Starting a restoration project – need help for decision
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Stage II
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2
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From: Dortmund, Northrhine-Westfalia, Germany
Starting a restoration project – need help for decision
Hi,
I'm from Germany and want to start a HD restoration project. I fell in love with the old EL 61 after reading "Harley-Davidson Knucklehead" from Greg Field… but I've been looking on eBay.com & Co. for a while and asking myself if there's chance for me to start such a project due to the lack of parts. It's not a question of money as I've some budget – but I do not want to buy an already restored bike. I'd like to get my hands dirty… even if it'll take some years. I'd like to feel and smell the old days and the spirit of America :-).
I'd like to reanimate some dead iron horse and let it neigh again. Got me?
I fear that if I try to do this on a Knucklehead I'll fail… there aren't many parts available any more (fu** – feels like beeing born some centuries too late)… and I don't want to rely on replicas. I'm sorry to say but I fear that I also don't have enough knowledge to even recognize if someone tries to sell me faked or replicated parts :-/ So… what's your advice? What you'd you suggest for me? I'm willing to learn and to put my heart in this project. But maybe I should start with something different, maybe a Shovelhead, to ensure that all of my dreams wouldn't just turn out to be unrealistic at all.
(Sorry for my bad english…)
I'm from Germany and want to start a HD restoration project. I fell in love with the old EL 61 after reading "Harley-Davidson Knucklehead" from Greg Field… but I've been looking on eBay.com & Co. for a while and asking myself if there's chance for me to start such a project due to the lack of parts. It's not a question of money as I've some budget – but I do not want to buy an already restored bike. I'd like to get my hands dirty… even if it'll take some years. I'd like to feel and smell the old days and the spirit of America :-).
I'd like to reanimate some dead iron horse and let it neigh again. Got me?
I fear that if I try to do this on a Knucklehead I'll fail… there aren't many parts available any more (fu** – feels like beeing born some centuries too late)… and I don't want to rely on replicas. I'm sorry to say but I fear that I also don't have enough knowledge to even recognize if someone tries to sell me faked or replicated parts :-/ So… what's your advice? What you'd you suggest for me? I'm willing to learn and to put my heart in this project. But maybe I should start with something different, maybe a Shovelhead, to ensure that all of my dreams wouldn't just turn out to be unrealistic at all.
(Sorry for my bad english…)
Last edited by Yves-401; Jul 10, 2009 at 02:38 PM.
Road Master
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,078
Likes: 39
From: NW Florida
A 100% restoration on any obsolete bike is difficult. Trying to find NOS parts for a Knuckle while not impossible is going to be a lot of work and expensive. If you have the time patience and money you should be able to do it. My recommendation would to buy a running or fairly complete knuckle and just replace parts as you locate them. You are somewhat at a disadvantage in not having local shops that may have stashes of obsolete parts. E-bay is a good source but it's buyer beware. You need to know what you are looking for and to be able to recognize it.
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