hi all,

I've decided to restore or build a vintage Harley with my son. He is autistic and I am looking for a project to do with him. He likes working with his hands and is thinking about a career as a mechanic but I want to give him a chance to see if he likes it. I also have always wanted to restore an older bike, so I figure kill two birds with one stone.

So my question to all of the fine members here is, in your opinion, what is a good, cheap, bike to start on. I realize knuckles and pans are going to be expensive to restore. But I have the means to buy parts here and there. and also where do I start? Motor, frame?

thanks

 

How about an Ironhead Sportster?

 

I'm thinking a Fat Boy or a Heritage.
Inexpensive out of the gate, parts are no issue & everything is east to get to.

Have fun with it, whichever way you go.

 

Let your son make the bigger investment in restoring a Pan or Knuckle down the road if he decides he likes it. I went through the process of restoring a 45" Flathead starting with just a frame and the bottom end of the motor and it was a major, time consuming investment. I must have sank close to 5 grand into it just to get to the point of a rolling basket (and that was still before the engine rebuild). Original parts for the older Harley's are always expensive and often require extensive work to restore simply because of their age. Those kind of repro parts are also often pretty expensive as well just due to the cost of manufacturing lower demand parts.

For a first, reasonable-cost restore I would go with some kind of Shovelhead. Original Shovel parts are fairly plentiful, cheaper and you may be able to get away with simply dropping a few parts in here and there with minimal work, without having to bring them back from 60+ years of wear, tear and rust, which can be a big chore on its own and a major turn-off for a first timer to want to deal with.

The pre-AMF '66-'70 generator bottoms are best IMO and will cost a bit more to get into, but one of those will also haul in better money on a sale later on (maybe towards that Pan or Knuckle perhaps). If you want to keep the budget lower than that, the later '81-'84 alternator-bottom AMF bikes ironed out many of the earlier-AMF design/quality/reliability issues and those years will obviously more likely/often yield original parts in much better shape than anything predating it by 20, 40 or 60 years plus.

As for the approach: I would start with motor vehicles and see what it takes to make a build legal in your state. That will tell you whether it makes more sense to start with a project bike with matching numbers or if you have the freedom to start from scratch and shop around for frames and engines separately.

 

Great info. Thanks for the help

 

I have a few old bikes and have a ton of money in to them..If I was you I would look at a shovelhead..Lots of parts around..In this area you can buy one in running shape 3-4 grand..

 

I think Ratbike Mike said it all. I would take his advice and go with the '82-'84's. Consider an '84 Wide Glide.

 

Lots of good advice, but I have to second the Ironhead Sportster. They're relatively cheap and easy to find. Parts are readily available and you could do a restification into an older model look-a-like if you desired. Lots of possibilities.....

Or just fix it up, clean it up, ride it, get your feet wet, and see if you and your son have the desire and will to see a real long term restoration project finished.

 

Man If you want to spend some quality time with your son,
skip the Old crap, buy a wrecked "totaled out" Dyna, cut the
neck off and have Harley build you a brand new frame. You
and your son can have double time together, tearing down
the old, and building up the new.

 

In my opinion it would be a toss up between a old sporty and a shovel. The pros of the shovel have already been mentioned but if you look around you can find a sporty dirt cheap. The shovel would be the more expensive resto. That's about the only down side I see to it. Mechanically, they are pretty basic and easy to work on, but the sporty is to.