Newbie here and new shovel owner
Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: Mid Michigan
Newbie here and new shovel owner
First time on this site but figured if I was getting myself into a shovelhead I better find some friends with knowledge fast. Lucky for me I have a step dad that cared and babied a shovel for 25 years so I have some help bad thing is he is 2hrs away, and I also have an internet connection and that is where my new friends will be.
Well my mom gave me a gift of a 1980 FXE shovelhead lowrider. This bike has been sitting for nearly 15yrs without any help or even someone looking at it. Before is was forgotten it had some work done to it upper and lower units rebuilt, then time, money and interest was lost and the bike sat. Well now it is in my hands and I think I am going to give it a shot and bring this bad boy back to life. I only have one pic so far to post but more to come.
The last time this bike started all the oil had drained to the lower unit and all blew out the overflow and smoke came out of the headlight. was turned off and forgotten.
Since it has the electrical problem I will break it down to the bare essentials and see if the motor will simply run and not power anything else. Lots of stuff needs to be done cosmetically and for safety issues but this is a HD and should still breath fire
I'm sure I will have a lot of questions and I will be open to all suggestions looking forward to my new project
Well my mom gave me a gift of a 1980 FXE shovelhead lowrider. This bike has been sitting for nearly 15yrs without any help or even someone looking at it. Before is was forgotten it had some work done to it upper and lower units rebuilt, then time, money and interest was lost and the bike sat. Well now it is in my hands and I think I am going to give it a shot and bring this bad boy back to life. I only have one pic so far to post but more to come.
The last time this bike started all the oil had drained to the lower unit and all blew out the overflow and smoke came out of the headlight. was turned off and forgotten.
Since it has the electrical problem I will break it down to the bare essentials and see if the motor will simply run and not power anything else. Lots of stuff needs to be done cosmetically and for safety issues but this is a HD and should still breath fire
I'm sure I will have a lot of questions and I will be open to all suggestions looking forward to my new project
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 692
Likes: 34
From: Texas
If you are going to wrench yourself a shovel is a great option. I was in your shoes about a year ago - my first harley was a shovel that sat in a store room for about 10 years.
Some things I would suggest if you want to really check it out and get it right.
Isolate the primary (do away with the system that sends engine oil to the primary - there are lots of info about such on the net);
Replace all gaskets - which means pulling a few things;
replace your exhaust gaskets and add a old-style evo wire mesh exhaust gasket to provide a better seal - also if you don't have a stud and nut setup, move your exhaust to that setup - lot stronger than the factory allen head bolt;
Pull your clutch hub and clean up the clutch plates and make sure the steels are true;
Replace all of your oil hoses and your gas hoses;
While you are at it buy and install a CV carb;
Install a simply electronic ignition system (they are easy to install);
Think about going ahead and pulling your heads, rocker boxes and cylinder bases (if the pistons and rings are still in good shape don't mess with them) but replace all of the top end gaskets.
The stuff I am talking about is just the engine. Take care of the basics on the drive train - repack your wheel bearings, drain and replace your brake fluid, etc.
By the way - great looking bike.
Some things I would suggest if you want to really check it out and get it right.
Isolate the primary (do away with the system that sends engine oil to the primary - there are lots of info about such on the net);
Replace all gaskets - which means pulling a few things;
replace your exhaust gaskets and add a old-style evo wire mesh exhaust gasket to provide a better seal - also if you don't have a stud and nut setup, move your exhaust to that setup - lot stronger than the factory allen head bolt;
Pull your clutch hub and clean up the clutch plates and make sure the steels are true;
Replace all of your oil hoses and your gas hoses;
While you are at it buy and install a CV carb;
Install a simply electronic ignition system (they are easy to install);
Think about going ahead and pulling your heads, rocker boxes and cylinder bases (if the pistons and rings are still in good shape don't mess with them) but replace all of the top end gaskets.
The stuff I am talking about is just the engine. Take care of the basics on the drive train - repack your wheel bearings, drain and replace your brake fluid, etc.
By the way - great looking bike.
Tourer
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 306
Likes: 7
From: Somewhere, PA
Welcome to the forum and to the old iron. Inheriting a bike like that is awesome, and a great ride to learn how to wrench on. Hillcountry covered most of what I was going to offer, and I would only suggest that if you don't have a manual, get one. After that, post any questions you have and go from there.
Good luck, and have fun!
Hobo
Good luck, and have fun!
Hobo
Thread Starter
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Novice
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: Mid Michigan
I'm in the Lansing area in Michigan.
Manual is on the way(Clymer 1966-1984 Shovelheads), title is transferred to my name, now I just have to see if I can get her to run.
I have an 81 Honda CB650 that I have been wrenching on for 16 years now so I'm familiar with busted knuckles, dirt and grime. But have never worked on H-D
I'm a little worried about the the condition of the primary. When I went to load it on the trailer I tried to get it in gear and it took me forever to finally go from neutral to in gear, then when I got home it was a bear to get it out of gear to roll off the trailer.
Both front and rear brakes are smoked, when I hit either one there is nothing there, could just be locked up but at least the bike rolled, These will be replaced or torn down and rebuilt. I will be planning on repacking the bearings on both wheels.
The Clutch condition is questionable, probably totally dried up and that could be the reason I had trouble getting in and out of neutral.
Shocks (front) are empty....totally bottomed out, rear seem to be holding good
Tires are in great shape surprisingly but I plan to at least replace the tubes in these.
All the parts need to be polished/painted or rechromed. Cylinders are rusted and cylinder heads and rocker covers are dull and ugly, primary cover is bad shape either major re-chroming or replacement.
