issue 185
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Craig Carling (left) has been looking after my bikes for many a long year.
My Harley life began with me not knowing anything about what I was really getting into. In 1992, most Harley dealers in Australia and America didn’t have any new Harleys on the showroom floor – let alone any to test ride. I didn’t know the difference between a Sportster, Softail, Touring, or Dyna Low Rider. Let alone a Road King which I didn’t know existed until I picked up my new 1993 FXDL Low Rider at the factory in York, PA. I just knew in retirement I didn’t want my hobby to be golf.
Why did I buy an FXDL? One of my best mates knew bikes and told me twin front brakes were better than a single. Plus, Low Riders had highway pegs to put your feet on so you could ride down the road looking as cool as Peter Fonda. What I didn’t realise was that the gauges – the tach and speedo – were both on the fuel tank. Not to worry, I figured out over the next 13 years and 223,000 kms what gear I needed to be in. Jump ahead and five Touring Harleys later, I was ready to go back to my roots and get back on my dream Harley.
You see, back in 1996 a mate of mine from Holland had imported his 1991 FXDB Sturgis and we rode across the Nullarbor to the Perth HOG Rally. Two black Harleys … I was in love and jealous at the same time with his Sturgis. I had seen and heard about them through all those years with the first Icon Harley to me being the 1980 FXB Sturgis.
After the 1971 Super Glide FX Boat Tail sales disaster, Willie G. came up with the FXS Low Rider leading to the 1980 FXB Sturgis. Leap ahead 40 years and Harley came out with what I thought was going to be the next production Sturgis – a one-of-a-kind 2020 Sturgis Low Rider S 117. Chrome and black like the 1980 Sturgis.
When Harley didn’t put the 2020 FXLRS into production, I jumped the gun and traded in my much-loved 2018 Street Glide Special 107 for a new 2021 Low Rider S 114 and sorta turned it into a 1980 tribute Sturgis with a chromed two-into-one S&S exhaust system and the 2020 LRS Sturgis Harley Quarter Fairing. Now the hidden point in this long story is that I had gotten spoiled with the heads-up displays on my Touring Harleys.
Sure enough, Dias Nagao, the Lead Designer and Stylist for Harley, came up with the new FXLRS 117 with a round handlebar mounted instrument gauge as seen on the 2022 FXLRS. At the same time, he designed the Low Rider ST 117 but with a square digital handlebar display. Two different types in fact, horses for courses I guess.
A BETTER VIEW
I had to have the traditional round tacho/speedo for my 2021 LRS 114. As Dave Cohen wrote in the previous issue of HEAVY DUTY magazine in his review of the 2022 FXLRS 117, the heads-up display is the only way to go for a sports cruiser.
If I were buying a Low Rider ST 117 today, I’d swap-out the square display for a round analog gauge. Call me old fashion but does anyone like flat screens on their bike or car versus the old round analogue gauges? Look at the car industry, cars are going back to real buttons and gauges versus touch screens.
It seemed simple in my case. The 2022 FXLRS round gauge with integrated handlebar mount is an easy plug and play swap for the fuel tank-mounted instruments. That said, there are a couple of things you can’t do at home.
First, being a digital bike, the dealer needs to program the new gauges. Second, the tank dash has a different one-screw pattern to attach to the tank. When all was done by Craig Carling at Adelaide Harley-Davidson Bike Works, I just jumped on the bike, took a minute to see that everything was working. And took off into the hills and along the beach for a wonderful, all-seeing ride.
Now I won’t tell you how Craig did it because your technician will have to figure it out for themselves. I took my bike in one evening and got a call the next day saying it was ready, all working and tested.
Craig has been my main man since my Dyna Low Rider days. Then too, the team at Bike Works – Scott and Adam in parts and Jason the service manager – looked up and verified all the parts and ordered and tracked them from day one. I had learned to trust them in these days of parts shortages. All said you can pay the man now or you pay him later to fix your mistakes.
MORE THAN ONE WAY
There are several ways to swap out the gauges. You can just fit the gauges on the handlebars and leave the tank dash alone. Or do as I did and choose the 2022 dash with the FXLRS logo. It is about the same price as what I saw online for aftermarket dashes and hole fillers. But I think being stock, the resale value is much better.
All that said you can actually look up all the parts involved at h-d.com/us and sign into Motorcycle Services/Owner’s Manuals. It seems that one can swap-out most any M8 Softail instruments and or dash. There are even Dyna handlebar instruments for the older bikes and their existing pre-digital wiring may work. Ask the expert what fits – not me.
One last note about the 2022 gauge on my 2021, I reckon it compliments my Garmin Zuma XT GPS setup with a RAM-B-367U mount. The Garmin attaches to the gauge’s handlebar H-Bar clamp and is adjustable anywhere you want it below the tach.
Today, with my 2021.5 LRS 114, I feel safer being able to keep my eyes on the road ahead of me, and not down on the tank.
Ride safe, ride often!
