I had seen were some one said the Shovel was a Pan with a diiferent head,that is only part correct, Eventualy the whole engine was changed to a cone motor and that was still used in the evos.Just look at the sides of the engine and you can tell the difference! The old knukles & Pans engine cases were flat on the sides and the true shovels were not!

 

I bought a very slightly used 1977 AMF/Harley 1000cc Ironhead Sportster back in about 1982 or so, with about 1,200 miles or so on it. I still have that bike and I have over 31,000 almost completely trouble free miles on it. It doesn't leak a drop of oil because it doesn't have a chain oiler on it. A good friend of mine named Sam bought a new, off the showroom floor, 1982 Harley Low Rider Shovelhead. 1982 was the year that Harley bought back the company from AMF. He used to tell me that he had a real Harley and that I just had a piece of junk AMF. The only difference between the 1982 AMF/Harley Low Riders and the 1982 Harley Low Riders was that a little tiny eagle emblem badge was stuck on the front of the front fender. Big Whoopee! When AMF bought the company from Harley, they didn’t just throw out all of the parts and start over again making new parts. They used the same old parts that they got from Harley. Harley parts! Just the same, when Harley bought the company back from AMF they didn’t throw out all of the parts and start over making new parts again. They used the same parts that were there. Parts is parts as they say! I wasn’t there so I can’t say, but I don’t really think actual malicious sabotage was going on at the assembly plant because that would be more like cutting your nose off to spite your face. I feel that it was much more of a morale issue and a loss of morale can contribute to a loss in production figures and a loss in quality control values and much more. Oh and my friend Sam, he had quite a bit of trouble with his Harley over the years and you can bet that I NEVER let the opportunity to give him the razz about it slip away either. Also, if you check around, you will find that many, many of the AMF/Harleys are considered collectable motorcycles and are commanding high values. A lot of times, a story just gets passed around, over and over again, and it starts to get a life of its own. I am not saying that there were never any problems at all during the entire AMF production years, as any company can put out a lemon or two, but I really don’t think that all of the motorcycles that were produced during that time were completely and totally pieces of crap. I mean, come on. From 1970 to 1982 AMF couldn’t make a single bike that was any good? Get real! Could there have been somewhat of a learning curve in the beginning? Maybe, I don’t have that information, but generally when one company buys out another company they don’t just fire everyone from the first company. They still need the workers to do the same job that they were doing for the original company and in most cases (I think) the transition from one company to another is somewhat invisible to the workers as a whole. Just a different company name on the same paycheck!

 

My AMF experience was not good. My 1st bike was a 64 XLCH that was trouble free except that it was 6 volt so switched to 12 because bulbs were getting hard to find. After that was stolen I got a 79 sporty that was a nightmare, 2 starter drives, 3or4 regulators, and second gear wouldnt stay in. After that I got an 06 1200R and that one lost a stator at 14000 miles. My current bike an 06 heritage now has 27000 miles and no trouble at all.

 

If AMF had not aquired Harley when it did, there wouldn't be a Harley. Even Harley's official history recognizes the fact that the only other interested buyers were not going to continue building motorcycles. The most likely alternative buyer was an Italian company that wanted some of the heavy machinery to build railroad cars.

In the initial year or so of production, disgruntled employees are said to have sabotaged many machines. The stories are wide spread enough to have at least some basis in truth. I never saw a sabotaged bike, and I don't remember any of my friends having had one either. Needless to say, there are a lot more stories than there were acual bikes built.

IMHO, there were several reasons behind the dissatisfaction with AMF era motorcycles. In the first place, the Japanese were at last building big bikes. At the height of their popularity, British twins were surpassed by Honda DOHC 450's. A few years later Harley found themselves in the same place as Honda SOHC 750's and a little while later Kawasaki Z1's were humbling the mighty XLCH.

Back then it wasn't about "heritage" or "style." Most young men that wanted a big bike wanted speed and reliability. Ride 'em hard every night was the way we lived. With a Jap bike you could do that and get up the next morning, hit the button and go. With the HD a lot more repair and maintenance was going to be required. The higher need for maintenance was interpreted as less reliability.

