Working on Evo H-Ds during my tenure at Moto Witt certainly widened my horizons! Old designs maybe, but quality materials and engineering brought them back into the picture. Although the Evo was still based on the Shovel, it was head-and-shoulders above it, in all aspects. All previous iron-engined models were truely archaic in comparison.
Rubber-mounts further enhanced the usability, certain Dyna models ended up being my favourites. Proper handlebars, footpegs in the right position and a torquey, stump-pulling engine. If only there wasn't this hilarious life-style surrounding these bikes...
I can well understand why the Electra-Glide and its variants are so popular amoung long-distance tourers, once they start rolling, the weight disappears and they even become sort-of "nimble" while offering enough straight-line stability to cover long distances in comfort.
Running three 883 Sportsters in the German Harley Cup was a fantastic experience, keeping ahead of the competition took up most of my working time for over 2 years, great fun! Championship runner-up in the first year, 1st and 3rd in the second. Coaxing a basically 45hp bike to close to 80 while "adhering" to the rule book was no easy feat! The 2 resulting trips to Daytona and running in the support races leading to the Daytona 200 showed just how far behind the US boys we were... at least we didn't completely disgrace ourselves coming home in mid-field.
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