Visit to Liberty Harley (The Tale of Two Jims)

Sherry and I stopped by Liberty Harley in Rahway, NJ yesterday afternoon to say hello to her cousin James who works in the service dept. We were talking to the service department about handlebar options for my wife's '05 883. We recently installed forward controlls. Now she wants her bars to be a little closer. I thought maybe a set of buckhorns might do the trick, but after looking at a few different styles it seems she's leaning toward 10" mini-apes.

While we were there we wanted to get a look at a couple of the '09's that arrived there recently. Sherry's cousin James (we call him Jimmy) pointed out a couple of the changes on the new '09 Road King Classic.


James pointed out the the touring frame is an all new modular design. He also told us that the exhaust is different. The exhaust has a crossover pipe that is now routed under the bike.

We were later joined by a friendly salesman (also named Jim) , Jim Mitchell to be exact. He said that Jimmy goes by James to distinguish between the two. I would have preferred "Jimbo", if it were me, but I guess it all comes down to personal preference. I hear that the boss is putting a freeze on future hiring of anyone named Jim or James! It's probably just a rumor, but that's what I heard....

Jim was nice enough to supply me with a copy of the '09 Harley Catalog. The new V-Rod "Muscle" looks to be the most drastic change in the lineup with the exception of the rumored trike which I have yet to see. The "Muscle" looks pretty sharp in the catalog, I'm looking forward to seeing one in person.

We also got to look at the new color chart. It's helpful to look at the chart, but it's better to see the paint on a bike. I was disappointed that they didn't carry over the colors I wanted for my next bike. Maybe I'll just have Jim track down an '08 custom when I'm ready.

Thanks to our friends at Liberty Harley in Rahway, it was a pleasure visiting their shop! If you have some time stop in and look around. Just ask for "Jimbo"!