The Tourist
05-17-2010, 06:21 PM
As you know I've been trying to outfit a little Harley to use as a commercial vehicle for deliveries of the clients' knives. I knew that sometimes a client might want a quick and dirty repair or a touch-up while I was at his business. The little Sportster will have a rack installed shortly, and due to the small size of the rack, any carrying device and sharpening kit also had to be very portable.
I called Ben Dale over at Edge Pro. We go back far too many years and I know he also rides a bike--in fact, we share the same engine. He uses his Sportster engine in the sportier Buell cafe' racer. Oh well, it's a v-twin...
UPS deilvered the Apex today.
I have two of his Pro Models set up, and I had never purchased an Apex. After we discussed the size and space needs, he felt the biggest problem might be the length of the stone arm. I have a Harley roll I got for free as a 'gimmee' gift, and the rod only sticks out of the ends a tiny bit. For me the blade bed is the problem.
I have a 320 EP stone already affixed to the arm, and I also wrapped up a 5000K Shapton glass-stone I'm not pleased with. With a few teal polishing tapes on the the old style aluminum mount, I can pretty much get a knife up and running until more time is available. At least I can polish out a nick.
The nice thing is that because this bike is technically a "work vehicle," I have numerous tax deductions available to me. My tax guy says that all of the sales tax on the Sportster, mileage portal-to-portal, sharpening supplies, tune-ups and the rack all apply to my business and hence are deductible at some level.
Ahhh, I get paid to ride a Harley. Gee, I love this country...
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/TheTourist_bucket/001-9.jpg
I called Ben Dale over at Edge Pro. We go back far too many years and I know he also rides a bike--in fact, we share the same engine. He uses his Sportster engine in the sportier Buell cafe' racer. Oh well, it's a v-twin...
UPS deilvered the Apex today.
I have two of his Pro Models set up, and I had never purchased an Apex. After we discussed the size and space needs, he felt the biggest problem might be the length of the stone arm. I have a Harley roll I got for free as a 'gimmee' gift, and the rod only sticks out of the ends a tiny bit. For me the blade bed is the problem.
I have a 320 EP stone already affixed to the arm, and I also wrapped up a 5000K Shapton glass-stone I'm not pleased with. With a few teal polishing tapes on the the old style aluminum mount, I can pretty much get a knife up and running until more time is available. At least I can polish out a nick.
The nice thing is that because this bike is technically a "work vehicle," I have numerous tax deductions available to me. My tax guy says that all of the sales tax on the Sportster, mileage portal-to-portal, sharpening supplies, tune-ups and the rack all apply to my business and hence are deductible at some level.
Ahhh, I get paid to ride a Harley. Gee, I love this country...
http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb231/TheTourist_bucket/001-9.jpg