Hey everyone haven't posted in awhile, but I'm still reading the forum daily. Last time I was here I was in a complete novice mode asking questions that made very little sense, but I will try to do better this time around.

Since my last post I was able to get the 1970 xlch my grandpa had left me 15 years ago when he passed moving again. There where some minor issues, and a complete lack of initial understanding about that vintage of a bike going.
The external distributor was really throwing me for a loop.

Anyway I have a couple current projects that I am working on and would appreciate any help/feedback.

Since I never plan on selling the bike due to its sentimental value I want to "modernize" it for ease of long-term riding. Now that I have it running there are just a couple things I am having a hard time with.

1) Turn signals. I live in a small tourist town where people have seem to just learned to drive, and people aren't being extremely knowledgeable when it comes to hand signals. So I am just going to instal some aftermarket turn signals. However, since this bike has never had any form of turn signal I am kinda at a loss for finding a complete kit. I need the switch, relay, mounts, and signals. I have checked a few places, and cant really find a complete kit for a bike that has never had them. I was wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction.

2) the second project is an electric start. I work only about 3 miles from home and would love to take the bike to work more often. The problem is that I work at 5:30 a.m and when I am tired going out to the garage and kick starting it while fighting off the swarming blood demons of northern Minnesota (mosquitoes) its often more work then I can drive myself to do that early. So I already know that I need to check for a starter ring in the clutch basket, if it is there I need to get the kit. But if it is missing I need to weld one on with 4, 1 inch welds. the issue I am running into is quality. I want to get a electric start kit, and starter ring of quality not just a cheapo. Maybe they are all pretty decent in quality but I want to make sure. Since I already know I will probably have to change out the oil tank, I would rather spend more and know I am getting good parts then go the cheap route.

Also, I read somewhere that there was an electric start option where you can just press a button on the starter or something instead of having to wire it all the way to the handle bars. I haven't been able to find that post again but if anyone knows what I am refering too, I would appreciate more details.

Thanks for reading and hope someone can help a bit.

 

Dude that's a cool bike, I would strongly urge you to keep with HD turn sigs and the get the HD handlebar necessities. Clutch lever/turn sig switch and the right side for the brake/turn signal switch. You can always find this stuff on ebay.

As far as the starter goes, mine is an XLCH also and I ride it to work daily. You may need a tune up to get it so that it starts good. Nice thing about them, you get a routine down and they are very predictable when doing a cold start.

Mine is pretty typical of what the owners manual says: I give it 3 shots of fuel with the throttle/accel pump, put the choke full on, give the idle speed screw one half turn in to give fast idle on start-up, after this I give it 3 prime kicks (with ignition off) then take the choke off, turn ignition on and bam on the first kick she'll fire. Not a big deal, you'll get used to it.

So where in Northern MN? I'm down in the SW corner of the state.

 

V-Twin Mfg. makes a complete conversion kit, but yes, you'll need to supply the ring gear & a few other things, so ready yourself brother for there will be some surgery involved.

But lets deal initially with your frame, you've got an XLCH model, therefore, you have the 'lunchbox' oil tank. There's a welded plate on your frame that the top oil tank mount hangs from, this plate isn't compatible with the 'kidney' oil tank that the XLH model uses, so you can do one of two things; option #1: You can either cut that plate off (that is if you plan to keep your Sporty as a hybrid, and if you're careful enough in removing it then you can set it aside along with your stock oil tank should you ever wish to return the bike to it's stock configuration), or you can go with option #2 an aftermarket oil tank with a built-in battery box, which V-Twin also carries. Option #2 will leave you with a leftover XLH battery box/voltage regulator mount, but hey, extra parts are always a welcome thing when you're a biker. And the oil tank I'm speaking of uses an FXE battery, but once we know which way you plan to do this I can send you all of the part numbers & prices. I love Ironheads so this isn't my first rodeo & I've got over 40 years of bike building experience to share with you.

You're also going to need to change out the voltage regulator, yours currently uses the small Bosch style, the XLH uses the larger Delco style (due to the increased demands on the electrical system, a larger battery, the electric leg, etc..). Once again there are two options, you can go with the Delco style, or you can go with an aftermarket regulator/rectifier that can be mounted right on your generator via an additional mounting bracket, and provides a much cleaner look when you're done.

We're going to skip ahead for a moment to discuss the starter motor & the possible replacement kicker & cam covers, because this is where some folks mess themselves up.
You'll notice on the XLH models that there's a half-moon shaped notch in the kicker & cam covers where the Prestolite starter motor sits---after 1980 Harley went to the Hitachi starter motor, which as I remember is about an inch shorter, so that the kick/electric cut-outs were no longer needed---here are your options...You can either buy a brand new kick/electric kicker cover & try to find a good used 1967-1970 electric start cam cover on Ebay (and that won't be easy at all) or you can pull your covers off & realize that the starter motor cut-outs are already there, the factory was kind enough to cast the covers that way for people who decided they wanted to do what you want to do. So you just have to carefully cut away the extra aluminum, then smooth the area out & your starter motor cut-outs are there, it costs you nothing but patience, time & a good Dremel moto-tool to do the surgery.


I'm just giving you the initial highlights of what's going to be involved with this conversion, there's more, not just with the electric start, but using the 1972-81 handlebar controls for your starter, kill switch, turn signals, and horn. You'll need to get another set of handlebars with an external throttle, but believe it or not it's all very easy to do, your frame already has the rear lighting terminal block on the left seat downtube, and the front terminal block in there under the headlight eyebrow. The handlebar switches are already pre-soldered, and we can get you a front brake perch that allows the 72-81 switch cover to be used.


So now, if you want you can send me a private message with your e-mail address, phone number (and the best time to get a hold of you), and I'll send you my contact info in return & get this project rolling. Granted this is probably going to be a fall/winter project for you, I know how long Minnesota winters can be, I've lived in Mankato & Crookston, so a winter bike project can save your sanity. But get in all the riding you can while summer is still going.


I look forward to hearing back from you in the near future & we can figure out how best to proceed........


Yours in the wind, Ron

 

The trouble with the full kits for electric start is they contain no-name Asian made parts of wildly varying quality.
Might be better to trawl eBay and get good condition used HD parts, or pay the extra money and get USA made starter motor, relay, solenoid and bendix gear etc. All *****, Cycle Electric and Accel are the better brands.

Turn signals, later HD parts are on Ebay all the time and then just fit a generic handlebar custom accessory switch. Flasher can will fit just about any place under the seat or tank you want to hang it.

First thing you need to do is get a factory workshop manual and a factory parts book so you can figure out exactly how it all works. Available from HD dealers or JP Cycles etc.

 

Thanks for all the help everyone and anyone with more input is appreciated. I am looking into a few of the discussed options.
I think the difficulty kick starting may be with tuning. It runs fine, but starting is a difficult task. The carb was replaced when I got it, and is a S&S on there now, so I'm working on getting it tuned better. Due to my location I can't really get it to anywhere that works on older bikes like this.

If anyone knows of a place in North Eastern Minnesota please let me know.
Thanks

 

What model SnS? The bigger ones are too big for low speed and starting on a Sporty.

Try giving it two kicks with fuel on, choke fully closed and throttle open, but ignition off. Then open choke one click, turn ignition on, throttle cracked just open, and kick.