Looks menacing!

LOL. Not if I told you why she wears all of those "skull" themed covers!

For some reason, the EFI system on that bike 'sucks' the gas cap tightly down due to vacuum or vapor lock. A chrome (slippery) cap is almost impossible to remove. I went looking for a cap that had something I could grip, or something with a wing-nut design.

I found the skull gas cap below, and I could get my thumb in the jaw and crank it off easier. Then I found the derby cover and points cover were just thin aluminum, so I replaced them with the same motif. Now I found a chrome skull air cleaner insert for my black cover, and it looks pretty good.

So my bike is covered with skulls--the first such replacements in +40 years--and it all started because I couldn't get the fricken stock cap off!

https://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23 ... /004-8.jpg

...and this is the derby cover...

https://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23 ... 01-103.jpg

Hey, HandOverFist, the subject of Sportsters has come up on West Coast. I offered my opinion on the "Sportster Glide," a bike I've mentioned here. In fact, in building up Spinner I attempted to bridge the gap.

If you look at Spinner's back end, a picture dating from the middle of last season, you can see how I tried to outfit her with a more real world 'little Dyna' kind of stance. A better seat, lots better Progressive shocks and a sport rack. A few weeks later after this picture was taken, the decorative covers went on.

Bikes for me are a work in proggress.

https://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23 ... 003-18.jpg

BTW, I had easy disconnect battery leads put on both bikes. One bike is on the tender when the other is being ridden. Yeah, yeah, OCD. One set of leads is on the right side of Betty, and Spinner wears hers on the left. One wall plug, no waiting! LOL.

https://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb23 ... 1-94-1.jpg

I've got one of these 8-cell batteries coming... https://www.alienmotion.com/html/purchase.html

Plans are to be able to include the ECM inside the battery compartment.

I just got Spinner's original battery replaced under warranty. What's the overall advantage of marrying up this eight-cell with your ECM plans?

Hotter spark? Longer life? More cranking power?

Space - The ECM was mounted in the rear fender for '07...with the 2011 tin set I installed there is no such provision. Some were mounting it in the side cover affixed to the stock battery. This solution allows me to mount the ECM in the tray alongside the battery. Calculations say the 8-cell should be the equal to the stocker in cranking power. Longer life...that remains to be seen.

Check me out here... https://harleytalking.com/showthread.php ... -coversion ...great site and great bunch of people too.

When it comes to mounting difficulties, I knew I was screwed the night I read the owners' manual. They show a guy with a very long screwdriver fishing for mounting hardware.

My wrench told me to just bring my tender the first year I stored the 48. It's just simpler than taking half of the motorcycle apart.

Edit: With all of this talk about my little bike, I sure do miss her! Considering my bikes go into storage at the dealership, I cannot even go outside to the garage and sit on them! I could be looking at least four more months of snow, and I haven't even seen Spinner since my wrench verified the oil cooler had been installed and she's had been back on the dyno.

Yikes, she's sitting somewhere, all covered up, rested, tuned, detailed and a few custom touches. Oy, this is going to be a long winter. Betty was finished last year, so while I miss her, it's not like opening a Christmas gift. I still get wound up over new toys, new guns and knives, the UPS truck...