You can still buy Chocolate Soldier online but I'll stick to the YooHoo. And my Evo...

 

Hey all , I have one of the first softails built in 84 that I bought new . I still consider it a " new " bike ! It is a little different now than when the dealer had it . I've been away from riding for a few years but got it up and running yesterday . Part of the reason I stopped riding here in Iowa is the posers and yuppies on spanky clean new bikes . They don't know where their wheels are at but they look down their nose at me because my bike was rode hard and put away wet to many times . I still believe that cover-ups and chrome don't get ya home . I like chrome just not to much of it . I see too many self proclaimed " hardcore " riders drag their feet for a quarter mile before getting them up . It makes me laugh really . I've been riding for forty years except for the last three . I've been over the high side a couple times and lived . I'd like to get to know some old timers that feel the same way . -Randy

 

I love seeing older bikes on the road. I'm far more likely to strike up a conversation with someone on a Shovelhead than someone on a Twinkie. I know at least one guy who didn't want to ride with me because I had such an old bike (92 FXRS).
Of course I'm not too shy about making my opinions known about the Twinkie being a cobbled-up low fuel mileage, overheating, EPA-mandated mess. Not that the Evo didn't have its weaknesses because of the motor company's cheapness. Note the past tense because I've long since corrected all the problems with mine. But what I really wonder is where all the Evos are? There are amazingly few posts here in the Evo section considering how many of them were sold.

 

Just yesterday I returned from two day trip,about 600 miles. Me on my 96 fxdl and my son on his 2002 gsxr. Who do you think was more tired?Mat

 

Hey , I don't want to come off as arrogantabout it because I've been away from riding for a long time . I've lived in rural Iowa on a farm now for years and haven't rode my 84 in three years . I haven't heard the term " Twinkie " before this forum , I don't know what a " sert " or a " map " is concerning them and I guess I don't want to . I'm looking for a panhead of any year to build . I knew when the fuel injected bikes came out that they would end up playing second fiddle to the " Metrics? " Do I really have to be that PC on here ? I still call them jap bikes . My BIL is thinking of getting another new garbage barge so I suggested he get a wing or other foreign bike . He used to have a 90 something ultra he rode year round here in Iowa through the rain , snow and ice storms . He rode that thing for years till some blind driver left turned in front of him . He wasn't hurt but it bothered him since he had two kids starting college at the time and he wanted to see them grow up more so he sold it . Now he's sixty and ready to retire . I told him there isn't any difference between the jap bikes and Harley any more other than price so get more for less and probably get a more comfortable bike to boot . I really don't know the differences anymore since I wouldn't be caught dead in a flaming " Harley boutique " shop . I haven't had any need for a "boutique " since I had to re-install my belt drive after they did it wrong twice and it tore up two belts in 100 miles then said they weren't going to stand behind it after the second one . Sorry I'm ranting now and I don't even know you guy's but like I think I said in a different part of these forums , I'm very old school and not very politically correct . I like carbs and very loud drag pipes , a front wheel that moves for and aft when idling and nothing left on the bike that can be taken off to lighten it up and I really don't like cover-up pieces made of chrome , Take off the original and have it chromed or just take it off . I hand ground , filed and polished every piece of aluminum including the lower forks on my bike in my basement over the winter a few years ago . It fogged over when you breathed on it . Just do it , don't buy it ! ...Randy

Ps : I'm not really this much of a jack--- but I was pissed when I came home from work tonight and am just letting off some steam . [/align]

 

I was out riding my 1988 FLHS tonight. I bought it new and I now have about 167,000 miles on her. Runs great. I did the Harley Engine Reman program at around 149K. The bike could have hit 200K but I stripped out a couple of cyclinder studs.....don't ask.

Well after the rebuild I put on a CV carb and Supertrapp 2 into 1 header to replace my old S&S and Thunderheader. The bikes runs friggin great. As long as I can keep the rest of the bike rolling, shes good for another 150K easy. Damn, I'm gonna be old by then......

I'll never get rid of her. Too manymemories and too much soul. Long live the EVO.

