OK.Heres another question for the veteran riders.Is there any way to make an old sporty actually dependable?Thx.

 

Yes. One recently made a 5000+ mile run thru Australia after a complete, careful rebuild by the owner.

IMO most of the problems that came from the factory have been fixed. The current problems are from home mechanic POs, myself included. What you have to do is go thru the whole bike and fix all the stuff the POs have messed with.

 

I've ridden mine for about 2 miles and pushed it 1/2 mile.

 

With my previous XLH -74 I rode about 5000-8000 miles per season, only times that I was forced to stop by the road was I runned out of fuel.
If you service bike like it should, it is dependable. If you don't fabricate any "temporary fixes" into your bike you can ride it. Use "locktite" with bolts. More custom bike more objects to fail. Simply as that.

 

My 1970 sportster was always dependable, rode it 400 miles in one day, only time it let me down, a condenser went bad. it was even dependable after the bore/ stroke hot rod stuff. Just remember, Sportsters used to be called "TT Specials" The "TT" means tavern to tavern!

 

They're dependable if they're sorted out, tuned, and maintained properly. I've ridden mine all over the place over the past 18 years and have had one breakdown - a cracked piston. That was probably my fault from having the timing advanced a little too much, and I still made it home on one cylinder.

 

the only time mine has quit is when i ran out of gas!

 

Allright heres another one....points or electronic ignition?

 

electronic all the way!

 

Single fire electronic ignition such as Crane Cams Hi-4.