I finally got around to unloading my truck of the stock parts we upgraded from my Sportster 48. There was no real hurry. The F-150 has a secure, water-tight lid, and I'm getting lazy. My mechanic knew that I was going to archive them, so every original nut, bolt and lockwasher the next owner wanted was kept. It's something I did not do with Betty, but then, she is so modified that putting her to stock would be a serious step down.

I went to pull the muffler box out of the truck bed, and I was amazed at how heavy the package was. Granted, I come from an era when mufflers hardly muffled, but these babies were he-e-e-eavy. Once I got inside the house I open the package and hefted just one of them. I've never seen a muffler so dense and cumbersome. It's amazing that the little bike even breathed, at all.

I'm beginning to think that the real advantage of the Screaming Beagle replacements was simply a weight reduction. I've listened to Spinner idle in the mechanic's engine bay, but never heard her howl on the road. Now that I'm much lighter, and the exhaust sure is, I hope she gets a little more 'grunt' on the acceleration ramps. Time will tell.