Hey guys, just picked up a 1984 softail project bike. It's got an evo punched out to a 96" with a few S&S goods on it. I dont know too much about this bike yet, as the guy I bought it from was a little in the dark as well. Anyone know exactly what bike this is?? All I have is a scanned pic for now, but hopefully you can see it. There will be a different gas tank on it, but plan on putting a springer seat and welding a slim rear fender (like the pic) onto the swingarm. This will be my first full project, so not sure exactly how long it will take for me to complete. Still looking for a few parts it needs as well. I'll keep ya'll updated...

 

Looks real good, building your own is the best way to appreciate your ride.

 

Any pro's or con's to this year EVO? I think it was the first year they made the EVO, so none of the kinks were worked out yet. Anyone else have experience?

 

They only made one softail model in 1984 and that's the softail standard FXST. A Check on the VIN numer on the frame will confirm this.
Here is a link to the VIN number translation

http://www.wwwildcats.com/harley_vin.htm

 

Engine cases were weak on the early Evo's, recall infoby MOCO should be available. Not all were affected, but you might want to check it out, especially because it is a stroker.

 

Lifters were weak, but they've probably been replaced by now.

 

Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated. I'll probably have the engine once overed once the bike is complete. Anyone have a set of shocks for it? Shop manual?

 

If your not running that tank, I'll take it off your hands for free

 

I had a 1984 FXRS EVO from new. Milled the heads down .050 put in larger valves ran a solid lifter cam, S&S carb punched out the pipes with a "muffler bar" used a sporster ignition (no rev limiter) this thing screamed and would blow off many 96" had about 1000 miles on it when I did the upgrades in 1984, had the bike for about 8 years and rode it hard, not one problem this of course unlike the soft tail had the 5 speed and rubber glide mounts still had a rear chain and was able to fit a 150 tire, no problem to pull the front wheel just with a power shift, easy to do on a FXRS but a bit harder with the softail frame it likes to spin.

 

Vinnie, thats the tank I wanted too, but the guy just put it on there for the pic's. It was really rusted over, but had a very cool pinstripe design on it. He pulled it off of a display bike in his shop, so it had to go back. I'm going to start off with a sportster tank. I'm only striving to get this thing running and on the road. Once I rebuild it, i'll slowly make my custom touches. This will be a bare bones bike for a while, no paint, just raw metal. I'm looking forward to getting it done asap, I imagine its gona scream.