This is my first post on this forum but I've probably read every post at least twice before. You guys are always full of good advice so here goes, I'm looking to buy my first street bike and I found a 1976 Sportster xlh for sale that's in pretty rough shape. It's not a total basket case but it's been sitting in a garage for the past 15 years or so and pretty rusted up. Some of the parts are taken off but everything is there except the gas tank and seat. Supposedly the mice at the seat, and the tank leaks but it doesn't matter, I've seen them cheap on ebay so I'm not concerned with that. The bike doesn't run, it supposedly did when it was parked but it obviously will need some work now. The metal is rusted up a little and corroded. I'd think at the very least I'd have to rebuild the carb and get new tires. I don't want to get into a TON of money but I'm willing to take a chance if it's worth it. I guess I'd have to expect the worst and hope for the best but what kind of money am I looking at if it turns out I need to rebuilt the top/bottom end, valves, etc? Here's the thing, I'm not looking to build a show bike by any means, I just want a bike to ride around locally. I've done alot of mechanic work (rebuilt a chevy 350, changed numerous transmissions, and do 100% of the maintenance on my cars) but after reading some posts on here I'm wondering how working on the ironhead compares. So I guess my question is, is this project bike worth it? He's asking $650 firm for it and it has a title, but I don't know a thing about the engine except that it supposedly ran when it was parked. What do you guys usually pay for a something like this? Is this a good year for the sportster (I've heard nothing but negative things about the ironhead and AMF in general but that doesn't bother me, I'm the kind that would rather spend a night working on something than watch TV if you know what I mean). Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

For $650 I'd grab it and start pulling it apart to see how the inside looks. Then you can decide if you want to keep it or part it out on ebay. You should have no problem getting that money back with a few major pieces. Then find another in better shape and you'll also have a parts bike for extra stuff.

Rich

 

By the way, Welcome to HDF.

Rich

 

650 is a great price, especially with a title. Grab it. Buy the factory serice manual and parts manual for that model. Just try to get it running first before tearing into it. Remove the plugs and oil the cylinders down and let them sit before trying to turn it over. Stock XLH were electric only but could be converted to both electric and kick. It was the 2nd year for a left hand shift through a strange crossover linkage. AMF gets a bad rap but if it wasn't for AMF Harley would have gone bankrupt by 1970. I've had my 72 FLH AMF made Harley for 36 years and wouldn't trade it for a Two new Road Kings.

 

I can tell you this........you have a lot of work ahead of you if you decide to jump into the project. To give you an example, in 1995 I decided to pull my old Sportster out of the saltwater boat shed it had sat in for the past 13 years. My intent was to restore it.
Here is what the bike looked like in 1995 at the beginning of the project.



I worked on it part time for the first 4 years. Then in 1999 I quit my job and worked on the bike full time for the last year, finishing it in 2000. Here is what it looked like in 2005 (and today)



Total time was 5 years of work. Total cost was right at $5K. Understand that every nut and bolt came off the bike from front to back. I did all the work myself, including the PPG paint.
I totally rebuilt engine with new crank bearings, pistons , valves, and on and on.
You most likely will not go to this kind of detail, but I am just the picky sort I suppose. Good luck on the project should you decide to jump in. Like Pyro said, for $650 you could part it out and get back most if not all of your money...........pg

 

I would disagree with this simply because he says it has sat for 15 years and has a good bit of visible rust. I can imagine what the inside looks like after 15 years of not being taken care of and I would not want to take the chance of rust circulating through the engine and doing more damage than it allready has.

Rich

 

+1 on that!.......pg

 

I let a 74' sit for 15 years. It is back on the road. I did not go to the lengths Pinion did at all and it still cost me about
$2500. At $650 and good title I would jump on it. Assuming the bottom end is still good and the trans works right you could have a road worthy ride with a new top end for about $1500 + the purchase price. This is considering you do ALL of the work sans the top end machining yourself. GET A FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL! Go for it.

 

I guess I'm not quite as pessimistic as some of the other guys so I say go for it. For $650 you can't get hurt. Is the motor free, i.e. will it turn over? The '76 XLH should have an electric and a lick starter, so pull the plugs, put some 2-stroke engine oil in each cylinder and turn it over several times with the kicker. You're right that you'll probably need to rebuild the carb (a piece of cake) but I'd try to start it even before doing that. I'd probably clean (file) the points and set the gap and static timing and put a new, cheap, Wal-Mart or AutoZone battery in it and see if you can get it to run. I wouldn't worry about the internals to start out with. The lower end of Harleys are nearly bullet proof with roller bearings and roller tappets unlike your plain bearing car motors so I think at worse you're looking at a top end overall which since you're mechanically inclined you can probably do for a few hundred bucks, $500 tops for boring the cylinders, new pistons and rings, valve job, etc. The cylinders can be bored up to .060 oversize (some say .070) so that should clean up about anything. My '76 FXE has nearly 50k miles and the bottom end has never been apart on it and it doesn't leak or burn any oil. Oh yeah, I'd look over the engine cases and the bike in general for any serious damage like cracks in the cases, broken motor mounts, etc. If it's just dirt and rust, that's nothing that a little elbow grease and some rattle cans can't clean up. Check out J&P Cycles, V Twin, Drag Specialties, etc for about any part you need (no affiliation blah blah blah)

Good luck,
Pete

 

One more reason NOT to try and get it going... any oil that may be left will be pooled at the lowest point in each part of the bike and by now, will be nothing but sludge which you don't want clogging up all the various arteries of the motor if they arn't allready. Common sense say you will need to take it apart to inspect the inside at some point. Do it right and do it first.

Rich

p.s., if you don't want it, I do