1977 FX Barn Find Project!
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Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 44
Likes: 5
From: Colorado
1977 FX Barn Find Project!
Hello all!
I posted in the general section about the value of this bike, and as luck (or not?) would have it, I own it. I've loosely wanted an older Harley for a long time, and this one kinda found me. Unknown to me, my neighbors across the road had it tucked away in the barn. It had belonged to the wife's brother, they ended up with it, and they asked if I would be interested given my interest in old stuff.
It's a 1977 FX (Kickstart only), with as I've learned a mixture of parts from several bikes. I've got it home and started looking things over. My preliminary checks show it's clearly got plenty of compression, and good strong spark. Fuel tank had been drained and is clean inside so that makes life easy. It has a Bendix carb, but someone has redone the oil feed line to the rocker boxes and it interferes with the linkage, so something needs done there. The wiring needs a lot love, splices all over, cheap butt connectors, and some melted things that need attention. I want to get things good enough just to see if it runs, long as there's no major mechanical problems I will proceed to take care of some of that stuff.
Now for something interesting! I got several boxes of various things. One has a lot of the electric start stuff. The inner primary cover on it will accept a starter and solenoid, it has block off plates currently. I would like to add electric start, so I took the inspection covers off to see if the clutch drum had a ring gear, low and behold there's a belt drive hiding in there. I sure wasn't expecting to see that! Still a novice at this stuff, what's the advantage to a belt primary? Pictures to come!
I posted in the general section about the value of this bike, and as luck (or not?) would have it, I own it. I've loosely wanted an older Harley for a long time, and this one kinda found me. Unknown to me, my neighbors across the road had it tucked away in the barn. It had belonged to the wife's brother, they ended up with it, and they asked if I would be interested given my interest in old stuff.
It's a 1977 FX (Kickstart only), with as I've learned a mixture of parts from several bikes. I've got it home and started looking things over. My preliminary checks show it's clearly got plenty of compression, and good strong spark. Fuel tank had been drained and is clean inside so that makes life easy. It has a Bendix carb, but someone has redone the oil feed line to the rocker boxes and it interferes with the linkage, so something needs done there. The wiring needs a lot love, splices all over, cheap butt connectors, and some melted things that need attention. I want to get things good enough just to see if it runs, long as there's no major mechanical problems I will proceed to take care of some of that stuff.
Now for something interesting! I got several boxes of various things. One has a lot of the electric start stuff. The inner primary cover on it will accept a starter and solenoid, it has block off plates currently. I would like to add electric start, so I took the inspection covers off to see if the clutch drum had a ring gear, low and behold there's a belt drive hiding in there. I sure wasn't expecting to see that! Still a novice at this stuff, what's the advantage to a belt primary? Pictures to come!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 6,158
Likes: 2,565
From: CT/FL
nice bike, especially for the price! once you get it running you will really have gotten a deal!
as far as the belt primary, some people like them because they don't need a heavy compensating sprocket or any oil that would leak out of the primary, other people don't like that they break sometimes...
as far as the belt primary, some people like them because they don't need a heavy compensating sprocket or any oil that would leak out of the primary, other people don't like that they break sometimes...
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Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 44
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From: Colorado
I'm excited to have it! Makes sense on the belt. I'm sure not running oil through the primary is nice, and not having the engine share that oil anymore. The biggest problem I see with it right now is there is no ring gear for the starter. Not a huge deal as long as I can ID the manufacturer and get the parts to do that.
What are everyone's thoughts on carbs for a far as I know stock 74in Shovelhead? There's a Bendix bolted to it and I got a box full of several others in various states for parts. I also got a S&S Super B that has an accelerator pump with it. Is it worth swapping the B on it? My reading says a Super E would probably be a better match, is it worth using one of those over the Bendix? Or should I be looking for something else?
What are everyone's thoughts on carbs for a far as I know stock 74in Shovelhead? There's a Bendix bolted to it and I got a box full of several others in various states for parts. I also got a S&S Super B that has an accelerator pump with it. Is it worth swapping the B on it? My reading says a Super E would probably be a better match, is it worth using one of those over the Bendix? Or should I be looking for something else?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 7,499
Likes: 3,717
From: Santa Klaus County, Cali
The E-Carb is just an updated version of the B-Carb. I think the S&S is a better carb over the Bendix. Ran the bendix on a 75 FXE. It was a stock bike so when I went through the bike I just rebuilt the carb and left it. Never gave me a problem.
You can buy a ring gear and have it welded to your clutch housing.
Melted wires is not a good sign. Maybe that is why they pulled the E-start? FYI, the majority of your wires are crammed together inside the headlight housing. There should also be circuit breakers either under the dash or attached to the front of your rear fender behind the battery/oil bag, and some type of connection plate for wires behind your coil. And in '77 they were still using the starter relay about the size of a can of tuna that mounted underneath the battery tray. You might consider investing in a wiring harness so that you are not chasing down wiring issues and you can start with a clean slate, especially you want to put the E-start back on.
Check the DOT codes on the tires. They may look good but the rubber could be hard as a rock if it sat for too may years.
Make sure you add new brake fluid front and rear as well and inspect the brake pads.
Looks like once you get thinks figured out it will be a nice runner.
Oh, get the factory service manual and parts manual as well.
You can buy a ring gear and have it welded to your clutch housing.
Melted wires is not a good sign. Maybe that is why they pulled the E-start? FYI, the majority of your wires are crammed together inside the headlight housing. There should also be circuit breakers either under the dash or attached to the front of your rear fender behind the battery/oil bag, and some type of connection plate for wires behind your coil. And in '77 they were still using the starter relay about the size of a can of tuna that mounted underneath the battery tray. You might consider investing in a wiring harness so that you are not chasing down wiring issues and you can start with a clean slate, especially you want to put the E-start back on.
