Good project bike. Should be a good platform for a build.


But just out of curiosity, how did you get it registered as an 1971 FXE when a., it's an after market Santee frame and b., in 1971 there was no FXE, only an FX because '71's were kick only. Electric start wasn't added until 1972 at which time the "E" was added for electric start.

 

Love the name “Tweety”. If she was going to stay yellow, that would be her name. She’s changing colors though. I’m waiting to name her when she's done being transformed.

TwiZted, you hit the nail on the head. The previous owner had issues with the bike building up pressure in the oil bag. After the bike warmed up it would blow smoke out the pipes and would blow out the dip stick. The P.O.’s fix was to drill a hole in the dip stick and shove in a tube so the bag could vent. The REAL fix was tracing/checking the plumbing and finding the crank vented back into the bag instead of the atmosphere. Hopefully no damage was done. I’ve re-plumbed most all the oil lines. No more smoke and she holds onto her dip stick.



Awesome! I go hunting up that way. Once I’m comfortable that she’s ready for a few miles I may head up to see you on a shakedown ride.

Well… She came from Florida with a bill of sale from a friend of my Brother-in-Law into a state (Alabama) where they don’t issue titles for vehicles before 1975, but you can request one. My Father-in-Law registered it in Alabama and got a title and then “sold” it to me in Louisiana. When registering it in Alabama, since there wasn’t an existing title they just asked… What is it? What year is it? Show me the VIN number. They pretty much put down what was said. I now know that the FXE didn’t come out till 1973. It does have electric start so it could be and FXE or possible a low rider. When I got my insurance, they auto recognized the Santee VIN number and have it listed as a Santee Custom, but the title says 71’ HD-FXE and has the Santee VIN. The jugs are different years and the heads are different years. It truly is a hodge-podge of parts from multiple years. That’s part of what makes me not too concerned of ruining something original. 

On another note a couple of recent changes/issues… The clutch was a BEAR to pull. After a short stint through town traffic my arms and fingers would be cramping up. This is my first shovel and it has a dry clutch so I was just thinking that either this was the way it was, or maybe the clutch had super stout springs. To shorten the story. New clutch cable this past weekend. Night and day difference! Easy to pull now. I can ride it all day! Best thing to do is pull off the clutch cable and see if there is any drag at all. There shouldn’t be! If you get a replacement cable pay the extra for the kind where the inner cable is sheathed in a Teflon type material. I found my cable, a 6” over cable for $50 at a local bike shop.

Second note. I rode the bike up to work on Tuesday. I pulled into the parking lot and she was dumping oil. I went inside to let her cool down so I could take a look. Came back out to a huge puddle of oil on the ground. Looking her over, there was oil all over by the oil pump, all over the oil lines, pooling on top of the trans, coating the starter etc. The obvious spots were clean. It wasn’t base or head gaskets. Didn’t appear to be push rods. There was no way I was going to be able to trace the source without getting it home, cleaning it off, filling the oil bag and starting it again to see where she was squirting. My dad graciously arrived with a trailer and we loaded her up and took her home. That night, I wiped her down as best as I could, put some oil in and started her up. I found the problem. Can’t believe I missed it. Every single bolt around the cone was loose. They had vibrated loose on the way to work. I think once the first one loosened the others were quick to join. From the drip lines in the parking lot, it appears to have happened right as I was pulling into work. I’m very fortunate of that. There was only about a quart left in the bag when I changed it yesterday. I lucked out on when it happened, because it very well could have been when I first got on the interstate and I would have cooked the motor to a point of seizing up. Phew! The moral of this story is LOCTITE EVERYTHING on your shovel. Check and recheck everything. Red for Steel and bolts you never take off. Blue for aluminum and smaller bolts that might shear. I applied blue Loctite to all the cone bolts yesterday after cleaning them on the wire wheel, tightened them down and started her up. Leak gone. I used some engine degreaser, strategically on the undercarriage and a few places that she was really dirty and cleaned her up a bit. Ran her some more. Still no leak.

EDIT: I edited the first post to include a list of things to be done, as well as completed items. For the sake of simplicity, here is a pic of the bikes current condition as I work through my list.





More to come,

PJ
Current look...

 

Now you'll have to her Bubble Bee,

 

Almost ready to swap over to a Super E Shorty from the Super B I currently have, and swap to a Springer front end. I've got some parts on order, including a Police Harley seat I'll be fitting as well. A little cush for the tush. Hopefully I'll start the process this weekend. Ive picked up a used DNA Springer, stock length and I've got 4" risers for it. I've got this vintage Headlight coming.




I was wondering what you guys thought about handlebar height with this type of Springer set up? Also, this springer doesn't have the additional shock. How much smoother does that make the ride?

-PJ