May be a stupid question but here goes. How does an old harley ride/feel compare to something newer? I've always been told "dude old hardtailed bikes are nothing more than local bar hoppers, they constantly break down, they're money pits, ride like hell, etc." I would LOVE to build an old bobbed or rat one as a second bike but hearing that **** has kinda deterred me. Is any of that true? Or does it boil down to the build? Meaning if you take the time to rebuild the engine and trans, it shouldn't really be a problem? I'd do a hart tail knowing it won't have the comfort say a road king has but I don't mind a stiff ride. Will they go down a highway at 70 without problem? Whats riding one of these really like?

 

I had a '75 shovel head and it had a swing arm, not a hard tail. It was my first brand new Harley...$3200. And I had it 6 years and never had any issues with it.

The good thing I liked was the ease and inexpensive way pipes could be added. And the potato, potato, potato sound.

A drawback was that it was only a 4 speed.

Building one now might be a job, trying to find the parts for it.

 

If you want to build one, build it. And if you want to really go the reliability route, but keep the Shovel-ness, then buy an S&S Shovel engine, a Baker 6-into-4 tranny, a Paughco frame, your choice of forks, wheel, fenders, tank, and have at it. If you are a reasonably competent "assembler", you can have a nice looking and extremely reliable bike.

 

One thing I wouldn't worry about would be the number of gears in the tranny. 4 are plenty. For that matter, with the broad torque curve of Harley motors, three gears would be all you would need. I don't see the need for 6 gears, It's nothing more than marketing hype. All that it does is cause more shifting.

 

You asked about a Shovel, They all came stock with a swingarm frame. I had a 74 cube Low Rider and bumped it up two teeth on the countershaft sprocket. Slow off the line but it ran fine riding state to state. Easy to gear anyway you want.


Just use loc-tite on everything you touch. In fact, rip it apart and loc-tite it back together, and head for the other side of the country.

 

That's a bike you can ride anywhere Poco.

noraA I had a 67 that I put over 200k plus miles on with two major rebuilds.Had that bike over 20 years and the guy that bought it still rides it. Maintenance is your friend with old iron. That bike let me down twice in all those years. Both times generator problems.Metal fatigue on real ones for sale these days with high mileage and not maintained will be a problem at some point. Put together "right" they are really not as bad as people make them out to be. The S+S motor in an old frame would be my choice.
vaxt forever I would have loved to have another gear or two on my 67.

 

"Hard tail" doesn't mean Shovelhead.
Many custom bikes are hardtails.
Shovels came from the factory with the normal FL and FX chassis you have today...regular swing arms.

Yes most of them vibrate more...with the solid mount engines. Old ladies don't call 'em "Milwaukee vibrators" for nothing!

There is a 5 spd touring model, the FXRT, which is rubber mounted I'm pretty sure. The FXR family itself is great handling....that chassis is becoming a collectors item.

As for the 4 speeds...sometimes I crave a taller final gear. Yeah there are some 6 in 4 tranny swaps out there, like the Baker kit...but it's over 3 grand. Top quality unit...but not in my budget.

And honestly...after the past 3 days...I've poured over 12 hours of riding on mine in the past 3 days. Sat and Sun...my wife and I did 5 hour rides each day...her on her bike. Just came home from a 40 minute blast on the highway at around 75 steady with some squirts up to 80....there is NOTHING like the beautiful cadence a Shovelhead makes from old school pipes while blasting down the highway. Like a slightly worn out high compression big block....I dunno..just music to my ears. And on weekends I head out for rides with some buds that also ride Shovels....the pack of us ripping through the back roads and what not....pure music coming from all those pipes.

Not to mention the idle...kinda funny when newer Harleys pull up behind me or next to me at stops...you can tell they're envious of that authentic Harley idle. Some Evos can get close.

My Shovel is an FLHS...an Electra Glide Sport...pretty much the predecessor to the Road King. She rides quite well.

Reliability...every now and then I get a gumption to pickup an Evo Softail....but then I have great weekends on my Shovel and I quickly drop the idea of replacing her. My '06 Dyna gave me more severe problems and cost way more to repair than my Shovel had. Shovel has been minor...I spent just 1 time pulled over on the highway for an hour or so...my rear brake locked up on me....waited for her to cool down then I just pulled off the rear brake and rode home slowly on back roads front brake only. A quick repair.

Other repairs....since it's a Shovel, made to wrench by their owners...I've done it all myself...my bike ain't been to a shop once. And I've had the whole front end off twice (just pulled it again this past Saturday morning before a long ride), had my jugs off, had my primary off, rear swing arm, belt replacement, console, tanks, etc. All in my garage. No fancy expensive tools needed.

Parts are ample...don't let anyone tell ya otherwise. Yeah you won't get many parts at the stealership...but there are sooooo many other great resources. Even the big JPCycles catalog mentioned her a lot has a sub catalog for vintage bike owners.

Reliability? Depends on the bike....yeah you have to pay attention a little more, pet them and rub them and whisper to them that they're gorgeous. Just like a woman! But no...you don't become a slave to maintenance. I spend a bit of time on mine because she's an upgrade project. Bought her in rough shape almost 4 years ago. It's pretty much my daily driver. I am not a slave to maintenance...but I wrench a bit because I'm upgrading, improving..and I'm learning it..so I make mistakes and go back to fix them. I know plenty of Shovel owners that would hop on their Shovel and ride across country...they have faith in them.

Old School to me...is what Harley is about. The new couch-glides with all electronic this, stereos, edutainment displays, GPS, bluetooth, heaters....ain't my thing. I don't even want my cell phone in site..goes in my saddlebag when I ride.

You're more "at one" with your bike when you wrench it, to me...that gives me more when I ride her. I enjoy riding more, I enjoy the bike more.

 

Here ya go. Buy a kit and put it together. All new.


http://www.brassballscycles.com/c-48-classic.aspx

 

YeOldeStonecat, yer makin' me lust for a Shovelhead even more than I already do.

This one in particular:

 

That's about as authentic an answer you're going to get - anywhere.