I have a few issues that may or may not be a problem. I have become the proud owner of my late husband's 82 FXB Sturgis. I don't ride it (yet) but I keep it charged and start it up every week. When I put it into 1st gear to pull back into the garage, the clutch makes more noise than I remember hearing, but then, I was sitting in the queen seat and the drag pipes. Sometimes the tranny kind of clunks into 1st and once in 1st, it surges a little, as if the clutch wasn't all the way in. It has a dry clutch and hasn't been ridden in the last few years. I'm pretty sure that's not normal. What should I start with? A cable adjustment, pull the derby cover and inspect the clutches? I am pretty handy with a car, never really worked on the bikes.

I also have a lot of play in the gear shift on the forward controls. Like 2" of play before you hit the gear. I've never had forward controls so I don't know if that's normal either, or maybe my husband liked it that way. Any suggestions on where I can research these problems would be great. I have 2 manuals for shovels, is neither of which has been much help . There is so much out there if you google it, I don't want to waste time watching a guy talk about himself for 10 minutes and then spend 10 seconds on the repair. .

Thanks in advance.

 

Sounds like Aftermarket forward controls, and typical Shovelhead "Been Sitting" clutch..
I do Not personally believe in "start it once in awhile" but.. Prolly don't hurt... Don't help, but Shouldn't hurt..Unless it gets too much condensation in the Oil!!!
Pictures always help, ...and We Like Em

 

Can't really see the problem to take a picture of it.

 

Then we will Assume that it is bone factory stock...
Tho "Forwards" and "King Queen seat"... as well as "Drag Pipes", ... Kinda points to a non Stock FXB
Gonna be hard to Diagnose if it remains unknown...

 

i would say a worn shifter linkage at the transmission. the bike really needs to be ridden. just starting it every now and then will foul the plugs a dry clutch will rattle but inspect it anyway

 

if you can upload some pics of the bike, left hand and right hand sides so we can see what you have would be a good starting point.......like it been said , we like looking at old shovels too

 

Here are pictures. I believe, if I understand the manual, that I have the correct amount of free play in the clutch, if that's the time you start to feel resistance when you pull in the lever?

I know it needs to be ridden, but I'm not that guy. Just getting my Sporty up the gravel driveway on a 6% grade is a challenge. Basically, I'm just trying to keep it going until I can find a buyer, since it just doesn't make good sense to ride a 38 year old bike that you don't know how to fix and it's getting harder to find people who work on them. My husband would just jump off and ba-dum-bing, fixed. Whoever noted that it's not stock is right, obviously you can see that forward controls and a bobtail fender are definitely not original Sturgis. I had to have a shop in Eureka Springs, AR (who just closed up and retired last month) fix the master cylinder since my husband died during the rebuild, he said it was pretty solid except for some minor electrical issues.

 

If yer gonna sell it anyway... leave it be.
If I was a buyer, I would probably prefer that.
Unless you were going to Completely bring it back Bone Stock..
Even at that, I doubt you could amortize the Cost..
Nice ride... someone is looking for that.

 

you have a turtle top trans and all the operating linkage is sloppy and worn out - look at the trans and shift it yea its moving all over the place

 

Maybe, tho I would suspect those forward controls first... My Cowpie [Turtle Top, Dairy Queen] works Just Fine.. But I maintain it..