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68 shovel head project

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Old Sep 9, 2024 | 02:02 PM
  #11  
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Very nice bike! (and by coincidence, almost exactly the same paint scheme as my 68' FL). Would you happen to have more and larger pictures?
As for the "squished" exhaust part that goes below the motor: yes, I found that quite tricky, too - but it would (although barely) go in/out after I remove the rear floor board mount, too.
 
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Old Sep 10, 2024 | 10:32 AM
  #12  
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Old Sep 10, 2024 | 10:37 AM
  #13  
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Old Sep 10, 2024 | 10:45 AM
  #14  
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My Daily rider. Found this in someone's back yard laying on the ground with weeds growing through it. Saved it from the scrap yard. Not a Harley but a real nice ride!

 
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Old Sep 11, 2024 | 06:52 AM
  #15  
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Wow... thanks for the photos, a real pleasure to behold - and definitely more "original" in the details than my sled. It is ok for me to post a picture here, for comparison?

Interesting also the paint job - I found that this color combo came from the factory on 1958 (or so) Duo Glides only, but it looks too good to pass :-) Yours got pinstripes too which I don't have.
 
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Old Sep 11, 2024 | 03:19 PM
  #16  
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Anyway, here it is... again, main deviation from stock is the paint scheme, and also various parts chromed which originally were matte, as on yours. Second photo shows some detail of the "squished" exhaust pipe part.

I wish you luck and fun for your project... eager to learn about your progress - and please let me know in case I could help in any way!





 
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Old Sep 11, 2024 | 04:40 PM
  #17  
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HaDe, there's a thread at the top of the page for Shovel Pics, you should most certainly post it there for all to see.

That 68 does have a really nice look to it. love that paint.
 
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Old Sep 16, 2024 | 04:06 PM
  #18  
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Very nice! I do like that paint job. Funny, when I first saw my bike I thought "probably going to re-paint it" just because I knew it wasn't correct for the model/year. I have come to rethink that.
Nice to see what my bike will look like when I get it al back together. Got some work to do to her as nice as yours!
 
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Old Sep 18, 2024 | 06:28 AM
  #19  
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From my own experience during restoration, yours will be fun to do and fun to watch, too.

I did, during that time (and still do) constantly look for all kinds of details in bikes similar to mine - pondering what might be "original" or at least mandatory for a "drivable" bike - and which of those details to pursue, and which to ignore :-)

I see, for example, that yours still has that nice internal throttle grip mechanism which, alas, has often been swapped for a much less elegant "external" one - as I have been told, usually because many Early Shovels got their Tillotson "updated" to a Bendix quite early in the 70s already. This requires reversing the direction of the throttle cable and also replacing the solid by a flexible core. Alas, this has been done on mine, too (a quite early Bendix, 36 instead of the usual 38 mm) - and a fixed sleeve welded over the handlebar end - as a base for the new, external throttle grip. I had to make quite some efforts to remove this sleeve and go back to the original style (but direction reversed) mechanism. Do you still have the Tillotson carb?

Also, I'm interested to see what kind of mufflers you have and how those will be mounted - as your pictues show some kind of tab (with a drill hole) on both muffler supports which I haven's seen on other bikes of that vintage yet.
 
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Old Sep 18, 2024 | 07:27 AM
  #20  
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Definitely looks like a Bendix. I have one on two of my Shovels and still maintain the internal throttle cable.
 
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