I could of got this bike a year ago but was put off by all the problems with it, but after staring at it in the mirror for 3 hours driving home I have a little different take on it. Should be interesting, hopefully my wife wont kill me...lol
Manual is on the way(Clymer 1966-1984 Shovelheads), title is transferred to my name, now I just have to see if I can get her to run.
I have an 81 Honda CB650 that I have been wrenching on for 16 years now so I'm familiar with busted knuckles, dirt and grime. But have never worked on H-D
I'm a little worried about the the condition of the primary. When I went to load it on the trailer I tried to get it in gear and it took me forever to finally go from neutral to in gear, then when I got home it was a bear to get it out of gear to roll off the trailer.
Both front and rear brakes are smoked, when I hit either one there is nothing there, could just be locked up but at least the bike rolled, These will be replaced or torn down and rebuilt. I will be planning on repacking the bearings on both wheels.
The Clutch condition is questionable, probably totally dried up and that could be the reason I had trouble getting in and out of neutral.
Shocks (front) are empty....totally bottomed out, rear seem to be holding good
Tires are in great shape surprisingly but I plan to at least replace the tubes in these.
All the parts need to be polished/painted or rechromed. Cylinders are rusted and cylinder heads and rocker covers are dull and ugly, primary cover is bad shape either major re-chroming or replacement.
I could of got this bike a year ago but was put off by all the problems with it, but after staring at it in the mirror for 3 hours driving home I have a little different take on it. Should be interesting, hopefully my wife wont kill me...lol
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Tourer
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 306
Likes: 7
From: Somewhere, PA
Trust me, you get this bike running good and give her a ride, she probably won't get off the back. You might even get requests from her to "rev it up"...
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 692
Likes: 34
From: Texas
You will want to find you the factory service and parts manuals - trust me on this. I have a Clymers and it is good for some things, but it won't hold a candle to the factory ones. They are worth the money.
Right off the bat, I would pull the primary cover and pull the clutch hub. On the other side you will want to pull the clutch release lever cover. There you will see if the throw-out bearing is still in good shape. You will want to look over the clutch plates - fibers and steels - and see if they are useable.
Your experience getting it to roll sounds a lot like my experience with my shovel when I retrieved it. In my situation, we think the issue was that my pistons had frozen to the cylinders. We could have made things a lot better by pulling the plugs and pouring some penetrating solution or marvel mystery oil down the plug holes and let it sit. We got it going anyway, but I ended up having to do a top end job.
I am betting the shovel should be a lot easier to wrench then the Honda.
On the superficial stuff like the primary cover - if you have someone who can bead blast it, let them do that to it and any other cover that looks bad. I may be mistaken, but typically I think the harleys of that day had more polished aluminum than chrome. I went ahead and had my primary, cam cover, tranny cover, etc. blasted and powder coated black.
http://cid-1bd575cf97afa992.photos.l...CF97AFA992!431
If you like to wrench at all, you are going to enjoy the bike - it can get addictive and is a good weight loss program as you may find yourself saying "honey, just give me a few more minutes" late into the night.
Right off the bat, I would pull the primary cover and pull the clutch hub. On the other side you will want to pull the clutch release lever cover. There you will see if the throw-out bearing is still in good shape. You will want to look over the clutch plates - fibers and steels - and see if they are useable.
Your experience getting it to roll sounds a lot like my experience with my shovel when I retrieved it. In my situation, we think the issue was that my pistons had frozen to the cylinders. We could have made things a lot better by pulling the plugs and pouring some penetrating solution or marvel mystery oil down the plug holes and let it sit. We got it going anyway, but I ended up having to do a top end job.
I am betting the shovel should be a lot easier to wrench then the Honda.
On the superficial stuff like the primary cover - if you have someone who can bead blast it, let them do that to it and any other cover that looks bad. I may be mistaken, but typically I think the harleys of that day had more polished aluminum than chrome. I went ahead and had my primary, cam cover, tranny cover, etc. blasted and powder coated black.
http://cid-1bd575cf97afa992.photos.l...CF97AFA992!431
If you like to wrench at all, you are going to enjoy the bike - it can get addictive and is a good weight loss program as you may find yourself saying "honey, just give me a few more minutes" late into the night.
Thread Starter
|
Novice
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: Mid Michigan
Great looking bike, that is the look I have in my head over the major chromed out stuff, I like more of a military bike look with matte blacks, and figured I would go down that path if and when I get to it, those are the least of my worries right now. I do like to wrench on stuff so I think this is going to be alot of fun, the Honda is nice to work on but there is no room at all on the bike, it's a 4 cyl and has a bank of 4 connected carbs so getting in to tear anything apart takes alot of time and lots of nasty MF'ing going on in the garage
I do know that I can turn the bike over so it's not froze up or seized and it has really good compression.
Anyone have any ideas on how much $$$ I may be getting into just to get the bike rolling down the street barring any major setbacks. Right now the bike is in my stepdads garage and we will start the wrenching this weekend and then it will be in my garage or basement from then on so I can start going over it with a fine tooth comb
I do know that I can turn the bike over so it's not froze up or seized and it has really good compression.
Anyone have any ideas on how much $$$ I may be getting into just to get the bike rolling down the street barring any major setbacks. Right now the bike is in my stepdads garage and we will start the wrenching this weekend and then it will be in my garage or basement from then on so I can start going over it with a fine tooth comb
Last edited by colvinch; Jun 16, 2011 at 08:39 AM.