The Other Blog...

I have created another blog to showcase some old black and white pictures that I have started scanning to digital format. I have a rather large assortment of pictures my grandfather took starting in the thirties and running through the sixties. Many of the photos are aerial shots of the eastern seaboard but mainly of eastern NC. They give a great insight into the lifestyle during the period.

www.ralph-southerland.blogspot.com

Saturday

Even with TS Gabrielle lingering off the coast Saturday was a great day to ride.



We started out at HD of New Bern to check out the live band, the demo rides and the food.







The main thing for the day had to be Jeff's new Screamin' Eagle V-Rod.








He had planned to stop in at New River HD and pick up a t-shirt but bought this instead. I'll bet he's hell with a grocery list.






This machine is truly a work of art and from what we understand is quite capable of what the speedometer displays.











An Electra Glide Ultra Classic trike.







Lynn wanted to try out a Deluxe but the seating arrangement on the Deluxe doesn't seem to work for her. Everyone agreed Lynn looked great on the new Nightster.





Chad and Lynn had a birthday party to attend later so late in the afternoon Debbie and I decided to take a ride to Oriental.








Water level shot at the harbor.








Debbie, dockside at the harbor.











Garland Fulcher Seafood








We discovered a new place to visit in the future: the Toucan Grill and Fresh Bar as well at the Tiki Bar and they are both at the Oriental Marina and Inn.






It was starting to get late so after a refreshing beverage at the Tiki Bar we decide to head home the back way through Janerio.

This morning...

This morning was my third day of riding to work this week. Sixty five degrees, slightly foggy very little wind and my light weight Screamin' Eagle jacket was just right. I had ridden across the high rise bridge, fought traffic at the Pembroke exit and then took the 17 South exit. I was at a stop light when Freebird began to play, the Kerker mufflers on my Electra Glide lightly burbling. A brief beep of a horn to my right caught my attention. I glanced around to see a young lady smiling and pointing to my bike. "Nice bike. I really like it." I said "Thanks. I really like it too." Her lane pulled away before mine did and she waved in her rear view mirror as she dwindled into the distance. I waved back.

How can you ride a Harley and not smile?

-Ralph-

Who Do They Think They Are?

Debbie ran across this document a few days ago and something in it caught her eye. Click on the picture to view the document. Read item four under the instructions section. This document is from a local hospital.

Selected Pictures

I was browsing through our photo collection recently and started marking some of my favorites. I finally had time to add them to the Blog. I hope you enjoy them.

-Ralph-





St. Thomas church is the state's oldest existing church and is located in Bath, NC. Construction began in 1734.










Inside view of the church.








Looks like the fleet is in. This is near Hobucken, NC.








Our 06 Sportster. This is what got us started.








Union Point, New Bern, NC in December of 2006.








Four people and four different brands. Can you guess the other two?







The harbor at Oriental, NC.








Creekside in the fall in Winston-Salem, NC.








Tiger Lilly








A little Photo Shop action with Bad Bob and Pris.









Atlantic Beach, NC.








Our faithful companion Buster.








The Neuse River at New Bern, NC.








Lawson Creek, New Bern, NC.











New Bern's City Hall building.











White Lake, NC.








White Heron at Pine Knoll Shores, NC.








The Trent River at Trenton, NC.











The Trent River at Pollocksville, NC.

Stage One Upgrade and the Power Commander

Debbie asked "Why?". "We have a perfectly outfitted '07 Ultra Classic that runs flawlessly, so why mess with it?"




My reply: "Well, umm, uh....".

I love it when my intelligence shines through.






There are, however, reasons why certain improvements are beneficial. The main issue with the new 96 inch motor is heat. No I'm not whining about it but it is very real. Our Sportster generated heat but no where near the volume of heat that radiates from the Ultra. The main culprit being the lean condition from the factory to meet the EPA requirements. Several bike mechanics agreed that the heat could be borderline to causing actual engine issues under certain conditions so my first step was to determine how to cool the bike.



Much research from web sites to newsgroups and forums to folks at local Harley shops came up with the solution. An engine is an air pump so if you allow it to take in more air and allow that same air an easier escape route then it will run cooler and perform better. If at the same time you can optimize the air/fuel ratio across the board you have an even larger performance gain and an additional engine temperature decrease.





Both Debbie and I agreed early on that the Ultra ran hot so my first goal was to tone down the engine heat and if I obtained a real performance gain then that was a plus. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.






A more free flowing air system was obtained through the H-D parts catalog with the Stage 1 Air Cleaner Kit. I went with the SE model simply because it is mentioned time and time again on many sites and I wanted to keep the stock air filter cover. This was easy to install and the included instructions were accurate. They even included Loctite with the kit. Total time to install was about thirty five minutes.

Part number 29773-02C





At the other end of the bike was where I really researched. I wanted a less restrictive exhaust but learned that back pressure was important and I wanted a deeper and slightly louder exhaust tone. The available SE slip-ons were too quiet and the previous year SE's were no longer available since H-D has adopted a certain stance on exhaust audio levels. A very knowledgeable local parts guy gave me the inside track: The older SE slip-ons were manufactured by SuperTrap/Kerker and were available. Do I like the Kerker slip-ons? Oh yeah, I like them a lot. I went with the model 128-78020 and the turn down end caps. I also learned something about billet end caps: Chromed machined aluminum will flake off after repeated exposure to heating and cooling. So go with non-aluminum end caps if possible. Another good thing about the Kerker slip-ons is that you can remove and/or repack the actual muffler insert. You will have to acquire three nuts per side if you remove the insert since the inserts are threaded to allow the outside screws to hold it and the end caps in place.

