June 24, 2010
 Cycle Sounds, LLC, a market leading premium motorcycle and motorsports audio manufacturer has recently introduced their Series 3 audio system specifically designed and engineered for the V-Twin market. Each Series 3 Premium Sound System comes complete with your choice of 3 inch bullet speakers (black or chrome), high-powered mini amplifier with wiring harness and mount, handlebar MP3 mount, speaker mounts and all necessary connectors and wires to complete installation. These speaker systems are designed with a patented multiple shim mounting system that easily attaches to 7/8”, 1” and 1¼” bars without any additional mounting hardware. These lightweight bullet speakers produce clean crisp sound, with minimum distortion…even over engine and road noise. Systems work with iPod, iPhone, mp3, Satellite Radio or any device that uses a 3.5mm earphone jack. The Series 3 Premium Sound System works perfect on any style motorcycle.
 Cycle Sounds, LLC also produces a wide variety of audio components, not just for the V-Twin market, but also for sportbikes, metric cruisers, ATV, UTV, scooters and the new Can Am.
CLICK HERE TO FIND CYCLE SOUNDS FOR YOUR MOTORCYCLE
Cycle Sounds is your source for motorcycle speakers and motorcycle stereo and audio products.
December 31, 2009
 - This 19 inch wheel looks as good as a 21 but its much stronger
The first time, the change was motivated by economics. A customer had a Sportster Custom which, of course, had a 21 inch laced front wheel right from the factory. Many years and many miles of rough roads and potholes had taken their toll on the front wheel. Llots of the spokes were loose and the rim looked more like an octagon than a circle. To top it off, the front tire was nearly bald.
The cheapest way to go was a new(er), gently used 19 inch cast front wheel from Harley-Davidson, which we picked up for less than two hundred dollars. We installed a new Metzeler ME880 tire, and returned the motorcycle to the customer. We hoped for a more sturdy front wheel, but we got much more. The customer was back in a couple of days. “What did you really do to my bike?” she asked. “It feels lighter. It turns easier, it tracks better, it’s totally happy going around corners…it even stops better. Really, what did you do???”
Honestly, all we had done was to replace that skinny 21” laced wheel with a nice, sturdy, tubeless 19” front wheel. Her old tire was a 21” Metzeler; we installed a new 19” Metzeler to go with the 19” wheel. The only difference was the wheel itself, but dropping 2 inches of diameter and picking up a little bit of width really transformed the handling of that Sportster.
Since then, we have converted three more Sportster Customs from 21” front wheels to 19” (upgrading them from Dunlop to Metzeler in the process) and the customers are raving about the transformation of their rides. “You told me it would be great,” said one of our more recent ‘converts,’ “but it’s like a whole new motorcycle. It feels better now than it did when it was new.”
It’s very hard to believe, I know, but having ridden “before” and “after” bikes myself I can testify that it’s true. A Sportster with a 19 inch cast front wheel handles much better than one with a laced 21 inch front wheel. And a 19 inch front wheel is going to hold up much better to the slings and potholes of outrageous fortune (or our outrageous roads). With that meatier tire and a sturdier construction, it would take one heck of a whack to damage a typical cast 19 inch wheel.
”Oh,” they cry, “but a 19 inch front wheel is so ugly! The 21 looks so much better!” Well beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if you stop by our store you can have a look at Chuck’s Sportster, which is graced with a beautiful, chromed, 19 inch billet wheel. It looks as good as a 21, but it has the strength of a 19.
If you just want to sit on the curb and look at your Sportster, fine. Keep that “pretty” 21. But if you want to ride the beast, consider upgrading to a 19. The view from the saddle is much better than the view from the curb any day!
 For those of you with ADD we’ll start with the end: it’s Metzeler. If you’d like to know why we think that way, read on.
If you’ve been to Bikes Built Better you may have noticed that Chuck and Joe and I all have Metzeler ME880 tires on our bikes. Chuck and I ride Harleys, and Joe’s Yamaha Warrior is always on display in the showroom. ME880s are nice-looking tires, but that’s not why we ride them. Having tried other brands like the OEM Dunlops, Continental, Avon etc, we’ve all decided that the Metzeler ME880s are simply the best tires available for our cruisers and touring bikes. The dry handling is unbelievable, the wet handling is the best out there, and those ME880s barely even notice scarified (milled) roads or steel grate bridges. Some of the local guys have nicknamed the ME880s “spiderman tires” because they grip the road so well. The ME880s usually last at least as long as the OEM Dunlops, though I usually get about an extra 5000 miles out of a set of Metzelers. And that’s repeatable. I’ve ridden over 100,000 miles on Metzelers and I keep good records.
