Picked up some new bars. They're called "Banana Bars".



The Z bars I had were ok but I didn't like how much wider the bottom of the bars are than the springer and someone has removed a few inches from each bar end. That leaves me pulling the clutch damn near at its pivot and that sucks.

Before



And now. I also swapped the 4" risers for some 1 1/2" ones.





I'm going to move the speedo to a less eye-catching spot. I'll only use it in a pinch anyway. I like how narrow these new bars are.

 

The bike was cool looking when you got it, but it's looking even better now. I love the new tank and front end.

 

ALUMINUM WHEELS!

My friend's dad gave me an old haggard set of aluminum wheels and I've spent the last couple days sanding & polishing 15 years of sitting on a shelf in a workshop off of them.





18" rear & 19" front. I dig em...but now I have to learn how to set up a rear drum/sprocket deal.

 

^^^man they're gonna look sweet mike. learning new stuff is rad! good luck!

 

Thanks. These wheels look killer in person. It's one of those "they sure don't make things like they used to" deals. They have style...not just stamped. I wish I would've taken a before pic. I didn't because I really thought they were thrashed. I hate polishing but to end up with some cool vintage wheels I'll deal with the black boogers for a while!

Brake parts are on their way. Since it's a factory left side brake pedal set up, and I've already modified the foot peg location I'll have to come up with something to actuate the drum and signal the brake light. Going to be fun.

 

New rubber and a start on my rear (only) brake.

The tires are Avon Speedmaster 3.25x19 front & 4.00x18 rear. Tall & skinny.



I was going to run a sprotor, you know, where the brake rotor & chain sprocket is all one piece. I bought a couple different ones and just couldn't get it to look right. They both looked too fancy & CNC produced (if that makes sense). I decided to go back to original equipment for it. Drum/sprocket combo!



I dig it!

Thanks.

 

sweet as hell. i dig it too.

 

Looks almost ready to ride haha

Lookin nice

 

Well, my OCD is beginning to rear its ugly head. I've been slapping this bike together with hopes to ride it the way I want it before snow falls. Football is on, leaves are falling and I'm bundling up more & more at night to ride. Truth is, it will only look like the way I want it. There's so much more I want to do to it to make it a solid, preventative maintenance only daily rider. Blah.

BUT, thoughts of tearing *** around town on a 70's styled chop was eating at me so much I peeled a little of cash off of the ironhead fund, gathered up a few parts to be used on a Panhead chop, hooked up my trailer and headed south.

Came home with this.







Quick valve adjustment, clutch adjustment and new throttle had me ripping up the country roads around my shop. Once I was comfortable with the bike I ventured through town a few times. Returned to the shop with the refreshing fragrance of fuel, oil, road grime and a pocket full of txt messages & missed calls. One of which was particularly specific. Just 3 letters from my wife. "WTF". You see, I didn't inform her of my latest purchase. I just thought she'd understand and I was quite baffled by the message. She knows the turmoil I was suffering through. Throw it together, ride it now and run the risk of introducing my Ironhead chop as a half-assed, unreliable (maybe) heap of ideas sans quality craftsmanship OR, suppress my inner tiger and make way for my OCD and do it right once, finish it around February and stare at it until the snow melts. I lingered around the shop preparing my apology. It had to be good. The old cliche "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission" does not stand true with my wife. Doors are shut at the shop, lights off, door locked (no, I wasn't hiding lol!) and I'm just sitting there trying to figure out why she's pissed. I hear a Harley. At first I cringed because I thought it was her but as the bike neared the shop I could tell it was a BT. As it gets closer I hustle to the filthiest window to look out of. Pulls up to the overhead door, parks, shuts it down, gets in a van and leaves. Now I am thinking WTF. My wife soon rolls up and I ran around flipping on a few lights (she has a key) and act like I'm working on something. "Hey Honey!", no response. Walks right up to the chopper and starts asking questions. And I'm not proud of the BS that began flowing out of my mouth but it was pretty smooth if I do say so myself..."That, Dear, was SUPPOSED to be a surprise. When I'm done with my ironhead I want you on this beside me" Man did that change the look on her face! Ha ha! She says thanks, I love it, show me how to start it bla bla bla. I really wasn't listening because I was in awe that it worked. I missed a few sentences but caught the tail end of "Now come look at what I got YOU!" Hit the door opener and here is MY surprise:



I'm now the owner of an Electra Glide. I built the black turd to tote both of us around when we go on long trips because she doesn't like to ride on the interstate. The black turd is cool but it's only an 800cc Suzuki motor and it struggles with both of us and all of our gear at 80mph for decent periods of time. This will be our new touring bike. She had my dad go look at it with her (I already know the bike very well as it was local). He took her for a ride and she had an actual list of things that needed to be done. New seat (for her), Better foot boards (for her), Better rear suspension (for her) and new tires because my dad says they suck.

Hell yeah!

I started on it last night.

I'm a short guy. Having my feet firm on the ground was on the top of MY list. Arnott air ride suspension system did the trick.





It's nice in the cold weather, never realized how cool a stereo would be and I get hungry before the fuel light comes on.

Now I can take a deep breath and get down on my ironhead the way it deserves.

Thanks for enduring my novel!

 

fuking cool as hell mike. sounds like you guys were absolutely made for one another! i too am pretty blessed, my wife lets me do whatever the *** i want as long as it makes me happy....within reason of course. great post, i was on the edge of my pants mike wondering what was going to happen next...lol!

btw....bike is sweet. you're a craigslist junky aren't you? yami or a honda?