters!

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When searching for custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts you may come across something that confuses you, the sizes are all so different. It’s not just that there are different size parts to choose from, but the parts that hold the parts come in different sizes as well. Why is this such a big deal? Comfort, if you are not comfortable when you are riding there is a big problem. Imagine trying to run a mile with a pebble in your shoe, it doesn’t feel very good. Now imagine trying to ride your motorcycle for an hour but your back doesn’t feel comfortable. To make matters worse, less comfortability can also lead to you not being able to ride as safely so there is a very big emphasis on why you need to be as comfortable as possible.

The fact is that when you are putting new custom Harley-Davidson parts on your motorcycle you need to make sure that you not only get the right measurements for your bike and the parts you are ordering, but the right measurements for yourself. For example, if you are ordering a pair of Ape Hanger handlebars and you have never used them before you will need to get a lot of information. First you need to know how tall you want the bars to be because that’s where your arms will be while riding. Secondly, you have to figure out exactly how you want to sit on your motorcycle. Ape Hangers allow you to sit up but they also limit your options for moving around. If you have only been on bikes with T-Bars you will need to get used to the different feel a bike has from leaning forward to sitting up.

It may not seem like a big deal but these are things you have to be aware of when you are taking measurements for new custom parts. Here are some other problems you should be aware of when ordering new parts:

  1. Never used it: Going back to the example of Ape Hanger handlebars, if you have never used them how do you know what sizes you want? The best option would be if you could sit on a bike that has them to get an idea of the size you would prefer. If that is not an option your best bet is to sit on your motorcycle and put yourself in a position where you think you should be sitting. Then have a friend take measurements to give you the closest possible measurements before you place your order.
  2. Is it compatible: Make sure that the new custom parts you are ordering are made for the bike you have. Honda parts will not necessarily work on a Harley Davidson, even if the parts are the same size.
  3. Don’t go too big: This is not a joke, the bigger the motorcycle, the more it is going to weigh and that is a lot for you to handle when riding down the road. If you are comfortable with the dimensions of your bike then don’t mess with it too much.

We all want the best looking ride but when you are searching for custom Harley-Davidson motorcycle parts you want to be sure that you are improving the feel of the bike as much as the look of it.