On top of riding Metzeler ME880s, I’ve been selling them through various Harley dealers and independent shops since they were introduced. Whenever somebody’s looking for a better tire, we recommend Metzelers. And in about 20 years of selling these tires, I’ve only known one customer who decided he didn’t like them. He wasn’t a very good rider, and he declared that the Metzelers scared him because after they were installed the bike “turned too fast.” Aside from that one guy, riders love these tires. We hear comments like “I know you said they’d be good, but the difference is amazing!” and “The bike feels like it lost a couple of hundred pounds, just from installing those tires!” and of course “I rode over a steel grate bridge that used to scare the hell out of me, but now the bike hardly wiggles.” Occasionally someone will say that they’re not too impressed with Metzelers but, when we check the bike, we always find that the tire pressure is too low. Every time! We have bikes come in with as little as 10 psi. ME880s are designed to be run with relatively high pressure, usually 42-45 psi depending on the tire. Dropping the pressure by a mere 5 to 10 psi will adversely affect the way the tires feel, and shorten their life by quite a lot. When we correct the pressure in the tires of a non-believer, they always come back and thank us and swear to be good about their tire pressure in the future, because they have become fans of Metzeler tires, just like us.
I’m sure that some of you will scoff and say “you’re just hot on Metzelers because you make a lot of money on them.” Actually, we have better profit margins on Dunlops. We recommend Metzelers because we love them, and we know that our customers will love them, too.
January 30, 2009
 The new Drop-In Fork Lowering Kit from Progressive Suspension, with applications for Dynas, Sportsters, Softails and FLs, will make you gladly forget everything you thought you knew about lowering a Harley-Davidson front end.
These kits let you drop that front end up to a full 2-inches, on most bikes doing it without the hassles of disassembling the forks or pulling the wheel.
In most cases only the fork caps have to be removed to complete the installation. Raise the front of the bike so the forks are fully extended. Take the fork caps off, lift out the stock fork springs (if the bike has washers and/or spacers they come out, too), determine the correct PVC spacer for the bike you’re lowering (there’s a chart supplied with the kit) and with the forks fully extended insert the Drop-In Fork Spring, the Drop-In Compensation Spring, the supplied washer and that PVC spacer. That’s it. Reinstall the fork cap and you’re done. How’s that for making a tough job easy? The Progressive Suspension Drop-In Fork Lowering Kits are available right now.
 The Progressive Suspension Air Dragger is A simple, low-cost, high-performance air-suspension system. It’s a direct mount to all late-model Harley touring bikes. The fully chrome-plated shock bodies are bolt-for-bolt replacements for the factory shocks, and they’re powered by an optional compressor unit that quickly and cleverly Velcro-mounts right into the back of a saddlebag. The Air Dragger shocks feature machined aluminum air chambers, velocity sensitive multi-stage valving and progressive internal coil springs. The Air Dragger offers up to 2-inches of on-the-fly height adjustment. This is a combination that’s hard to beat It’s available right now and it all comes at a rider-friendly price.
 The Baker DD7, a Direct Drive 7-Speed, is a complete gear-set replacement for the Cruise Drive Harley-Davidson factory 6-speed. It’s a great addition and upgrade.
Baker DD7 Buy It Here
The Baker DD7, a Direct Drive 7-Speed, is a complete gear-set replacement for the Cruise Drive Harley-Davidson factory 6-speed, and it improves that transmission, and the bike it’s in, in lots of ways besides adding one more gear.
A common complaint from riders is that the factory 1st gear in the Harley 6-speed transmission is way too tall, which makes the bikes feel sluggish when leaving a stoplight. The DD7 fixes that with a shorter I st ‘gear for much improved off-the-line acceleration. Because of that shorter first gear, and all the new gear ratios following it, the DD7 makes the bike feel more responsive overall, almost like some serious motor work had been done.
Another complaint with the H-D trans is shifter clunk. The factory main-shaft is a heavy one-piece design that includes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. The audible clunk at every gear change in the factory 6-speed is caused by the heavy rotating weight and high inertia of that I -piece main shaft. The DD7, in comparison, uses a strong but lightweight main shaft and only includes the small I st gear as an integral part. With the DD7 installed, the Harley “shift clunk” is noticeable only by its absence. To further improve shifting the DD7 also incorporates a new linear roller-ball detent as part of its billet top cover, a technology first used in the Baker TorqueBox.
The DD7 is a great addition and upgrade. With the reconfigured gear ratios, a Harley is able to make full use of all the torque and power of its 96-, 103- and 110-inch engine. Instead of designing the DD7 gear set as a deep overdrive, Baker shortened the I st gear ratio and tightened up the ratios of all the other gears. The result is smooth, crisp and continuously pulling acceleration from 1st through 4th gears, and when you get into the cruising portion of the gear set (5th through 7th gears) there’s no big drop in RPM from one gear to the next. This is the kind of transmission those new Harleys should have come with in the first place.
The DD7 Builder’s Kit comes with everything needed for the conversion, and it comes ready to slide right into the bike. No case modifications, shimming of the gear set or complicated adjustments are required. And it’s built Baker tough. The DD7’s door bearings, for example, are 28-percent wider than stock. A re-cal box with all the electrical leads included keeps the speedometer accurate and for cosmetics the DD7’s extra-strong trap door is available in wrinkle-finish black at no additional cost. The Baker DD7 is in stock now Baker DD7 Buy It Here
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