New overseas rider here.

Hey guys and gals,

name's Ilia, I'm from Moscow, Russia. The first one from Russia, as far as I can tell

All the info You have here on the forum has helped me a lot and the least I can do is just THANK You all for contributing to this forum so other people can easily find 99% of info they might need.

Stryker is my second bike, and so far I'm happy with it.

The purchase was a big surprise for me because I went out to buy a '72 Sportster, with the money ready, but on my way to the seller, I dropped by a motorcycle dealership that had a single black Stryker for sale, I got curious and wanted to look at it - and I just fell in love..

After a "butt test" it seemed like it was built for me, and I liked the neo-modern look, too.

So, I left the dealership highly impressed..

But as I got to the guy who was selling the '72 and tested it - well, the sound and vibrations were the only two things I liked.. Everything else was against my taste and expectations, unfortunately..

The feel is like sitting on a bike instead of "in" it, too thin to my taste, and, as I sat on it for a while with the motor idling, I just realised my b*lls were so hot!

I couldn't ever presumed the engine heat from that cockroach would be that intensive...

And so, well, I returned home riding a black Stryker

My fellow HD guys, of course, told me I'm an idiot , but I got used to their typical ignorance so I don't care..


I bought the bike in the end of July and have been riding the thing hard 'till now without any mods done as the riding season here is pretty short, so
I decided to enjoy riding while I can and left all the mods for winter time.

Also - riding the bike gave me lot's of ideas and formed my opinion about all the pros and cons, now I know what I want to be done, so, in a month or two, I'll start my mod thread, and I hope You'll find it interesting.

For now - I have ordered 80% of the parts I'll need and everything is on it's way to Russia..