View Poll Results: Evo vs Shovelhead?
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 17. You may not vote on this poll
Shovel vs Evolution
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 11,226
Likes: 3,050
From: St.Louis Mo.
I sure loved my shovel and my younger brother is still riding it today. Would love to own another one someday. Nothing sounds like a shovel.
The Evo would could have been the best engine HD ever made if they would have used good bearings and lifters and much better gaskets. O-ring the base gasket surfaces.
Funny when i owned a pan i said i would never own a shovel
When i owned a shovel i swore i would never own a evo with a belt.
When i owned a evo, swore off having twin cam.
Now i have a twin cam trike.
The circle of life continues !!!
The Evo would could have been the best engine HD ever made if they would have used good bearings and lifters and much better gaskets. O-ring the base gasket surfaces.
Funny when i owned a pan i said i would never own a shovel
When i owned a shovel i swore i would never own a evo with a belt.
When i owned a evo, swore off having twin cam.
Now i have a twin cam trike.
The circle of life continues !!!
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,103
Likes: 19,259
From: The Wasteland
I sure loved my shovel and my younger brother is still riding it today. Would love to own another one someday. Nothing sounds like a shovel.
The Evo would could have been the best engine HD ever made if they would have used good bearings and lifters and much better gaskets. O-ring the base gasket surfaces.
Funny when i owned a pan i said i would never own a shovel
When i owned a shovel i swore i would never own a evo with a belt.
When i owned a evo, swore off having twin cam.
Now i have a twin cam trike.
The circle of life continues !!!
The Evo would could have been the best engine HD ever made if they would have used good bearings and lifters and much better gaskets. O-ring the base gasket surfaces.
Funny when i owned a pan i said i would never own a shovel
When i owned a shovel i swore i would never own a evo with a belt.
When i owned a evo, swore off having twin cam.
Now i have a twin cam trike.
The circle of life continues !!!
Thread Starter
|
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2023
Posts: 6
Likes: 2
From: Sacramento
Whats next for us?
LOL! You guys are right! Ok guys! We must all swear to, at the very least, stay with the HD internal combustion engines, right? No matter what the maintenance or cost impact is on our riding as we age out! If anyone EVER rides in on an electric powered Harley V-Twin Musk and you know theyre coming, an instant life ban from manland! Have a great day Forum members!
CFL/EEF
(Choppers For Life/engine exhaust forever!)
CFL/EEF
(Choppers For Life/engine exhaust forever!)
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,103
Likes: 19,259
From: The Wasteland
I promise
In my humble opinion, the shovel really is the last of the old classic Harleys in sound, feel, performance, and PITA oil leaks.
I've owned them all, flatties, pans, shovels, TC. But I have never owned an EVO or a M8. I have ridden plenty of evos and quite honestly they are nice bikes. Just not like the old ones.
People forget that oil leaks were designed into Harley from the beginning. With the evo the MOCO declared war on oil leaks.
Shovel:
1. Dry sump gravity fed oil system. There is a spring loaded ball bearing in the oil pump that prevents oil from sumping into the engine cases. No matter how tight this is, if the bike sits for any length of time oil will seep past the ball into the cases. This can cause a huge burp of oil to pass by the breather onto the ground.
2. Despite the above, oil fumes, gas and residue will be evacuated through the breather causing a drip of of oil and vapor. (some guys put a breather filter on their bikes)
3. Chain oiler. The pump has a built in chain oiler that you can screw down. Otherwise, you can set it for a constant drip of oil onto the drive chain.
4 Wet clutch. The wet clutch and primary drive chain operate in an oil bath. There is a hose from the oil pump to the middles of the inner primary that connects to a tube that allows oil to pump over the primary chain. At the back of the primary there is a scavenger that sucks the oil from the primary back to pump. Both of these spots are notorious for leaking. Especially the one in the middle. It is simply pressed in and has a habit of coming loose. Many guys (myself included) simply block these off, plug the feed line over by the pump, fill the primary with oil and then seal the primary.
You can shut off the chain oiler, bypass the primary oiler, but you cannot really block off the breather. In fact, the breather kind of spews oil vapor in front of the rear tire. What I do is route the breather hose over the rear drive chain and shut off the oiler.
I also put in a shut off valve from the oil tank feed line if the bike is going to sit for a few weeks to prevent the gravity fed seepage and sumping. And make sure the ball bearing seal and spring are good to prevent leaks.
