I did get discouraged after I picked it up. The fuel tanks and the oil tank are empty. Not sure why the oil tank is. I will have to pull the seat tomorrow. Do you guys run the fiber oil filter in the cap if I remember from my last one.
Motor turns over so I hope it will run. He said he stopped riding as he was afraid of the unleaded fuel. Looks like he parked it in 1988 or so.

Should I use WD-40 or diesel to spray on everything before the soap and water. Whats good on the black motor parts.

Thanks,
Mike

 

I was thinking I would clean the carb and fuel tanks and replace the hoses. Flush the oil tank and change the filter and try to fire it up before I take it apart.
Are the smoked gray battery's still available from Harley.
Thanks
Mike

 

You mentioned the oil bag being empty. Could be because the owner drained it or......oil leaked past the check valve on the pump and is now in either your motor or primary

Also remember to pull the fuel filter on the petcock and clean it as well.

Re: lead-acid battery. Not sure if HJD still sells them but due yourself a huge favor and get a sealed AGM type battey. Won't leak amd most have better CCA than yourtradional tyhpes. And your model came with a chrome sidecover so the battery won't be visible anyway.


Before and after pics of the '78 (have since put the correct Ham-Can air cleaner cover and backing plate on)

 

good to see it still has stock controls

 

I like your bike. Did you have any rust on the chrome and what did you use to remove without damage to it.
Sure would like to find some shorter fork legs like your Super Glide.

 

 

I like your 78... So how much did you spend to revive it? Most likely one of those twice as much as it's worth deals?

 

Spent $2K for the bike and another $3500 to get it to where it is now. Most of the expense came from the top end (only had to go 10 over), muffler/exhaust, OEM rear rim and spokes and replateing OEM front spokes. I laced front and rear rims and had a local longtime guy do the final adjustments to true them. New tires were obtained through Dennis Kirk (good pricing and quick shipping....thanks). Had Dent Dynamics take out a dent in the gas tank. Not cheap but the best on the market and unless I pointed the spot out you would never know there was (at one time) a dent in the tank. Also had to fork out money for OEM front brake lines (original were plugged and not useable). Bike has all new seals and gaskets everywhere along with rebuilt carb, brake pads and internals, fork seals (front/rear). Wiring had been messed up in starting circuit but was easily corrected to OEM. Had to have the original seat repaired (another not cheap to do task because to do it correctly required the entire seat cover to be removed).

As I mentioned I took the bike down to the frame to get it as clean as possible. Everything (including tranny) was disassembled sans splitting the cases.

Had a bunch of parts along with nuts and bolts that I used from my stash so I was able to keep the cost down as much as possible. There are only six bolts that are not OEM ( 2 each side of the strut to fender rails and 2 that hold the front fender to the forks). I'm kinda **** on originality at this stage of the game. Lot of folks would probably care less, but for me it is important.

So for $5.5K and six months of my time, I am all in on this one. Have all documentation on parts in .pdf format. Took a ton of pics along the way (from disassembly to reassembly). I believe that if I were to sell it I would at least break even (maybe even make a coupe of dollars). Guess some might look and say hell no way I would spend 5K, but that comes down to personal opinion. This is one of those bikes that I spent about a grand over what I thought I would need to spend (but well worth it to me anyway). But at the end of the day, it is damn near original (and it can only be original once). Better ending IMHO than being "customized".

Quick pic of another FXE I "rescued" and ultimately sold from a couple years back.



Cola please forgive the temporary high jack of your thread.

Looking forward to following the progress of your new bike. Nothing better than seeing old iron (especially original iron) going down the road!

 

like that paint but that muffler, no. is that stock

 

John that is a stock muffler on both the 75 and the 78. 75 models had 3 options available; the one on the bike is the last year it was an available option. On the 78 you will see the slash cut muffler. By 1980 models the FX series were a straight cut muffler (seen on Colas FX model).

Nice to se that Colas bike still has the original set up. Most were chucked and replaced with aftermarket dual exhaust systems. The OEM systems are now pricey solely becuase there are so few around and fewer in serviceable condition.