ok, so here's the thread since some of you were interested. sold the road king i re-did (diamond #1) and have purchased one of my dream bikes and i plan to keep this one for quite some time.

this bike is a 1984 FLHS, 1 or 500 made for that year. it's my first shovelhead and i have wanted one for a long time. i've had an ironhead, super glide and a road king. all were project bikes that i fixed up and sold for a little profit.

this bike has been kept in riding condition and maintained pretty well. the previous owner had it for quite some time and added some chrome throughout the years and repainted it a couple years ago. some of the chrome has aged and is flaking. i can save the paint with a good cut and buff. but i'm still not decided on if i like it or not. it's a black base with blue metallic in the clear. it looks nice, but i instantly think of a bass boat when i look at it.

over all the bike is mostly original save for a few mods ie: super E carb, chrome bolt on stuff, fat boy wheels, pegs, etc. frame and motor are untouched. i don't think the jugs have ever been off the bike.

i did a compression test and showed 76 psi in both cylinders which indicates some wear. i squirted some oil in and it bumped the pressure to 90 psi. but with 22k miles on it and never having the top end re-done over 29 years, i full expected it needing rings and a valve job.

so i'm heading to the garage shortly to start the tear down. short list of what i expect to do with the bike is:

re-coat the frame
pistons, rings, valve job (maybe 2" valves)
polish rocker boxes and any other aluminum
replace pitted/flaking chrome
cut, polish, wax the tins
customize the wheels with some paint (will get spokes again after these tires wear out)
new bars and cables
different seat

over all goal is to end up with a reliable cruiser that also looks good. not a show bike or anything, but something to be proud of.

here are the initial pics. mind you this was after a thorough cleaning and de-greasing pressure wash.






















the AK in the vin signifies it's the "sport" model FLHS. being a numbers matching and mostly original bike, i'm very happy with it.



these 4 stars were stamped into the front of the motor signifying the last year of the shovelhead. pretty neat

 

Very cool bike! I know metallic paint is hard to photograph, so I'm not sure how much like a bass boat it looks. But I think you should keep it. It looks like the Big Blue Pearl on my bike.

 

Love your projects Mike. Please keep us posted!

Rax


....................................

 

1990 FLHS here, owned from new! I know it isn't a shovel, but I had a new one of those in the 70s. Only comments I will make of your bike, except for looking forward to seeing what you do with it, is those FatBoy wheels and front fender have got to go! At least I hope so.....

 

yes, and yes. not a fan of the solid wheels. budget will dictate getting spokes now, or when the tires wear out. gotta get the motor work done first and replace some other stuff. and the fender will get swapped out if i change the paint and do the vinyl wrap i'm considering. i'm leaning towards the vinyl

thanks
mike

 

Followed your last build, looking forward to this one. I agree that the Fat Boy front end needs to go.

 

so dis-assembly day one was a great success. i was very pleased that i didn't find any redneck engineered parts or mounts. everything was just how it should have been minus a couple stacked washers, or mismatch bolts. but nothing to complain about. only had 1 bolt break and i literally just put the ratchet on it and the head fell off!

the plugs showed that there was some oil seaping in through the valves, and the exhaust port confirmed that. so that's no biggie since i'm going through the top end.

the swingarm is a little messed up some how. not sure if the axle nut was over tightened and messed up or it was loose and moved around. anyways, probably need to get another one.

also the bike was kind of hard to push around. once on the lift i moved the back wheel and it had a fair amount of resistance. i'm almost positive that the rear brake caliper wasn't releasing all the way. i'll confirm when i start putting it back together, but need one of those too.


already started marking it's territory. luckily the leak is isolated to the primary cover and the starter solenoid up top on the inner primary. easy fix



pleasant surprise to see the chain tensioner pad was pretty new



plugs showed some oil burning. most likely getting through the valve seals.



harley didn't have duetsch connectors 30 years ago. i'll fix that though and wire up the hand controls like a newer bike with the connectors



swingarm damage



bolt that sheared off. it's the one that clamps down on the fork tubes. gonna be a pain to remove tomorrow. probably just weld a nut to it and try remove it that way



oil blow by

 

Subscribed. I'd like to take on a project like this myself.

 

looks like a pretty solid bike.

 

All in all it looks like it is in good shape for it's age.