The shovel really is the last of the famous Harley era. The original sound, feel, vibration etc of a 74 ci big twin ended with the shovel. The shovel does require a bit more TLC. It is all mechanical and has none of the modern electrical gizmos. In fact, the electrical system on a shovel is very basic and easy to troubleshoot,
I put on a magneto years ago and only use the electrics for lights and starting.
In my opinion the shovel saved Harley Davidson. The company was bankrupt and going under. AMF bought the company, improved the pan with the shovel much to the unhappiness of the workers. The shovel is a huge advance of the pan. Especially with an alternator. But the workers would deliberately leave wrenches in transmissions and sabotage the line because they didn't like AMF. Despite all this, AMF persevered and the company survived.
I like my Road Kings, but the shovel has a special place in my heart. Last of a long and storied history.
I've owned them all, flatties, pans, shovels, TC. But I have never owned an EVO or a M8. I have ridden plenty of evos and quite honestly they are nice bikes. Just not like the old ones.
People forget that oil leaks were designed into Harley from the beginning. With the evo the MOCO declared war on oil leaks.
Shovel:
1. Dry sump gravity fed oil system. There is a spring loaded ball bearing in the oil pump that prevents oil from sumping into the engine cases. No matter how tight this is, if the bike sits for any length of time oil will seep past the ball into the cases. This can cause a huge burp of oil to pass by the breather onto the ground.
2. Despite the above, oil fumes, gas and residue will be evacuated through the breather causing a drip of of oil and vapor. (some guys put a breather filter on their bikes)
3. Chain oiler. The pump has a built in chain oiler that you can screw down. Otherwise, you can set it for a constant drip of oil onto the drive chain.
4 Wet clutch. The wet clutch and primary drive chain operate in an oil bath. There is a hose from the oil pump to the middles of the inner primary that connects to a tube that allows oil to pump over the primary chain. At the back of the primary there is a scavenger that sucks the oil from the primary back to pump. Both of these spots are notorious for leaking. Especially the one in the middle. It is simply pressed in and has a habit of coming loose. Many guys (myself included) simply block these off, plug the feed line over by the pump, fill the primary with oil and then seal the primary.
You can shut off the chain oiler, bypass the primary oiler, but you cannot really block off the breather. In fact, the breather kind of spews oil vapor in front of the rear tire. What I do is route the breather hose over the rear drive chain and shut off the oiler.
I also put in a shut off valve from the oil tank feed line if the bike is going to sit for a few weeks to prevent the gravity fed seepage and sumping. And make sure the ball bearing seal and spring are good to prevent leaks.
The shovel really is the last of the famous Harley era. The original sound, feel, vibration etc of a 74 ci big twin ended with the shovel. The shovel does require a bit more TLC. It is all mechanical and has none of the modern electrical gizmos. In fact, the electrical system on a shovel is very basic and easy to troubleshoot,
I put on a magneto years ago and only use the electrics for lights and starting.
In my opinion the shovel saved Harley Davidson. The company was bankrupt and going under. AMF bought the company, improved the pan with the shovel much to the unhappiness of the workers. The shovel is a huge advance of the pan. Especially with an alternator. But the workers would deliberately leave wrenches in transmissions and sabotage the line because they didn't like AMF. Despite all this, AMF persevered and the company survived.
I like my Road Kings, but the shovel has a special place in my heart. Last of a long and storied history.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 21,103
Likes: 19,259
From: The Wasteland
In my humble opinion, the shovel really is the last of the old classic Harleys in sound, feel, performance, and PITA oil leaks.
I've owned them all, flatties, pans, shovels, TC. But I have never owned an EVO or a M8. I have ridden plenty of evos and quite honestly they are nice bikes. Just not like the old ones.
People forget that oil leaks were designed into Harley from the beginning. With the evo the MOCO declared war on oil leaks.
Shovel:
1. Dry sump gravity fed oil system. There is a spring loaded ball bearing in the oil pump that prevents oil from sumping into the engine cases. No matter how tight this is, if the bike sits for any length of time oil will seep past the ball into the cases. This can cause a huge burp of oil to pass by the breather onto the ground.
2. Despite the above, oil fumes, gas and residue will be evacuated through the breather causing a drip of of oil and vapor. (some guys put a breather filter on their bikes)
3. Chain oiler. The pump has a built in chain oiler that you can screw down. Otherwise, you can set it for a constant drip of oil onto the drive chain.
4 Wet clutch. The wet clutch and primary drive chain operate in an oil bath. There is a hose from the oil pump to the middles of the inner primary that connects to a tube that allows oil to pump over the primary chain. At the back of the primary there is a scavenger that sucks the oil from the primary back to pump. Both of these spots are notorious for leaking. Especially the one in the middle. It is simply pressed in and has a habit of coming loose. Many guys (myself included) simply block these off, plug the feed line over by the pump, fill the primary with oil and then seal the primary.
