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Hello. New here. Bought a '72 XLCH Ironhead last November. Semi-basketcase. Fortunately the engine was intact and in the frame. The bike had been sitting since 1984. Put it back together, got it running, new brakes, shorter shocks. The paint was toast, did flat black wet sanded with 1000 grit paper, rubbed out, looks like old paint, fits the bike.
Three Bendix carbs came with the bike, finally put one together that works. Nothing fancy, just an old looking bike. Kick start only. I believe it may be ready for a test ride.

 

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Thank you all. I'm in Tacoma, not far from Oregon. It's what I could afford, thankfully it didn't have any big, expensive mechanical issues besides needing brake shoes and a brake drum which I traded a gas tank for. The primary cover was bent and cracked, leaked terrible, a replacement cover came with the bike so only a gasket was needed. The previous owner tore some things apart, was going to restore the bike in 1984 but didn't get around to it so it sat for 40 years, luckily indoors so no rust or corrosion. It starts easy, seems to run good, doesn't smoke or leak oil. Trans and clutch work. The thing I like is that it doesn't have computers, fuel injection, anti-lock brakes and all the modern things I can't work on. It's points, coil, carburetor, generator...simple machine.

 

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Thank you everyone for the welcome. I owned and wrenched on many bikes in the past, was big into 1960s Triumphs for a long time. The only Harley I ever owned was a 45 cu.in. flat-head trike back in the 1980s. Retired now and needed a project to keep busy. Here are some pictures of the bike when it came home. Fortunately the motor was intact, wiring was stock, most parts were there along with some extras. It was last on the road in 1983. The extra wheels are from an old BMW (?), sold those.

 

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That turtle tank is worth some $$$.
Rarely see 'em , even at swap meets.

Yeah, it came with the bike. Tried to sell it on CL but no luck. I needed a rear brake drum, a local collector contacted me and traded a new chrome brake drum ($230) for the turtle tank so it's gone now. I considered putting it on the bike but didn't really care for the look, I like the stock sportster tank better.

 

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I owned that exact year sporty mine was also a basket. RH shift gets a bit of getting used to. Those drum brakes don't stop real fast, just saying. I enjoyed mine, I put electric starter on mine. Laced a 16" rear wheel put the fatest continetal tire on rear, chain just missed tire lol, Conti on front, did rear shocks as well. You have to dremel case for starter, ring gear should already be on clutch basket if you want to c h ange it. PIA but easier on kicker foot. Alot of memories on that bike. Nice job!

Thank you. I owned a number of old Triumphs in the past, I know about sketchy drum brakes and RH shift. I don't plan on doing any modifications on this bike, just going to leave it stock. I did put on shorter shocks and raised the rear fender a bit to lower the bike so I reach the ground better. I'd like electric start but it takes a lot of work and money to do that conversion. Got this bike tuned so it starts easily enough. I do have an Edelbrock Quicksilver carb I'm going to try on this engine though. Maybe forward controls if the parts turn up for cheap.

 

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Greetings from England
Congrats on the rebuild glad it aint cost ya a fortune getting it to this condition

Thank you. Say hello to the 'Prince of Darkness' (Lucas) for me.

 

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Funnerly you should say that I've never had the pleasure or should I say the misfortune 🤣 🤣

LOL. I owned old Triumphs back in the 1970s. Good bikes, easy to work on. Didn't find Lucas electrics to be as bad as people said. I owned a HD 45 trike in the 1980s, regret selling it.

 

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Welcome from CA. Nice project you have there. Good to see an old an older bike get a chance to be on the road again.



Glad you said that. I'm a little slow and was befuddled at first. But eventually, from time to time I get there periodically.

Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum) and atomic number 26. Seemed appropriate.

 

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Thank you. Yeah, all of the old bikes are high maintenance compared to the newer bikes. This bike does have an adjustable, automatic chain oiler though. LOL Seems to be having carburetor issues right now. It never ends. I kind of have to stick with older bikes, I can't fix the new ones with the computers, EFI, ABS, GPS,, etc...don't know squat about that stuff. I owned 1960s Triumphs and air cooled VWs in the past, same thing, constant maintenance and repairs. This bike has it roots back in the 1950s, it is what it is, stone age technology.

 

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I'm thinking of selling or trading this bike for something with electric start. I owned many kick start bikes back in the day but I was much younger then. I wouldn't recommend getting a bike from the AMF era, 1969-1981. AMF made fine bowling equipment but they weren't so great when it came to building motorcycles. They did save HD from going bankrupt though.

 

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IDK, had a '80 FXE80 that I had rebuilt, balanced everything possible in that motor... It was a fast SOB! Just had to constantly adjust the timing and a forever fight with intake leaks... That I could thank the PO for, he converted it to points (the timing would slip on a near daily basis) and put some weird intake manifold on it. I called it the O ring intake! IIRC there were 6, O rings on that dumb intake. They always would leak.

Still miss the sound of a carbed HD! It could idle so slow you could almost hear the valves open and close...
Cam, intake and exhaust made a rocket! Oh the simple days... (I plugged that damn chain oiler) It works weather or not the bike does...

Yeah, intake leaks and ignition system, two problem areas. I'll never understand why HD eliminated the distributor and put the points and advance unit in such an inaccessible location down in the side cover. Probably a bunch of executives in suits at AMF made that decision because it was cheaper. LOL I replaced the stock intake manifold O-rings with rubber bands and made a solid support to keep the carburetor from bouncing around and causing leaks.

 

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I had not wrenched on one that was built before the cone motor. So i can't say the points were in a bad locale or not. But It did a damn good job of helping me teach my 5 yr old son (at the time) what electricity is!

I had him holding the timing light for me while i was messing with the timing. He kept on creeping in closer and closer with that chrome timing light... I warned him 2X. Then let him learn. When that arc shot between the bike and that timing light, he did 3 azz over head rolls across the garage. Jumped to his feet and hollered "WHAT WAS THAT!"
I was laughing so hard the tears were streaming! He saw no humor in it a toll...

When i finally caught my breath. I explained that was electricity. That was 2000 volts at nearly zero amps. So it just bit you! Those sockets in the house are 120 volts with 20 amps pushing them... Volts bite, amps KILL.
Momma ask him to plug in her vacuum, his eyes got big and took off for his room... No way in hell to get him to plug in anything for months!...

They put the points in a very difficult place to access on these engines, I don't have a lift table so the points are about a foot off the floor, a lot of bending, sitting on the floor, difficult to see in there. The timing hole is on the other side of the engine so that complicates the process.
It doesn't seem ease of maintenance was a priority when they designed these engines. From what I understand these engines had a lot of problems with the centrifugal advance unit, not great quality.
I can't remember how many times I've been zapped by ignition coils working on old cars and bikes.Doesn't feel good at all.