I got up dark and early this past Sunday to start my drive south to Knoxville from Indianapolis. Friday night I was down in Louisville for the Mid-America Truck Show, where I met up with some trucker friends, drank too much Old Forester 100 proof and ended up arm wrestling (and besting) the motely crew. I needed to get a break from the debauchery so rather than spend another night down there to shorten the drive, I drove back home to sleep in my own bed and give my janky little trailer some going over to start the long day in decent shape. My faithful 306k mile GMT800 Suburban got a quick fluid check (rear diff has a minor seep, rear main seal gets “addressed” via Lucas Stop Leak for now).
I found the seller’s place tucked away in some beautiful Tennessee hills. He was a somewhat grizzled looking fella who’d obviously worked with his hands his whole life, and was wearing a “Support your local outlaw” shirt. His workshop had a few other Harleys in various states of disassembly, including another FXS Low Rider sitting in a puddle of oil. Patch-wearing MC member, but as the rough biker cliche goes, he was actually incredibly nice and easy to deal with. Didn’t even bother to count the money I handed him in an envelope, now that’s high trust society. The bike turned out to be a tad rougher than the two photos had shown, mostly just some specs of surface rust on the rear of the frame from old battery acid at some point. The bigger surprise was the presence of dual plug cylinder heads. When these bikes were new they were notorious for pinging even on premium fuel and having valve guide and valve seat issues. Unleaded gas at the time was very poor and the shovelhead combustion chamber is not particularly efficient at promoting a quick burn. A common period modification even on fairly stock bikes was to machine the heads to fit a second plug to quicken the burn. I have no other documentation on what the 19k mile machine might have done to the motor, but the seller told me it felt “really stout.” Higher compression pistons? Cam? No idea. I hit up Some Red State BBQ outside of Georgetown KY and then dodged tornado damage south of Indianapolis before arriving home some 14 hours later.
As mentioned in the last piece, buying this bike was a big step out of my comfort zone, and to be entirely honest, right up until I headed out to pick it up I had some doubts in the back of my mind. $6k could buy a *lot* more performance AND reliability, even in the form of a newer Harley Dyna like the Silver ‘02 I had turned down. But I must say, any time I walk through my garage and see the brutal black beauty, seeping oil from the primary cover gasket onto the cardboard I placed below it, I’m absolutely smitten. It’s from a completely different planet than the older (Japanese) motorcycles I’m used to. The look and feel of the engine and bike as a whole are like that of the early industrial era compared to the logical, smooth, efficient counterbalanced overhead cam twins, inline fours, etc. that I’m familiar with. The aftermarket S&S Super E pattern carburetor has just a few basic, easily accessed adjustments. Vastly simpler than the quartets of Mikuni CV carb’s I’ve grown accustomed to. Having said that, I’ve already had a “d’oh" moment: I “lost spark” and went chasing this phantom issue for a few hours, ultimately tracing a wiring diagram back to the kill switch…. which I had forgotten to switch back to “run.” On Japanese bikes I always just use the ignition key to turn the bike off, and having the kill switch off also disables the starter in most cases. Not so on the Harley, with its key located down below your butt on the left side of the bike. So there’s quite an adjustment to be made, including my toolbox, to make room for SAE wrenches and sockets which I generally keep tucked away in a jumbled mess in the bottom of the toolbox.
I bought the bike “rideable” but I’ve got a whole laundry list of things to do before I’m confident enough to take it out on rides: the Dunlop tires are ancient, the carb is tuned incredibly rich, I’ve got a leaking fork seal and primary case gasket. All (three) main fluids need to be changed: engine oil, transmission, and primary case. I’m also addressing a number of somewhat minor cosmetic issues left by a prior owner: Harleys attract aftermarket chrome doo-dads like a magnet. So I’m taking off chrome tailight “brows,” dumb overwrought gas caps, handlebar tassles, oversized chain guards, etc. I want the bike more or less stock. The current exhaust on there is definitely loud, if my neighbor’s facial expressions are anything to go by, I’ll consider my options there over the winter. Funny, when I would ride around on my old Japanese bikes I feel like I caught a lot more smiles and waves… maybe I’m imagining things.
I’ve been on a similar trajectory to you. I started out on a 500 Triumph Daytona back in 83. I got an RD400 next and that got me into road racing. My race bikes were mostly Yamaha; my street bikes Yamaha and Kawasaki.
I bought an 883 Sportster in ‘92 to race. There was a class just for them back then, one that didn’t last too long as it turned out.
I was shocked at how much I enjoyed that motorcycle, even rode it to New Orleans from eastern PA once.
Marriage and kids slowed things down a good bit, but I always kept a bike or two in the garage. In ‘08 I got a new Dyna, a Super Glide Custom. It’s a perfect back road bike. It just thuds along.
I just this year put a set of S&S slash cut mufflers on it. With the decibel reducers in, it’s got a nice snarl to it, but not too loud.
I was once contemptuous of Harleys, but I sure enjoy mine now. I do think there’s another air cooled Sportster in my future, though.
Good luck with that Shovel, it looks like a great example. The bottom ends on those might be the best they ever made, hell for strong.
Sir, if you're removing the doodads you must add something for flair.
I humbly suggest https://ghostriderleather.com/get-back-whip-black-and-red-leather-with-8-ball-42-inches-sku-gbw6-ball8-dl/ the getback whip.
Good you got the bike back and it didn't have to be down jammed down on its side stand.