it's been a while
 

not sure if any of you guys remember me. i bought a 65 hardtail ironhead last spring and came here for advice (thanks pinion - you're the man). i rode the hell out of that bike all summer and early fall, and fell madly in love. this winter, i want to give something back to it, so i was thinking about boring out the engine to 1000 or 1200 cc's. is this possible? how much would it typically cost? i'd like to say i'm getting more savvy when it comes to wrenching on my own bike, but this thing is old and i can afford to pay someone to do it who knows more about it than i do.

i'll post a picture, maybe that'll jog your memories. so far i haven't done much but install a new chain and knock off a lot of the rust. other winter plans include putting a battery in front of the rear wheel and getting an electric starter installed (my ankle is STILL killing me and i haven't ridden it since october), putting on some new wheels (the ones i have now are all pitted and rusty), getting it painted, and putting on some better (working) forward controls. i have also been flirting with the idea of adding a tank shift to the bike - seeing as it is a right side shift, that shouldn't be too hard to operate and i think it adds a unique feature to the bike. i'll keep you updated with some pictures.

i get A LOT of attention on this thing. older harley guys are constantly telling me stories about their days on old choppers. if anyone has any other ideas, i'm more than open to considering them. happy holidays, guys. thanks for the help.

brandon


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RE: it's been a while
 

I think I remember the bike! I ain't good with names & faces, but bikes ... :D

Forget about the bore job. HD's can't really be bored out enough to make enough difference in the displacement to be noticeable. Personally, I'd leave it stock displacement. It'll last much longer. If you just gotta bump the inches, you gotta stroke it. I rode a stroked '72 Ch for awhile. It was 77 inches, and ran great. The stroker flywheels were coupled with strong rods, good cams, ported & polished heads, good carb set up right. It was expensive. It also needed rebuilt more often than a stocker 'cause I ran it hard & that put more stress on things. Rebuilt it every year, usually with about 12 - 15,000 miles on it. It also had more power than the rigid frame could handle. I stripped axle adjusters, cracked welds on the frame, etc. But that was me, and I had a blast with it.

I'm not sure you can put an electric foot on it without some very serious mods. Your cases aren't set up for a starter.

Does the bike have a magneto? If so, ship it off to Buck at Goblin Millworx (http://www.goblinmillworx.com). He's tops on old magnetos. If it has points/condenser the get the highest quality points/condenser setup you can afford. Keep 'em adjusted religiously. Or find an electronic ignition conversion. Some people don't like 'em, but a good one will make the bike a real easy starter.

Look at putting a rear disc on the booger. It'll stop better with way less fade, and enable you to get rid of that cobbed-together linkage for the brake pedal. Might find some ideas on that at Sportster.org (http://www.sportster.org/home.html).

I had a right-side hand shift Sporty for a bit. Moved the throttle to the left bar. Disc rear brake fed from the right side at first, then moved to the left side. Home-made clutch was also swapped from one side to the other. This was on a later bike than yours, and the clutch cable fed into the clutch differently. You might check with Fab Kevin (http://www.fabkevin.com/) for some ideas on this.

Keep checking in!

RE: it's been a while
 

Don't bore if you don't have to do it. As pocoj wrote only reasonable way to make more cubics to IH is stroke it, but it costs... leave it in that way and you have many miles without problems :)

RE: it's been a while
 

guys, i just found some rims for 125. the problem is pinion told me last spring that my rear rim is 5inches and this guy has rims that are 4 3/4 inches with 6 1/2 inch hubs. is that going to work?

thanks again.

RE: it's been a while
 

mmmm......anyone remember shovesters? I had a partner that road a 82" shovester, once you got it started.......damn that thing was awsome!