Okay so first I guess I should say hello and introduce myself since this is my first post on here.
My name is Zack, and I've recently obtained my motorcycle permit, and have completed 6 hours of training and safety courses, and about 10 hours accumulated road time on misc 'borrowed' bikes.

Heres the problem I am having. I didn't know until last year, that my dad actually rode for years, and loved it with a passion. When I was born in 1986 he had to sell his Harley. All through growing up, he never complained or even mentioned having to do it, or having owned one at all. In my teen years, he was ill, and in 2005(I was 19) he passed away. So we were never able to really get to the car/bike bonding phase of our relationship.

I was recently going through old pictures and found a picture of a beautiful Harley, and when I asked my mother whose it was, she said it was my dads 'last' bike(apparently he had 4 or 5 different ones), and this was his favorite. She doesn't remember the year or kind of bike it was, all she knows is he traded a Suzuki and 250$ for it in 1980.
I would really like to know, so that I can at least keep my eyes open, and try to find one that I can ride. For both the sentiment of my dad owning and enjoying one, and the fact that I love the way it looks.

All I have to go on is one picture, and as far as I can tell is, it was a Super Glide(it might not be...) But its definitely a late 70s Harley, and I just don't know enough about them to know which. Any ID information somebody could give me would help, and be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to attach the picture I have, sadly its not the greatest shot because its a picture of a picture because I don't have a scanner.

Thanks in advance for any help.
And I don't mind if you're going to be blunt or direct, just don't be a dick if its not the 'top of the line' for that year, or if you have a better one. Its value to me would be for its sentiment, rather than for performance.

Thanks,
Zack

 

From the pic it looks to me like a 77 FXE Super glide. Shovel head motor wich would be 74 ci. or about 1200cc. Looks pretty much stock like it would have been when new. Nice scoot it's hard to find them these days in original form.

 

It's a shame that you weren't able to make that connection with dad prior to him passing. Very cool that you at least have a photo of his last scoot. The guys that know will let you know for sure, but it sure looks like a late 70s Superglide shovel to me. I don't see a kicker, but I might just not "see" it.

The pros is that buying one of those bikes won't be all that expensive, but the cons are that you're looking at a 35 year old motorcycle with a shovelhead motor. They're much more maintenance intensive than an Evo, and some say not as reliable. Again, those with much more knowledge than this noob will steer you straighter.

If dad was around, I could see getting the identical bike, but for you, perhaps consider a newer Evo 'glide, and dress it up to look like dad's bike. Purely my opinion. Make sure you keep us informed!

 

No kick starter though. Hmmmm....

 

77 or 78 I think too , was one of those they came all black or red like that .

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I'll def do some more research now that I have a little closer confirmation of what I'm looking at/for.

(this might be a noob question lol don't laugh) As far as there being 'no kickstart', the actual picture is a little better, and I think I see the actual part you put your foot on, but I can't see the arm that connects to the motor.(I've obviously never worked on a bike before lol)it kinda gets jumbled in the chrome glare so I can't tell if thats it or something else. I know it was rode to and from the location the picture was taken because my mom was with him, and she swears he had to 'stand up on it to start it' so I'm assuming thats a 60 year old woman's way of describing kickstarting a bike... haha

Is there any way or reason he would've removed the kickstarter?

 

This one's on Craiglist for $5500 looks legit. I'd like to get it. Wanted one of these badly back in the day. I'm not ready for a 3rd bike now.

 

Almost positive it is a 1978 FXE Super Glide.

 

My first Harley was 77 SG. It had single front disk and a kick. So bike is at least a 78.

 

Okay, now that I have the information that I need to research the bike my dad had, the more I read about it, the more hesitant I'm getting.
The largest bike I've handled so far(Sadly none of them being a Harley) has been a Kawasaki Vulcan750. That was also the most difficult bike that I've ridden in the sense that it seemed like it was a lot more tiring to me physically, and I don't know if that was just because I'm still not used to riding or not, but it definitely effected my ability to turn comfortably or navigate around potholes when traveling on backroads(which is primarily what I have around here) after a little while.
Granted this ride was the longest round trip I've made...
Squirrel67 mentioned that its engine was about 1200cc and I'm worried that it would be too large/heavy of a bike for me to ride comfortably.
I talked to the guy who led our safety classes, and said since I have a small build(5'10/160), it might take me years of riding smaller bikes and slowly moving up in size to be able to ride something like that regularly, regardless of my skill level. Which was kind of discouraging because as far as I could find, Harley's smallest engine is the 883.

I was wondering if I could get some opinions from you guys on this issue, and suggestions of what size to start out with even if it means it won't be a Harley. I'd rather not have one yet, than risk ruining one because I shouldn't be riding it.
Also, is the 883 the smallest they've offered in the last 30 years? Or have I just not found it yet?
(I only say 30 years because I eventually want to be able to work on my own bike, and I can imagine its just like old cars. If you can't find the parts, its not going to matter if you can work on it or not.)