Hi I am new to the forum and found myself in need of some advice from a more experienced rider. I decided to sell my jeep to buy a bike and got an offer that seems good as far as value goes but not sure on practicality.

I was offered an 81 FLH with 56,700 miles on it plus 2000 cash for the jeep. My jeep is worth about 8300-8500. My concerns are how practical would this bike be as a daily. According to the owner it runs great and he purchased it from the original owner many years ago. I am in college and work full time so I am wondering bout the reliability of the bikes. I enjoy wrenching but I do not want to spend every weekend fixing something. Thanks for taking the time to help.

 

I would say you are elbow deep on it and better plan on keeping it for a while

 

I was feeling that way but really do not know much about older bikes. Thanks for the input.

 

lol sounds like a good way to learn about older bikes

 

It's a shovel and will require some attention but not as much as many would have you believe. That of course depends on what kind of shape it is in. I would have a Harley mechanic take a look at it. It would be worth the money to have a leak down test done and just have him take a listen to see if he can find any serious issues.

 

Gotta agree with IA. Depends a lot on how she was treated by her PO. She will require some love. Get a shop manual and go over everything yourself. If you're the right kind of person for a shovel, you'll fall in love. Congrats on owning a 32 year piece of history.

PICS?????

 

First..."Congrats!" on your Shovel.
Second....find how to get to the Shovelhead sub forum on this site, it's under the Classic section. (gotta look closely to find it)
https://www.hdforums.com/forum/shovelhead-62/

There are some great forum members there that are a wealth of knowledge and sound advice. I had been wanting to go "older" with a Harley for a while, and this past winter I sold my '06 Dyna Street Bob custom and a few months later picked up the '83 FLHS you see in my sig. She was a little worn 'n tattered...she shows her age, but I wanted a project bike that I could work on for a year or two and get it to how I want it. She was ride-able when I bought it...she did leak oil from the rocker box tops and heads...so a few weeks ago I pulled the tops off in my garage and put in new gaskets. She's tight now. Each month I "upgrade" something on her.

I also encourage you to join the following forum, they have a good site that is a wealth of knowledge too.
http://shovelhead.us/forum/

Swap meets are a great resource for picking up "upgrade parts" on the cheap!

Find some local guys that are good with shovelheads. "Indies" or other shovelhead owners. I got lucky and was introduced to a couple of local guys that restore them...they got their own private garage with all the tools needed, and quite a collection, and quite a few restored bikes. One of them came with me when I went to buy/pickup my bike...he checked it out first, told me what to look for, pointed out possible issues, he even test rode the bike. I just see the dealership as probably having wrenches that only know Evos 'n twinkies..and high prices if they will work on it.

As for your price...without knowing the "condition" of your bike, I'd guestimate probably similar to mine in price..I picked mine up for 5,500.00. Saw "nice" ones for sale in the 7,000.00 range. Mine had 22,000 on the odo..but the speedo is not original, guy said it probably has 60,000 on it. The engine was redone on the upper end about a thous miles ago. From what I've read, Shovels generally will need an upper end refresh between 50-60k miles...so you may want to find out if, and when, yours was done.

Ride it like a big block engine...don't rev her high. Use that bottom end torque. Let her warm up. Change that oil frequently...very frequently. Read up on "Isolate the primary"...and if that was done by prior owners, do it. Else your oil gets dirty too quick and wears the engine more.

We have the same crappy transmission...called a rotary top...nicknamed the "cowpie" tranny. Tranny is OK, it's actually the shifter linkage that sucks....the mechanism on the top of the tranny. Learn to keep it clean, greased, and tight. It gets loose and sloppy too easily...makes for difficult finding of the gears and neutral.

Lots more advice avail on the two links I put above. Post some pics of it! There's a pictures thread on the top of the Shovel sub forum of this site, I look forward to seeing it.

I use mine as a nearly daily rider.....to work, and for work...as I travel throughout the day. I'm seasonal...living up in New England so I get about 8 useful months out of the year and a few rare winter rides. But that's my intended use for it...she won't be a garage queen but a well used bike that I hope to keep enjoying for many years to come.

 

Well make sure you carry a tool bag on that shovel..... you will need it at some time. But with that said.... you will like the bike all the same, IMO they have the best sound of all Harleys.

 

I guess you never heard a panhead then...
azwarts,minor maintanence required! The thing is,the shovels are so simple,even a caveman can do it!.
They have minor problems,most related to vibration.All you need is some locktite,and some wrenches. as mentioned already,get a compression check,good compression and good ignition system will guarantee she'll start for you ever morning.
Pics might help us a lot to determine if the bike is worth that kind of loot though.

 

thanks for all of the insight. I will through some pics up tomorrow when I can. it is a very clean and well taken care of bike. the back fender fender had some flaking so the owner sanded down and primed it for paint. new tires and brakes. But from what I have read here I think I am better suited for something else. I love to look at old harleys and listen to them but I am to young to truly appreciate the machine. Also another concern is that I live in the middle of the desert ad 110 plus is daily depending on the year.