Each generation of Americans in the last century or so has been increasingly less and less mechanically inclined. The number of "how do I change my oil" threads in this forum are evidence of that. The Jap bikes of the early '70s were really the first bikes that allowed the wrench impaired to own and ride big bikes. Harleys suffered in comparison.

I've had many HD's, '70s era Shovels are superior engines and the bikes they were mounted in are better in just ablut every way mechanically to the Pans and Knucks that preceeded them.

I bought the XLCH below brand new in the fall of '72. It hasn't left the family since, and is currently being rebuilt for the little guy that thinks it's too loud.

 

I had a 1976 AMF/HD Sportster and it wasn't too bad. But we did and I still do joke about AMF owning HD. Why? Cause to that time AMF's claim to fame (as it still is) was being a sporting good, per se Bowling related manufacturer.

http://www.amf.com/corporate/index.htm

 

Well, while it's true that AMF saved Harley, their lack of quality also almost put Harley out of business. The 1977 FLH was the worst POS that I have ever owned. In less than 5000 miles, the voltage regulator, alternator, clutch, brakes and muffler support all failed. When I confronted Harley (not the dealer) about the brakes wearing out at 3500 miles, they said "that's normal"
The best thing that happened to that bike was a guy on a Yamaha rear ended it causing a high side crash. Tore the bike up and knocked enough sense in me to trade it for a new '82 Tour Glide.
Every Harley I've had since has been a quality built reliable motorcycle.
Now all of that said, the AMF bikes are so old now I'll bet most of the factory quality issues have been addressed. It was never a Shovelhead issue, the shovels were good engines.

 

http://www.shovelhead.us/history/

This will give you a little insite into Shovelhead history.

I love mine so much that my Twinkie hasn't been ridden since getting this together. These motors are so damned simple that I would have to think that most anyone should be able to keep one running.

 

The license plate on my 79FLH was "pnstr" (Pinsetter) in honor of AMF. That bike has over 250,000 miles on it and is now being riden by a friends wife. I had 2 XLCR's and both were as reliable as any motor cycle I've ever owned. (My 69 XLCH, although reliable, wasn't the easiest to start motorcycle on earth. Hardest starting bike I've ever owned!)
Shovels did require more frequent top ends than EVO's but the rest was pretty much the same and some of the tranny issues with the later 5 speed shifters were not prevalent in the ratchet tops or even the cow pie shifters on the earlier bikes. To me, the best change from shovel era to EVO era was the clutch/primary change. Much better design IMO.
The older bikes leaked more oil even new. The redesign of the motor and drivetrain took care of some of those issues. (Not all) Some of the oil 'leak' on the old bikes was actually designed in. Been a long time since I've had to adjust the chain oiler on a Harley!

 

In 1980 I purchased a brand new Roadster, it was the first year they put a sporty motor on a SG frame and tank. It also had drag bars, raked front end and the 750 racing rear end from their dirt track bike. The bike moved and handled great. unfortunately I was at bar one night, the bike was 6 days old and soem idiot cage drive lost control and plowed about 12 bikes over. Mine being caugh between 2 older larger bikes. Basically it was a total loss.

With the insurance check from the cage drivers policy I traded the bike back to harley and bought a 1980 SG, last 1200 CC motor on the glides that year. I had this bike for 5 years and never had an issue. Rode it to Texas, and everywhere in between there and Ohio. Finally sold the bike as I needed cash, I sold the bike with 23K miles and lost a total of $500.00 from what I originally paid.

Back then bikes held their value as they weren't being bought by everyone. Then in the 90s when all the yups started having cash to play with they started buying all the toys they could handle. this drove HD into a mass production mode and is why their price tags started to go skyward and haven't stopped. Though today the depreciation on HDs is about 25% as soon as you leave the dealer lot, and continues quickly. Try selling a bike today you just paid 20K+ for and you'll be lucky to recoup 16 or more, becuase of the glut of bikes now being sold used by those getting rid of the toys they no longer can afford.

 

I have a 76 shovelhead that is a great bike.I've made considrable changes (up grades) over the years.But,it's always been a good ridin',dependable bike.I have to disagree with the fella that said "true shovels were'nt built till 70.A shovelhead IS a shovelhead,regardless if the bottom was a gear drive unit or the "cone" bottom.Thats all I got to say about that.