You can shut off the chain oiler, bypass the primary oiler, but you cannot really block off the breather. In fact, the breather kind of spews oil vapor in front of the rear tire. What I do is route the breather hose over the rear drive chain and shut off the oiler.
I also put in a shut off valve from the oil tank feed line if the bike is going to sit for a few weeks to prevent the gravity fed seepage and sumping. And make sure the ball bearing seal and spring are good to prevent leaks.
The shovel really is the last of the famous Harley era. The original sound, feel, vibration etc of a 74 ci big twin ended with the shovel. The shovel does require a bit more TLC. It is all mechanical and has none of the modern electrical gizmos. In fact, the electrical system on a shovel is very basic and easy to troubleshoot,
I put on a magneto years ago and only use the electrics for lights and starting.
In my opinion the shovel saved Harley Davidson. The company was bankrupt and going under. AMF bought the company, improved the pan with the shovel much to the unhappiness of the workers. The shovel is a huge advance of the pan. Especially with an alternator. But the workers would deliberately leave wrenches in transmissions and sabotage the line because they didn't like AMF. Despite all this, AMF persevered and the company survived.
I like my Road Kings, but the shovel has a special place in my heart. Last of a long and storied history.
I've owned them all, flatties, pans, shovels, TC. But I have never owned an EVO or a M8. I have ridden plenty of evos and quite honestly they are nice bikes. Just not like the old ones.
People forget that oil leaks were designed into Harley from the beginning. With the evo the MOCO declared war on oil leaks.
Shovel:
1. Dry sump gravity fed oil system. There is a spring loaded ball bearing in the oil pump that prevents oil from sumping into the engine cases. No matter how tight this is, if the bike sits for any length of time oil will seep past the ball into the cases. This can cause a huge burp of oil to pass by the breather onto the ground.
2. Despite the above, oil fumes, gas and residue will be evacuated through the breather causing a drip of of oil and vapor. (some guys put a breather filter on their bikes)
3. Chain oiler. The pump has a built in chain oiler that you can screw down. Otherwise, you can set it for a constant drip of oil onto the drive chain.
4 Wet clutch. The wet clutch and primary drive chain operate in an oil bath. There is a hose from the oil pump to the middles of the inner primary that connects to a tube that allows oil to pump over the primary chain. At the back of the primary there is a scavenger that sucks the oil from the primary back to pump. Both of these spots are notorious for leaking. Especially the one in the middle. It is simply pressed in and has a habit of coming loose. Many guys (myself included) simply block these off, plug the feed line over by the pump, fill the primary with oil and then seal the primary.
You can shut off the chain oiler, bypass the primary oiler, but you cannot really block off the breather. In fact, the breather kind of spews oil vapor in front of the rear tire. What I do is route the breather hose over the rear drive chain and shut off the oiler.
I also put in a shut off valve from the oil tank feed line if the bike is going to sit for a few weeks to prevent the gravity fed seepage and sumping. And make sure the ball bearing seal and spring are good to prevent leaks.
The shovel really is the last of the famous Harley era. The original sound, feel, vibration etc of a 74 ci big twin ended with the shovel. The shovel does require a bit more TLC. It is all mechanical and has none of the modern electrical gizmos. In fact, the electrical system on a shovel is very basic and easy to troubleshoot,
I put on a magneto years ago and only use the electrics for lights and starting.
In my opinion the shovel saved Harley Davidson. The company was bankrupt and going under. AMF bought the company, improved the pan with the shovel much to the unhappiness of the workers. The shovel is a huge advance of the pan. Especially with an alternator. But the workers would deliberately leave wrenches in transmissions and sabotage the line because they didn't like AMF. Despite all this, AMF persevered and the company survived.
I like my Road Kings, but the shovel has a special place in my heart. Last of a long and storied history.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2017
Posts: 2,597
Likes: 2,173
From: australia
my '82 FLH is the "youngest" bike out of six i own..........disc brakes front and rear, electronic ign, awesome head lights all in vivid black. What's not to like about a well maintained shovel ?
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 5,151
Likes: 2,975
From: WACO
I ain't about to write a fuc8king book like some of these long winded %. EVOs are just shovel heads with a better top end. Buy a low mileage well cared for EVO. End of story. Book closed. Be happy.
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Ozark Joe
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Mar 11, 2023 09:35 AM