Also the Big Twin Shovelhead has an aluminum head, the Ironhead Sportster has an iron head. Damn heavy too.

 

So true. I remember reading a couple of road tests of the XLX back in '83-'85. The testers said that with any other motorcycle, the noises like the ones made by theSportster (ironhead)would be considered terminal. With the Sportster, however, they were normal. Another tester remarked that it was amazing that the Sportster could even sustain combustion with the racket and uneven firing at idle.

After riding Japanese bikes for most of my early motorcycling experience, the XLX worried me with all the funny noises. I've had it 17 years now, and it's still running good, and still making noises!

 

I got some friends that asked "whats wrong with your bike (sitting at idle) And I can still see there mouths drop when that "little Ol Ironhead" jumped up an left em with there 74's an 80's. Not so much now that I went up on sprocket size so I could ride with them at top end lol Dusty

 

Noisy yes, when I bought this one I thought there was something wrong with it, I rode it over to a older gentlemans house here that used to own a Harley shop in Oklahoma, he knows his Harleys, he said "sounds good to me" I thought you gotta be kidding me but he was right.

 

It's not any electric toy you sure hear and feel when it's running if it's going to silent there is something wrong or you are deaf

 

Some people I know call an ironhead sportster a 'shovelhead sportster'. I guess its because of the similarity of the appearance of the rocker boxes. Ironhead rocker boxes do look somewhat like shovelhead rocker boxes.
The true shovelhead is the seventy four or eighty cubic inch big twin engine prior to the Evo. It had aluminum heads.

 

bump

 

I'll feed da fire. sportsters where aluminum headed before they where iron headed, and they where flat headed before they where overheaded..............but they where "K" modeled before they where sportstereded...ededdd...eded.[sm=bangbang.gif]

 

If I read your post correctly, I have to disagree. Sportsters have never been equipped with any head other than an iron one. i am not talking about EVO Sportsters here, just the bikes before 1986.
The flathead K models had alloy heads but those machines were not Sportsters. The K model (1952-1956) may have been the Sporty's father, but they are different machines. The first "modern" Sportster type to have alloy heads were the XR750 race bikes. But again, they are not Sportsters either.........pg

 

Hi Pinion,

Noy many people know that, but the H-D race shop did cast a few set of alloy heads for the XLR in the mid 60s, here's one:

Patrick