This is going to be a long thread. I’ll try to keep it interesting.
Some backstory.
Soo... I’m the oldest of three grandchildren. A week before I was born, my grandfather bought a new 75 HD Electra glide. He paid $3,500.00. I can remember riding around on this motorcycle as a child, and even into my teenage years. I can remember the way it smelled, the way it sounded. I can remember the tree it was parked beside, the long dirt circular driveway that it started and ended its trips on. Many found memories on this motorcycle, for me. I can only imagine how many found memories he and my grandmother had. They used to drive out to Myrtle Beach, him in front on the bike, her behind in the Buick station wagon, grandchildren in the rear facing back seat. And yes, I can clearly remember the smell of that wagon also. That powerful lumbering V8, the speedometer that went all the way across the instrument panel. They don’t make them nearly as cool anymore.
A couple of years ago, they passed away... I wound up with the HD. Rusted, non-functional, and old... My first thought was, I’m going to get this thing on the road again. I had no idea what I was in for. I had no idea how a motorcycle worked. I had no idea how long this would take...
The first step was to take it out to someone who knew what they were doing. I needed to know if it would crank, if was even salvageable. I rented a motorcycle trailer from U-Haul, and away we went. A friend recommended a guy that had a small shop in the country. He took a look at it, decided to take it on, within a week he called me out to the shop. He had it running I was excited!! We worked out a budget, and I left the bike with him to get it done. That was April of 2014...


By August of 2014, we had not made any real progress on the bike... Unfortunately, he had gotten himself in over his head, and long story short, I picked it back up. I read for days... I had the original manual, I read it cover to cover. I got the Clymer’s manual, I read it cover to cover. Without any experience, or working knowledge... I started rebuilding in October of 2014.
My first job was to repaint the frame. I posted on HDForums... “Should I use Rustoleum”. I think people were laughing at me... Someone gave me great advise... Get it powder coated. I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve found powder coating to be a life saver. Some many rusted parts saved by powder coat.
My first trip to the powder coat place, very industrial, large facility. I ask the lady at the front desk “Would you guys powder coat a motorcycle frame?” She sends out one of the managers. This guy comes out to my truck, looks at the rusted frame and says... “Holy ****, Is that a shovelhead?” I found my guy.

He ended up powder coating more pieces than I can count... all gloss black and beautiful.
While parts were being powder coated, I was doing my own work...

All of the aluminum was wet sanded, by hand. I started with 300 grit paper, and gradually went to 2200... Results were surprising.


The front suspension was rebuilt by a shop in town. I can remember the excitement of having gotten this far.

All of this had to be torn apart polished and repainted...

All of this was polished, except the bracket, which was sandblasted, and powder coated.

New Tires

Old Tires...

Dirty transmission...
Clean transmission...

Had to have some of the mounts on the swing arm rewelded... The shock mount was waaaayy off...

Rear highway bars back from powder coating... Installed the rear suspension, and swing arm.
Nice write up and real nice bike. I hope your entire family understands the effort you put in to get your grandfather's bike back to her former glory. Enjoy, now time to ride it!!!
Excellent...excellent post. Great story, great job on her.
I'm amazed at how good of condition the orange rubber vibration damper flap is for your front bezel relays...I have an '83 and she was all cracked 'n dry rotted to hell 'n more.
You are actually lucky the first guy was in over his head. You will have much more pride of ownership after having done it yourself. Very nice job on your part.
Thanks Perki48. I could not agree with you more, he did me a huge favor. The whole process was great, and I learned so much. Also, I've met so many good people because of this. The lady that runs the parts shop downtown, several mechanics with tons of solid advise. Other bike enthusiast/mechanics that don't even drive Harley's but appreciate the work. It's truly been a great experience... I wouldn't trade it for the world. A year ago, I had no idea... Now I'm helping other people. Cool stuff.
09-14-2015, 01:06 AM
Shovelhead Rebuild
I was excited!! We worked out a budget, and I left the bike with him to get it done. That was April of 2014...