 

Hey blueglide88 , I don't think you'll get old as long as you have the bike under you . I've gotten old in the last three years . I have also bought a farm that keeps me off my bike in addition to it having a problem that hasn't fixed itself in the last three years . I spent from 7 am till 2:30 pm working on my mower-conditioner getting ready to cut hay later this week . I'm getting ready now to go out and drag the bike out of the barn again and maybe take some things off it and clean them up some and look for the parts to put the points back in and dump this new-fangled electronic ignition ( Crane Hi4 ) that I think may be the problem causing the electrical system to shut down at high rpms and run rough intermittently and stall . Might just ride it first though and deal with it . I'm gonna throw parts at it till it runs right . I'll probably re-jet the S&S just for the hell of it . See if that has anything to do with it running rough . I don't get out much anymore and when I quit riding three years ago I lost contact with the people I knew that still rode . I know some Harley riders but they are the poser types that only want to look cool on weekends . They wouldn't be caughtdead in old worn-in bug encrusted cracked and comfortable leather ( has to be the latest and most expensive from the " boutique " only )or they wear shorts while riding and do the dragging of the feet thing that crotch rocket riders are famous for at least around here . Then there's the other end of the spectrum . The ones that wear more grease than clothes . I fall somewhere in between . Except for the three year hiatus I'veriddenbikes of some sort and nationality since before I was legally able to get a drivers license . I'm beating a dead horse here . Need to work on the beast some . Wife just left to go on a trail ride with her horsey friends . Later ...Randy

 

Wow that's really something!

really great!

I was lucky enough to get to the factory in '84 when Harley was in bad shape. I had just bought a new '84 and they welcomed us with open arms letting us go anywhere in that factory we wanted. Then we got to go out back and ride every model they had for hours on end. They called it an Open House but I bet there wasn't more than 30 people wanting to ride those bikes parked utback. Those were the first of the EVO's and the last of the Shovels, I'll always feel strongly about that day.

Check out pictures I took and scanned and posted here: https://www.hdforums.com/m_1836064/tm.htm

The first year Evolution Soft Tail

 

Hey all , I took the S&S Super apart and found what may have been part of the problem of it shutting down at high rpm and the absolute reason why it didn't run good after three years sitting in the barn . I found a wad of what looked like teflon tape in the bowl and some in the idle circuit in addition to the gum and varnish that had built up and partially blocked the jets and other passages . I guess the tape was heavy enough it didn't cause any major problem until the main jet started sucking fuel fast at high rpm when it would suck it into the jet and kill the bike till the vacuum dropped letting it go to fall out of the jet again . That doesn't explain why the lights turn off at the same time though . So I still don't know what's up with that . I do know that when I got out to the hiwayafter the carb cleaning yesterday and turned onto it and nailed it when I hit second the front wheel came off the ground . So it almost runs the way it should . The electrical didn't shut down and it continued to pull all the way till ? rpm . The rev limiter is set at 9 grand till I figure out what's causing the shutdowns . Unless the ignition is bad like I suspect the rev limiter isn't the problem . Cleaning the carb was a step in the right direction . I've been noticing that the rear cylinder seems to suck back when it's idling . Ya think I may need to adjust the lifters ? It doesn't fire consistent like the front one does either . I'll try changing the plug if I still have indexing washers . I hate trying to figure out electrical problems . I have to get to the nearest custom bike shop ( NOT aboutique ! 30 miles away ) for a oil filter anyway unless I can find the one I thought I had around here . Guess I'll go ride it in the meantime . Later ...Randy[/align] [/align] [/align] PS - I tried posting a " fresh out of the barn " picture but the forum said the file was to big . How do I down size the file ? It's not a pretty bike by any means , closer to being a rat bike . But beauty is in the eye of the beholder so they say . It's been rode hard and put away wetmore times than I can count and totally neglected for the last three years . I kicked it over every couple of months but that's about it , just to keep it loose . And it takes me three or more try's to login . I say's the program performed an illegal action and shut's the window down . [/align]

 

An EVO combined with the FXR frame, was the best bike Harley ever built IMHO.

I had a 93 Superglide that ran perfect and fit me like a glove. I reluctantly sold her in 97 and recently started riding again after a 10 year hiatus. While I was shopping for bikes, the Dyna frame did not fit me at all and I did not want to spend $$$ for the bigger softails. I purchased a 1200 Sporty and I am really enjoying being back in the saddle.

Down the road, I hope to pick up a used FXR and rebuild it.