Yes in looking through the manual last night it has two side pics of the FXB. The drag bars appear to be stock headers and sissy bar etc. The only thing I see that I need to change is the mufflers and put back on the black air cleaner cover which I have. In going through the extensive parts that my Father in Law had I seem to also have the original mufflers which from the pics in the manual are the standard Harley round mufflers. One of them has a dent but it is on the side that cant be seen so it should not be an issue. My real tack at this point is to Finish another bike that I promised my Father in Law I would do in the event he did not get to finish it. Needless to say he did'nt. Here's a pic of that project. I got a long winter ahead of me. It's a sportster Iron head motor in about a thousand different boxes and been setting for about fifteen years. Anybody got a good running Sporty engine for sale (and already assembled ha ha) Should keep me busy and out of trouble though.


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The FXSB is not the same as the FXB. The SB in FXSB stands for Softtail with a belted final drive. The FXBwas the Sturgis model with a belted final drive, and was offered asa limited production for only a couple of years.Besides some cosmestic changes, the FXBincluded a major revision to the inner primary cover, electric starter mechanisms, as well as the final drive setup - obvious since the factory had to adapt from a tried and true chain drive over to what was at the time a whole new belt-driven set up. From what I understand, it was copied from the aftermarket crowd (the custom bike builders, which at the time were refered to as chopper guys). Championed by ***** G.,HD saw the potentialof the belt drive systemavailable thenonly inaftermarket coversion kit form, andoffered it as a factory custom. At least that's what I'd heard. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it! LOL

BTW, Sal C, that'sone sweet looking Wide Glide you have!

 

Shovels 4 ever.....Yep, that's a bike I am really proud of. Still has the original tank. I joined shovels are us ( or something like that forum). Hawg Ryder and those guys are really knowledgeable. Talked me through sealing my primary, putting a Crane H4 in. It runs great. Still working on the kick start routine.
I recently got a 07 Low Rider, almost sold the shovel; but couldn't get the 8K I wanted. I don't have to sell her, I really don't want to. After all......it's like an old Ford mustang or Camero...They ain't making them anymore!
That's true about ***** G looking at the aftermarket. My bike is the FXWG WG stands for ***** G...not Wide Glide. ***** saw guys transforming their bikes with skinny front wheels and a bit more rake and decided to do that with a model therefore a FXWG. Real piece of history as is the FXB

 

Look on eBay: the original Sturgis models had a SEPARATE parts book...little more than a pamphlet really...and it does come up on eBay.

 

Hi Hearn
I thought were starting from scratch with your first post. After seeing the picture on your 2nd

post, looks like you are almost done. I dug out some old books I have. Stock picture of a 1980

shows pinstripes on the tank. If you want a copy let me know. Bike looks nice, I really enjoy seeing

old models restored.

 

Thanks I'll take any pics I can get. The 81 I can't find any pinstripes on any of the pics Ive seen. I have several of the Big books on Harley history and each has a pic of either the 80,81,or 82 sturgis and none of them have stripes. It appears though that they did change to Buckhorn handlebars in 82 from what I have seen. It is a cool bike, a peice of Harley history in your garage isa good feeling. Even though it is my wifes bike she does not ride. Well she rides but behind me not on her own. She is planning to go take one of the riding courses local though. I told her it would be just too cool for her to ride up to local bike night on the sturgis and then kick it off when she leaves. But at about 115 lbs she might not be able to move the kickstart at all. But if she could how cool would that be. A little blonde riding a classic shovel and than kicking it off.And I get to ride off into the sunset with her on my FLSTC. Life is good. Of course until she learns to ride I have to ride the Sturgis from time to time to keep it running and not let it just sit.Life is good.

 

Keyto kickstarting a hog is to first have a finely tuned bike. This helps treeemendously on whether the motor lights up on the first kick few kicks or not. When I bought my first hog way back in '78, it was a honest to goodness chopper build around a '68 FL motor and drive train. The ol' 74" was bored and stroked to 88"withhigh compression pistons and was fired by a Morris magneto setup. I was much younger, and at the timeweighed in at only150 lbs, soaking wet! But I was always able to kick her over and she wouldstart on 1 or 2 kicks.

For the unitiated, what Iusually do to kick start a hog is to rest my left knee on the seatwhile holding onto the handlebars with both hands. Then I wouldload up on the cylinders until the start of the compression stroke, which I'd let the kicker pedal come back up, but not all the way up (and make sure the kicker is racheted so you can kick it back down once you're set andready). At this point, I would stand on the kicker with my right leg (this will hold all ofmy body's weight and then some). And then with sort of a jumping motion (upper body only and with right foot still pressing on kicker pedal), I'd throw all of my body's weight down on top of the kicker pedal. I would still leave my left knee somewhat in contact with the seat tomaintainbalance. And DO anticipate/watch out for the occasional kickback eitherwhile you'rekicking her over or after the kicking stroke. It can really hurt, and can throw you off the bike if you're not prepared for it. That's why I usually keepmy left knee atop or in contact withthe seat while kicking her over.

One of the key thingsis to figure out how much gas you'll needto squirt into the manifold/cylinders before you'd start kicking away. This is highly dependent onwhether you're starting a cold (with appropriate use of choke), warm, or hot engine, and what the ambient temp and atmosphere (pressure) is. Too little and she won't light. Too much, and you've got a flooded motor, which will require you to wait things out. Once you've got that part figured out, however,it's relatively easy for the engine to light on the first or second kick (assuming everything else on the bike is set and functioning properly). Also, on older motors with manual advance distributors, make sure you've retard the distributor before trying to start the motor, especially with a cold motor.

Hope your wife enjoys the ride! It's always great to see a woman rider, especially on a HD.

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BTW, my first hog...

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So as not to get everyone off on their shovelheadinformation,butin 1981 the FXSB shovel is notasoftail...Page 1-6 of the HD Service Manual shows an FXSB is blackshovelwith the blacked out cases,primary case, jugs, heads, shovel rocker, etc..with the belts andhas the typical FXchrome coil rear shocks and FX frontsuspension, .. great looking bike. In 1981 they made 3,543 of those black beauties..... Guess in the EVO generation, some may confuse this FXSB shovel with asoftail EVO...

Later

 

Thanks HogBack, for the clarification. It shore is an alphabet soup, isn't it?! Indeed, it's a beauty, especially with them drag bars. I remember there was a centerfoldspread Drag Specialty ad in a really old Easyrider rag ('round79?)that looked a lot like the one in imboden's post. It was black with drag bars, and looked really beefy like. I think it was a modified low rider, however...can't remember much about it, but it was a real badasslooker.