Another Bike - HD 2001 Road King Classic

Yes, broke down and bought a Harley Davidson. Not that I do not like my adventujre bikes, I just wanted to get one (tired of being the odd man out at almost every bike event 🤣). No, seriously, I have wanted one for a while but waiting for one where I loved the look and style.

I bought this one from the Bring A Trailer website. This is quite a nice auction site for just about anything. I have been watching this site for over a year and have bid on a few bikes (and lost) until now. I always show any bike to my wife before bidding and she loved the custom color and the old-school look.

When the bike was close to ending (about 20 minutes before the end), I noticed that the price was still under my highest bid so I bid on it. I did not think much of it since I figure I would be outbid AND it would exceed my maximum price I was willing to pay so I went about my business. About 20 minutes later, I noticed I got an email from Bring A Trailer and it said I WON!

I will admit that I do not know anything about Harley's. I did ask some folks about the bike before bidding, got what they thought was a good price, and luckily I got it. The bike is gorgeous (to me anyway).

I purchased the bike about a month ago. Unfortunately it was located outside of Detroit, Michigan. At first I thought about getting it delivered but lack of response from some transport companies, price to transport it, and lack of a definate delivery date, I decided to actually rent a U-Haul trailer and get it myself. Luckily a friend of mine decided to go with me making the trip a small adventure.

One thing I will note is that the process for purchasing the bike through the website is quite painless. You win, you pay the fee and then wite the money to the buyer. I know some will ask but I paid $5800 for the bike. My cap was $6000. The bike itself contains a number of upgrades:

• Custom paint job in Ford Shelby GT Nightmist Blue and White Legend
• Legends Suspension fork internals
• Fox shocks
• highway pegs
• Vance & Hines mufflers
• Quick release windshield

We left between 4:30--5am Saturday morning on May 30th to pick up the bike. One thing I must admit is that the U-Haul trailer you can rent are VERY nice. Wish I had one (they do not sell them).

The low profile and wheel chokc with plenty of moutning ponts made this easy to load and it traveled quite well. You did not even notice it was back there.

The ride up went very quickly. It took about 11 hours with stops for fuel, bio breaks, and a lunch break at Steak and Shake. Traffic was fine. The route we took did not take a lot of interstate. We cut through West Virginia and eventually got back on the interstate in Toledo. Once on I-75 in Michigan, there was a ton of construction. The entire interstate at one point was completely gone and they had 2 lanes going North and one lane going south. The backup on the southside was at least 11 miles (we were not going to go back this way).

We arrived at the buyers house right at 4pm. Nice guy who helped us load and strap down the bike. He had two other bikes (a Harley and BMW). Once secure, we headed for home. As stated before, we did NOT want to take I-75 back to Toledo. Luckily Google Maps is smart enough and it routed us a different way. Yes, still tons of construction but not traffic jams or slow downs. After seeing the amount of construction in Michigan, I will not complain about Charlotte again. Everything seemed to be dug up and re-routed.

The route home was a bit different. Eventually we did get back on the West Virginia turnpike. Taking these back roads (although most are 4 lane) is just so much more interesting. It did get dark on us about 9pm. At that point, the ride started to feel longer. I was glad to have another driver. I did drive the whole way up but on the way back, I swapped out. I was getting tired. We did stop at a Loves and get a hotdog for dinner (I am a cheap date - oh wait, he paid for the dog).

We were getting close to home. It was about 3am and I neither of us has slept. I was really tired but having company and talking did make the ride go by faster and kept both of us awake. Eventually we got back to my house.

Once we arrived, we needed to unload the bike. The unload was easy but I still did not like doing this in the dark. We got it unloaded and I parked it in the garage.

Once everything was stowed, I thanked and said goodbye to Nick. I cannot say how much I appreciated his help. I know if I would have been by myself, I would have either needed to stope and sleep. I would have pulled in a rest area somewhere. The big issue is finding a spot to park a trailer as most truck stops and rest areas were overflowing with trucks. It did not matter since we never had to stop.

First impressions of the bike are great. I love the way it sounds. It is going to take a bit of geting used to when riding it since the riding position is so different from my adventure bikes. I am used to sitting very erect (like a bicycle) and sittting on this is like a couch.

The heel-toe shifter will take some getting used to. I do not think about shifting on my other bikes but with this, I have to think about it. Eventually it will become muscle memory - just need a bit more ride time. The rear brake is also different. It is like a brake pedal in a car. Again, just need to get used to it.

I am looking forward to riding this bike. I have taken it our a bit and love the way it feels so far. A long ride will determine if I need to make any adjustments but I want at least 1000 miles in the saddle before I make and drastic changes. I will post the upgrades to the bike as I make them.