I'm a hard headed son of a buck and tend to do everything the hard way. I thought I had a line on a good deal for a complete bike but it ain't gonna happen, it'll probably sit and rot so moving on.

I decided I'll just do a full bike from scratch on an aftermarket frame

What should I be looking for year or style wise in bottom end parts to get started? If I can find a good deal on a used 80" Delkron crank case would that be a good starting foundation?

 

"Good deals" means a lot of things to a lot of different people and can also reflect the area where you live. When the economy tanked, good deals on Shovels were in there 3-4K range; today's market that seems to be around the 5-6K range. But that means a bike that has already been customized and definitely not stock.

That said, there was a stock 75 FLH out in my area not 2 weeks ago. Kid was selling his grandfather's bike because he didn't ride. Sold it for $5700. Think the odometer had less than 40K on it. If I wasn't trying to finish off my 49 so that I could start on my 65 I would have been all over it. It was really a nice piece. So the gems are still out there, just getting harder to find.

I would stay away from a motor that was not titled. Delkron are very good cases, but in California that means it is titled as a "special construction" motorcycle. You can build it up but it will never get the dollar return on your investment.

If you want to start on a project build my suggestion is to look for a "titled" motor and frame. With that as a start, you can go to the swap meets in and around where you live and get most of what you need.

 

I have built a hot rod from scratch, a chopper from a kit, and modified a few complete bikes. Modifying the kit was a lot easier than finding all the little parts I needed for the car. Starting with a complete bike, even if rough, was the best way to go. Keep looking, you'll find something.

 

I already have 3 bikes to ride, and could care less if it's ever worth what I spend to build it this is literally going to be a fair weather take to a few local shows bike. As for build vs modify I have done both, I prefer the build route, but that's just me.

Title is not an issue Oklahoma it's easy to title and the only numbers they care about are frame numbers, and receipts to prove you bought the parts. I just got clear title to a barn find KZ440 that was never registered in the state just takes time and a couple of hundred bucks.

 

Looks like you answered your own question. Both money and title have little to no relevance. With that being the case just go for it. Most of us do not have those kinda options. Hope it works out for you. Be sure and do a build thread. Nice to see others ideas.

 

Here in Jersey you got to bring the Vasoline when getting a title....

 

like all nyc metro area thats true if you don't know the right people - having an in is very helpful

 

^^^^^true John that's just what I did back in 96 I just paid a little extra and some Budweiser lol...

 

My only comment, make sure there is some HD in your HD, if you know what I mean. Unless a full custom is what you are after, then have at it. Good luck.

 

Well, myself I don't think I'd sink all that money into a bunch of after market parts then screw them together to make it look like a Harley. In the end it will never be worth near the sum total of it parts with a no-name, assembled from parts title.


If it were me and I wasn't building a rigid, I'd find a genuine H-D titled Softail frame and start from there. Or better yet, find a basket case early Softail. The Shovel motor would fit fine and I'd sell off all the fat stuff to defray costs. Seriously.