So I've been building my 81 FLT and scored a great deal on a 78 FLH. complete with bags and fairing, tour pak, numbers matching and it drives. i don't consider it safe, or would it be reliable. but hey, the previous owner felt it was good enough for him.

the plan is to keep it simple. make it safe, reliable, upgrade a few things and get it back on the road ASAP. i'd like to enjoy riding it through the next year or so while i continue building the FLT (road king). this will allow me to take my time and not take any short cuts, or settle for things i would later want to change.

The bike has been rode and put away wet for many years. had minimal if any maintenance performed, and was parked outside here in Louisiana. the front head gaskets leaks profusely, made the entire bike saturated in oil. the left shock bolt (swing arm) had backed out and bent the shock. thus making the bike ride with one shock and wore out the swing arm bearings. bags have a couple holes in the bottom, and a chip in the fairing. so new skill to learn in fiberglass repair.

bare minimum at this point:

inspect axle to axle
head gasket, and affiliated surfaces
wrap exhaust pipes
polish most of the aluminum
fix dragging rear brake (banana caliper)
ultima ignition
street glide 18" front wheel
matching brembo brake caliper
change carbs
buff paint
go through wiring
and fix what ever else i find that is messed up


that pretty much covers it. here's some pics of it after i did the initial cleaning and started tear down today. no big surprises so far, hopefully things continue smoothly.

thanks
mike










came with a tour pak



tour pak was filled with some chrome bits



new wheel off a 2011 road glide



matching brembo brake for it



and here's where i ended today with initial tear down

 

35-36 year old scoot? Sh*t, that's not lookin bad at all!! Have fun!

 

I'm actually quite impressed with how that looks for being so old. Get that thing road ready and enjoy!

 

......... this'll be fun to watch ! ....... thx for posting it, OP ... can't have 2many pics on this'n

 

keep em comming cant wait to see it finished

 

i suffered through these bikes when they were new! the oil companies dropped the octane ratings on their fuel, and these bikes suffered! back in the day, we just lowered the compression ratio, and installed cast iron valve guides! sometimes, all we learn from history is don't do that! cheers from montana

 

Yer building an '81, thought you needed another bike to ride while the present build was ongoing, and you don't feel it is safe or reliable...

I dunno, but seems you now have two project bikes instead of one. Not saying that is a bad thing, just sayin...

You think there is that much difference between the two bikes, only being 3 years difference?

I used to work on a road crew...
Two shovels were ALWAYS better than one, as long as both actually worked!

 

Awesome keep the pictures coming

 

Want to sell the bags?

 

I was thinking the SAME thing....

I was also thinking how good one of those projects would look on my lift