Okay, so let me tell you about tinkering with my Harley 883. It wasn’t exactly a grand plan from the start, more like one thing leading to another, you know?
Getting Started
So, I had this stock 883. Rode it around for a bit. It was fine, yeah, but it didn’t feel like mine. Looked like every other Sportster out there. I started thinking, maybe change a few things. Nothing crazy at first.
First thing I did was just stare at it for a while. Seriously. Parked it in the garage, grabbed a beer, and just looked. What did I not like? What could be better? The bulky rear fender was one thing. The handlebars felt a bit… well, standard.
I decided to start small. Ordered some new grips online. Nothing fancy, just something with a bit more feel. When they arrived, I grabbed my tools. Took off the old ones – had to cut one off, it was stuck good. Cleaned up the bar ends. Getting the new ones on was a bit of a squeeze, used some hairspray like the old timers suggest. Worked like a charm.
Diving Deeper
That little change got me hooked. Next up, the seat. The stock one felt like a plank after an hour. I spent ages looking at options. Found a nice solo seat, looked way cooler. Bolting it on wasn’t too bad. Had to remove the old one, passenger pegs went too since it was just me riding it now. Instantly changed the look of the bike’s rear end.
Then came the handlebars. This was a bigger job. I went for some Z-bars. They just looked meaner. This meant dealing with cables and wiring. This part was tricky. I had to carefully disconnect everything running through the old bars. Took pictures with my phone at every step so I wouldn’t forget how it went back together. Fed the wires through the new bars – that took patience, lots of it. Had to get longer cables too, throttle, clutch, brake line. Bled the brakes afterward, which is always a messy job but gotta be done right.
- Pulled off the tank to get better access.
- Disconnected wiring connectors under the tank.
- Swapped the handlebar clamps.
- Fought with internal wiring for the new bars.
- Installed longer cables and new brake line.
- Bled the front brake system.
- Put the tank back on carefully.
More Changes
While I was at it, I thought about the lights. The stock turn signals were huge, like lollipops sticking out. Found some tiny LED ones. Mounting them required a bit of fiddling, drilling small holes in the fender struts for the rear ones. The wiring was simple enough, just needed to splice them in. Had to add a load equalizer so they wouldn’t blink super fast, those LEDs draw less power.
Then, the exhaust. Oh man, the stock pipes were quiet. Too quiet. Wanted that Harley sound. Got some short shots. Taking the old system off was straightforward, just unbolted it. Putting the new ones on, lining them up, making sure there were no leaks at the header gaskets – that took some adjusting. Fired it up afterward… Wow. Big difference. Neighbors probably weren’t thrilled, but it sounded proper.
I also chopped the rear fender. Measured about a million times before cutting. Used an angle grinder. Sparks everywhere! Smoothed the edges down, took a while to get it right. Had to figure out a side mount for the license plate then. Found a kit, bolted it to the swingarm. Relocated the tail light too, put a small LED strip under the chopped fender.
Finishing Touches
Cleaned up all the wiring, zip-tied everything neatly out of sight. Stood back and looked. It was messy work, lots of grease under the fingernails, few scraped knuckles. But seeing it come together… felt good. It wasn’t a show bike, still had flaws, but it was built by me, for me. Took it for a spin. Felt totally different. Handled differently with the new bars, sounded angry, looked lean. Yeah, much better. That’s the story of my 883 custom job, basically just me in the garage figuring things out as I went.
