First ride of the year

     I got my first ride of the year in tonight.  I was chasing a photo tag for the game on GLMC's website http://www.glmc.org/GLMC_Garage/index.php .  By the time I got home with my required photo of my motorcycle in front of an Irish Pub someone else had already made the tag.  I put my picture up anways though because I 'bout froze my nuts off getting it.  I am officially the first guy to ride a motorcycle to the bar in Swanville this year.

     I was at work today looking out the windows in the front of the store.  The sun was out and the roads have been melted for several days and dry.  I couldn't wait anymore.  I didn't do shit to my Ironhead last fall other than shut off the gas and run the carb dry.  The temp was about 31 degrees tonight when I went out to the garage after work.  I selected my 1974 Sportster to be my maiden voyage this year.  Mostly because it is the only one without expired tabs.  I turned up the idle speed screw about 1 & 1/2 turns, cracked the throttle 3 or 4 times and hit the button.  RR RR RR pop pop pop.  Nice... signs of life right away and the battery was turning the bike over at a decent speed.  So I crack the throttle a couple more times and hit it again.  It didn't start right away, I had to fiddle with it and try a few times but I had the bike up and running within 2 minutes.  I turned down the idle screw to about 1200 rpm and just let it run for a while.  I'm sure it had sumped a little oil over the winter and I didn't want it to puke out the breather tube.  I just left it running and let the oil pump do it's job.

     I love Sportsters.  To me they are everything a motorcycle should be.  I like the way they look, the way they sound, the way they ride.  My '74 is just as quiet as my 2003 and MORE quiet than my 2005 when it comes to valve train and internal engine "racket".  In all fairness I do have .551 lift cams in the '05.