The shovel was a HD enginnered head.
Some will say that the last REAL HD was built in 1969.
The y thing after that is?
AMF really took Harley"s Shovelhead topend and added the "cone style" bottom to the ShovelHead. And replaced the genrator with the alternator. And eliminated a lot of gears in the gearcase. And that bottom end style continued until the duece cam.

 

i also bought a new 78 1/2 low rider , my experience was a little different than yours

a few days after getting it i started noticing oil spots on the ground under the bike . other guys gave me the old 'oh it's just marking it's territory' line but it started getting worse . not terrible but it would leave a spot about as big around as a coke can after every ride . turned out there was a crack in the case where the chain oiler was and it was leaking oil there . had the part replaced under warranty and never saw another drop of oil under the bike

a couple of months later it started doing something that felt like a backfire or misfiring of the rear cylinder . i happened to be on vacation about 500 miles from home at the time and went into a local HD dealer and had them look at it . i think they tuned it up , checked the plugs and carb and pronounced it fixed . riding the next day it started doing it again so i rode home , my longest day in the saddle !
took it into my dealer the next day and they called me a couple days later and said the rear cylinder and piston were all screwed up because the wrong size ring had been used . again all replaced under warranty , had to break in the motor again too
it ran perfect after that , until a couple years later a guy in a car decided i was invisible

so maybe i was a victim of sabotage , or maybe it was just some newbie on the assembly line . i certainly had no complaint about the service i got from my dealer

 

The major problem with the Shovel was when Harley became AMF's most profitable subsidiary they demanded that Harley get bikes out the door as quickly as possible. And quality control became virtually non-existent. The dealer I eventually bought my '92 from told a guy I know who was looking at bikes back in the 70's, that if he rode a new Shovel the thirty miles it took to get home, he'd have trouble with it before he got there. The dealers back then were truly sick to death of the constant warranty work they had to do. They were actually doing nothing more than reassembling the bikes where it hadn't been done correctly at the factory, and at a loss to the dealer. Everyone from Willie G on down who worked at H-D back then admits it was a huge problem.

 

I heard you still have every bike you've ever bought, basket cases and all.

 

I searched, but all the threads detail the AMF ownership and not what happened after that. Who has control now?

 

A group of HD office people (??), including Willie G., bought the co. back from AMF in '81.

I think something that gets overlooked, is it was actually Willie G, under AMF, that in a lot of people's minds, "saved" the MoCo.
Look at 'what' was available for models, up to 70. That was IMFUO one of the reasons they were dying. But it was W.G. who, knowing they were 'broke', pulled a Sporty front end off the shelf and stuffed it into the neck of an FLH, put a Fugly 'boat tail' fender on it, painted it RWB, and called it, a "Factory Experimental"(FX - F from FLH, X from XL). To save even more $$, it has a '65 Chevrolet tail light.

Did it 'save' the MoCo. ??? Elephino.


BTW, as posted, a 'shovelhead' is a shovelhead, becasue of the 'head', NOT the bottom.



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Winter brings out the memories doesn't it. Loved the video Gump, I've seen it before, but can't resist watching it just one more time. Takes me back.... My old Ironhead fought me every step of the way, and I still loved her. But I don't miss her like I do my old 87 Evo FXLR. I just wasn't smart enough to keep my Pan from keeping me in trouble. It's was my neighbor across the street that coined the phrase, "I rather push my Harley, than ride a Honda"...LoL... Those certainly were the days.

 

I bought my 80FLT in 83 with 18k on it,put another 150k+ on it before I sold it this last April,went thru 3 stators,4 speedo cables(plus the one I never put on in 99)and afew tires heeheehee,they say it was the design WG drew out on paper with a crayon hahaha,1st yr 5 speed rubber mount w/enclosed chain drive....Notice I did remove the AMF(another American F***up)off the tank,still have the original emblems off the tank.....The guy who bought it blew it up 3 weeks later.....Told him it needed a rebuild,guess he didnt listen to me.

 

Psst, you're s'posed to be sittin' on it, you POZR !!!! So is this how you got it dirty before that charity run, 2 years ago ?????





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That was the trailer pose remember and yes to the 2nd part heeheehee...