Installation was easier than I thought, Chad told me that early on, and I was quite satisfied with the result. The Kerker slip-ons are slightly smaller in diameter than the stock ones and the end caps extend the perceived pipe lengths about two inches over stock. Since the supplied muffler clamps threaded portion was longer than stock I rotated them more downward so as not to protrude past the pipe on either side. When I first thumbed the ignition switch and the 96'er roared to life I grinned so hard my cheeks hurt. Install time was about one and a half hours. On an Electra Glide you will need to remove the saddle bags which takes all of sixty seconds.



Of all the parts required for this endeavor Debbie's favorite was the insert for the air cleaner cover. I have to admit that I like it as well.





With all this done there still needed to be a way to "modify" the stock ECM to take advantage of all the performance enhancements the new parts had to offer. Again I turned to the Net and a few knowledgeable individuals. The Screamin' Eagle Race Tuner software writes directly to the bike's ECM while the Power Commander is written to directly and in turn modifies the instructions being sent to the ECM. I have been around computers and software used to alter communications and network gear for a long time so this was right up my alley. I settled on the PC because if there is an issue I simply relocate the connectors and we are back to stock in two minutes. One other good reason is the large amount of freely downloadable maps available on the Power Commander web site and the fact that Chad has a PC on Bad Bob. If you are looking to save some bucks then be aware that the SERT is a hundred bucks on the heavy side when compared to the PC. The local HD shop is also a tuning center for the PC so if I have an issue they could help. The PC mounts under the right hand cover and installation took about twenty minutes. I emailed the guys at PC for the best map to start with since the Kerker slip-ons are not listed. I received an email a couple of days later that said to use map 812-009 since the flow characteristics were very similar between the two set ups.

I will add to this on Saturday since Chad and I plan to try some different settings and maps on both bikes.

The damn bike won't start!

Saturday the 18th seemed like a great day to head to Wilmington and meet up with Mike for lunch and a few miles near the beach. Wilmington is eighty five miles south of New Bern and is mostly over a four lane highway known as Highway 17. It's generally an easy drive even though the traffic is fairly heavy since the road is eastern NC's main north/south corridor.






We met the Crew at 9:30 and gassed up. We live out in the country and it was fairly cool when we left home but it was quickly warming up and the humidity was not helping.







They were having a "Sell your Bike" event at New River Harley so we had made plans to stop on the way south.


























There were a few new bikes on display and Lynn fell in love with the Deluxe, yet once again. You would think that if Chad loves Lynn the way he says he does then he would go ahead and write the check. I mean, Lynn's worth it, right Chad?















This Screamin' Eagle edition with the sun on the chrome was to good to pass up. I wonder if Chad would write me a check for this?

















This bike was on display outside. What an awesome paint job.










Where's Mike? I called him as we were leaving Jacksonville and left a message. I had hoped he would meet us and ride south but maybe we would pass him heading out. He finally called and said he was running a little late and would meet us in Hampstead.






So we ride to Hampstead to meet Mike at the gas station across from Foodlion. I ride past that and stop at the Hess station: no Mike. I call and he says he'll meet us at the small shopping center just north of Ogden. It seems there is an issue with his Sportster and he left an earlier message about the problem. Basically the damn bike won't start.

Hampstead Chamber

Hampstead Weather



Mike's story:
Friday night I cleaned the bike and I left the key on. I tried to start it but all I got was a bunch of hell raisin' clicking. So I figured I could push start it. Here I am in the street in my neighborhood trying to run the Sportster down the street, jump on, squeeze the clutch, click it in gear and dump the clutch. Time and time again but she won't start. Out of breath, and sweating and swearing profusely, I give in to common sense and jump in the Yukon. There are three Harleys on the way down from New Bern and here I am driving the friggin car! That's just wrong.


The Heat!
Heat transfer? Yep, I know how that works. From the rear cylinder to your thighs! Ninety Six cubic inches of Milwaukee designed heat pump. Mike guided us on some back city roads to avoid the Wilmington traffic jam. Speed bumps and thirty MPH speeds in ninety five degree temperatures!




Flaming Amy's
We stopped at Flaming Amy's for lunch. I don't think the girls thought to much of the establishment. I think it's pretty good and I usually stop there when I'm in Wilmington which is usually two or three times a month.


Just after leaving Flaming Amy's, Debbie advises that her left peg is lower than usual. At a red light I feel behind me and try to determine the problem. I think I've got it fixed and pull out. Once we arrive at Chad and Lynn's, Debbie asked me to check her peg again because it "fell down" shortly after we left Wilmington. The left Kuryakyn peg had "eat the hell" out of the derby cover. Debbie didn't realize it was hurting anything and felt awful. Needless to say that dictated yet another trip the HD shop for a new derby cover. That has now been replaced.

The round trip of 188 miles was on one tank at 45.2 MPG. That's definitely better than the 38 we were getting when we bought the bike. There are quite a few goodies that I am adding to the Ultra in a few days. Look for a post involving some Stage 1 parts and a few extras.