Check the DOT codes on the tires. They may look good but the rubber could be hard as a rock if it sat for too may years.
Make sure you add new brake fluid front and rear as well and inspect the brake pads.
Looks like once you get thinks figured out it will be a nice runner.
Oh, get the factory service manual and parts manual as well.
Last edited by panz4ever; Nov 18, 2016 at 10:17 AM.
Thread Starter
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Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 44
Likes: 5
From: Colorado
The E-Carb is just an updated version of the B-Carb. I think the S&S is a better carb over the Bendix. Ran the bendix on a 75 FXE. It was a stock bike so when I went through the bike I just rebuilt the carb and left it. Never gave me a problem.
You can buy a ring gear and have it welded to your clutch housing.
Melted wires is not a good sign. Maybe that is why they pulled the E-start? FYI, the majority of your wires are crammed together inside the headlight housing. There should also be circuit breakers either under the dash or attached to the front of your rear fender behind the battery/oil bag, and some type of connection plate for wires behind your coil. And in '77 they were still using the starter relay about the size of a can of tuna that mounted underneath the battery tray. You might consider investing in a wiring harness so that you are not chasing down wiring issues and you can start with a clean slate, especially you want to put the E-start back on.
Check the DOT codes on the tires. They may look good but the rubber could be hard as a rock if it sat for too may years.
Make sure you add new brake fluid front and rear as well and inspect the brake pads.
Looks like once you get thinks figured out it will be a nice runner.
Oh, get the factory service manual and parts manual as well.
You can buy a ring gear and have it welded to your clutch housing.
Melted wires is not a good sign. Maybe that is why they pulled the E-start? FYI, the majority of your wires are crammed together inside the headlight housing. There should also be circuit breakers either under the dash or attached to the front of your rear fender behind the battery/oil bag, and some type of connection plate for wires behind your coil. And in '77 they were still using the starter relay about the size of a can of tuna that mounted underneath the battery tray. You might consider investing in a wiring harness so that you are not chasing down wiring issues and you can start with a clean slate, especially you want to put the E-start back on.
Check the DOT codes on the tires. They may look good but the rubber could be hard as a rock if it sat for too may years.
Make sure you add new brake fluid front and rear as well and inspect the brake pads.
Looks like once you get thinks figured out it will be a nice runner.
Oh, get the factory service manual and parts manual as well.
I saw you mentioned about the wiring in the headlight on my other post, that's where I found the melted stuff. I need to look through a diagram and figure out exactly what's melted. I think I will be get getting a new harness and starting fresh. I did find the parts book and service manuals in .pdf and those have been invaluable.
I will be needing a new master cylinder for the rear. I also need to do something about the foot controls, The way they are setup isn't very good. Tires are a definite before it's on the highway.
Hopefully this weekend I can pull the cover off the primary and take a closer look at what's inside there. Also want to go through enough of it to see if it'll fire.
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Thread Starter
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Intermediate
Joined: Nov 2016
Posts: 44
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From: Colorado
Played around with it some today, still learning! I took the primary cover off to get a better look, anyone have an idea as to the manufacture?
There was a small amount of oil in there (feed from oil pump is capped off) so my guess is the crank seal on the motor needs changed. My understanding is that it goes backwards from if it was chain drive?
Main thing I did was drain the oil tank and flush it out, there was some sludge in the bottom. After getting that clean I put a quart of cheapy oil in it just to kick it over and circulate things. I'll drain again and put something better in for when I start it. It must have filled the crankcase with oil while sitting. After kicking it over some it started puking a good amount out the vent and makes a solid wet sucking sound.
There was a small amount of oil in there (feed from oil pump is capped off) so my guess is the crank seal on the motor needs changed. My understanding is that it goes backwards from if it was chain drive?
Main thing I did was drain the oil tank and flush it out, there was some sludge in the bottom. After getting that clean I put a quart of cheapy oil in it just to kick it over and circulate things. I'll drain again and put something better in for when I start it. It must have filled the crankcase with oil while sitting. After kicking it over some it started puking a good amount out the vent and makes a solid wet sucking sound.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,286
Likes: 64
From: SoCal
I don't think anyone has mentioned it yet, unless I missed it, but belt drives do not like being in completely sealed primary cases.
You need to vent it for some airflow to keep the belt drive cooled.
Many people prefer primary belt drives and they have received good service from them.
I have not had good service from any of them that I have tried (probably something I was doing wrong) so I went back to chain drive.
You should be able to get a new wiring harness that will cover most of your bikes wiring needs.
Electric start is nice but if you are going to increase the compression on the engine someday, you may as well get the most powerful starter and battery you can afford and that applies to the other parts in the start system. Get recommendations from shops or friends for what works best.
You need to vent it for some airflow to keep the belt drive cooled.
Many people prefer primary belt drives and they have received good service from them.
I have not had good service from any of them that I have tried (probably something I was doing wrong) so I went back to chain drive.
You should be able to get a new wiring harness that will cover most of your bikes wiring needs.
Electric start is nice but if you are going to increase the compression on the engine someday, you may as well get the most powerful starter and battery you can afford and that applies to the other parts in the start system. Get recommendations from shops or friends for what works best.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 3,466
Likes: 425
From: Illinois
Belt drive could be stock Harley.They came out in '80 or '81Google 'Harley Sturgis'. The Sturgis model was belt primary,and secondary I believe.
They sold a kit for the older bikes-and damn near impossible to get aligned correctly. I had one on my '77 for a very short time. When I busted the belt a few miles from home,I went back to the original chain primary.
They sold a kit for the older bikes-and damn near impossible to get aligned correctly. I had one on my '77 for a very short time. When I busted the belt a few miles from home,I went back to the original chain primary.