Pitbull Rescue!

DeadXL

Member
Hello everyone!

As I mentioned in my intro thread, there was a small chance of this happening... well, I locked down the deal on Friday, and she should be coming home with me later this week. Anyhow, here's the start of the saga on my new-to-me '03 Pitbull.

This one was unfortunately part of an estate, and I was contacted by friends of mine who were helping the family sort through everything to either distribute among themselves or to sell, as they had finally put the house on the market and sold it within 2 days. The Pitbull had been sitting since at least 2016, and I was tasked with seeing if I could get it running/riding once again and clean her up in order to sell it, as keeping it would be too much of an emotional trial for the family. I'm always up for a bit of a challenge, and the offer of some pocket cash never hurts, so I took on the task. Over the next 2 weekends, I set about changing all of the fluids (the oil filter was previously tightened by some sort of Sasquatch/King Kong crossbreed and put up one hell of a fight), drained all the old gas and did a rebuild/deep clean on the Super G (it was gummed up so badly that you couldn't even see the screwdriver slot on the bottom of the main jet!) added a fresh battery, as well as polished all the paint and miles of neglected aluminum. After all of this, as well as a bit of fiddling (ok, a lot), I did get her to fire up and run really nice. As you all well know, Big Dogs can be a bit tempermental even when in top condition, so getting her running again well again after sitting that long was no easy task! I also took her down the road for a surprisingly uneventful shakedown, and that's when it truly hit me: she and I had formed that unspeakable bond, and I knew this bike couldn't end up with anyone but me.

Just a bit after getting it started and going on the first ride, the truly awesome lady that now owned it stopped by with her granddaughter and asked if I had got it running. I told her that I had indeed, and asked them both if they would like to hear it. As soon as she fired up, they both had the best reaction I could have hoped for- literal tears of joy! This Pitbull was the last remaining prized possession of their family member, and their reaction showed me how special this Big Dog truly was.

The (once again, truly awesome) lady had seen how much work I had put into her, and mentioned to my friends how she would really like it to end up with me, as she saw firsthand the amount of work I put in, as well as the bond it and I had slowly made and could think of no one better she should have a home with. When we met up on Friday to discuss the work so far, as well as the additional things the bike would need in the near future, the conversation shifted to the possibility of me ending up purchasing her, and well... the rest is history!

All of this said, I really wasn't looking to purchase another bike at this time... I need to get my Harley back into running shape, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't somewhat toying with the idea of buying something else to ride this summer while my 'monstrous' XL was torn down again. However, as you all know- you don't look for a Big Dog, your Big Dog finds you. This isn't a summer fling though, I plan on this one being around for a good long time.

Now, what you're all sure to be waiting for: a picture! Well, here she is in the midst of the cleanup, sans seat and air cleaner... also not in my garage lol:



I'll go over all the stuff she truly needs here very soon, as well as some other fun bits, but I will say that tires and compression releases are first on the list. The front tire was replaced in '06, but the rear tire is still dated 2002... that tire's nearly old enough to drink!
 

knothead

Second Chance Customs
Supporting Member
Welcome from Tennessee.....i loved reading this story....congratulations on getting the bike....sharp putbull....

You are correct on the saying your dog will find you....well i got 6 that found me lol... each one of them have a place with me and alot of memories....well one doesnt have memories yet cause we got it last Sunday but the memories are coming in the near future and alot less cash on hand lol.

Just glad to see the dog get a good home and a chance at life again....Congrats
 

DeadXL

Member
Welcome from Tennessee.....i loved reading this story....congratulations on getting the bike....sharp pitbull....

You are correct on the saying your dog will find you....well i got 6 that found me lol... each one of them have a place with me and alot of memories....well one doesnt have memories yet cause we got it last Sunday but the memories are coming in the near future and alot less cash on hand lol.

Just glad to see the dog get a good home and a chance at life again....Congrats
Thanks for the kind words! I've read some of your threads (most recently on Frankenstein, the Mastiff), and I feel as though we have something in common... always a new project cropping up needing a lot love and attention.

My last 2 major projects were on Audi's, I'll link the first one here for you all to check out (it's a bit of a read): https://www.audizine.com/forum/show...t-Chernobyl-aka-Adventures-of-a-village-idiot

I just wanted a decent winter beater, I swear!
 

DeadXL

Member
Welcome from Kansas. Great job bringing the old Dog back. I know the PO family must be pleased it found a loving home.
Thank you! There's still a bit of work to be done, but it's worlds better than I found her for certain. The family is very pleased indeed. The PO's mother (aka Awesome Lady) is into her 70's, and you'd never be able to tell. The one thing she was quite adamant about is getting a ride on it this summer when it's fully sorted out, which I'm more than happy to oblige. Not everyday you find a cool lady like that willing to take a ride on a hardtail, that's for sure!
 

SKOGDOG

One of the old ones.
Welcome to the pound, DeadXL. Great write-up of a good story. As mentioned, we often see instances like this where a Dog finds the new owner. Congratulations on a good chapter of life for you. BTW—I have a neighbor who has a couple of those supercharged Audis he wrenches on, Awesome cars!!
 

DeadXL

Member
Thank you for all the kind words, guys! I can tell already that this is an excellent community to be a part of, and I hope to be able to contribute as much as I can to repay the knowledge I've gained so far!

Brought a tear to my eyes reading this.
Man, thank you for this comment. It's been an amazing experience so far with both the Big Dog, as well as the family it came from. When they broke down after hearing it run, it really blew me away... I know what it is to feel emotion coming from a machine, but to see others that aren't already predisposed to doing so feel that same emotion on that type of level, it was humbling and surreal to say the least. It felt like I was able to bring back their loved one to them just for a few moments in that cloud of noise and smoke, and it made me the happiest/luckiest guy ever to help them see and hear him again, even if just for a minute.
 

DeadXL

Member
Now feels as good a time as any to share the things she's going to need in the future, as well as some future improvements I would like to make. This isn't in any particular order, but as mentioned before, tires and compression releases are the first up.

Known issues at this time- not a total list, just the things I know right off the top of my head:

Tires
Left fuel cap (missing the chrome top, the bottom insert is still secure in the filler.)
Speedometer has a small gremlin- it will sometimes stick at 120mph after/during the initial gauge sweep when cycling the key. The next key cycle seems to normalize the speedo, so some further testing is needed. It was stuck at 120 on the test ride, so I don't know for certain if it truly works when it goes back to 0 yet.

Future improvements:

Compression releases- this is an '03, so the heads should have provisions for adding them already.
Push-up seat- I may have to have this custom made since I haven't actually seen one for an '03 yet. This is more of a comfort/preference thing than anything, I can reach the forwards ok, just feels like I should be sitting a bit more forward.
Mikuni HSR45 or HSR48- I have an HSR45 on my XL and I love the way it responds vs the Super G, much less the Harley CV carbs. This is not 100% set in stone, but just a possible future upgrade.

Anyhow, that's it for now. I'll have to wait until she's at home this week to give her a total inspection, but the broad strokes are there lol.
 

DeadXL

Member
She's home!

Made it here without incident, the worst part was the temperature here dropped pretty fast once the sun went down, got to about 28 degrees with some fair winds... my brain froze a little lol. I'm surprised the ride quality is as nice as it is being a hardtail, she rode like a Cadillac! The turning radius will take some getting used to, but overall I'm very impressed and truly as happy as can be! I'll take a better photo of her here soon enough, but for now I'm just glad to have her home.
 
Top