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Welcome Area OnlyNew Member Welcome Area Only. Be sure to pop in here and introduce yourself & let us know what Harley Davidson you own. Save your bike related questions for the proper area.
Just signed up as a new member. I am working to get my the '51 Pan-Shovel chopper I just bought on the road this year, and thought it would be cool to join.
My bike was evidently built in Mexico by a neighbor's longtime friend (who recently passed away), and evidently was one of numerous FLs bought by the Mexican police in the '50s. The frame is original and intact, but Pancho laced a 21" hoop onto the front OEM hub, and a wider 16" rim onto the rear OEM hub with a custom bobbed fender and hand-striped paint job. I just rebuilt the hubs and all they needed was a few bearing rollers and minor truing of the rims. I installed new tires and tubes (what a joy that was) and will balance them next weekend.
The bike has a high quality belt primary, clutch looks great, so I replaced the leaking tranny output seal, and hung a new 25-tooth sprocket and Diamond chain, new drum/final sprocket. The engine needs head and rocker box gaskets but has great compression, so she's getting a Cometic top end set, and probably a valve lapping. Hope the ratchet-top 4-speed works okay (only got into 2nd driving her the two blocks from the neighbor's house), but maybe someone has tips on bench-testing this tranny. I have zero experience working on them.
I sold the front end, which was rough, and put together a hybrid fork setup that uses stock-length 41mm forks and FXST sliders, and am CNC machining an adapter to mount an EBC 11" rotor, mocked up this weekend. Looks pretty good.
Ditched the 12" ape hangers for a TC Bros drag bar on 4.5" risers, which is about right. She's getting side-by-side shotguns with Sportster mufflers. The bike came with an S&S Super E, which I rebuilt.
Can't wait to do a shake-down cruise, maybe head west to El Cabezon in Indian Country early morning before it gets wicked hot.
Hi NM, THAT sounds FANTASTIC!!!!!!! PIXs would be great but no worries. LOVE!!!! NICE intro man.
Be sure to come to the games section. We have a lot of fun there and get to know (and joke around) with each other.
Now, back to business.
There will be an initiation having to do with a greased pig, a rope, and some hot sauce a little later today.
We have a ton of stuff here, like an excellent mechanical and technical section, Harley-Davidson videos uploaded by our members, humor, gun enthusiast, road trips, a food section, dark side section, great vendors, classifieds, regional activity, and a lot, a lot more.
Now, for my regular welcome to you...
G'day mate,
welcome to HDF.
I will be your tour guide. Be sure to read the manual before posting ok mate?
Or we will have discipline you and if you don't "get it" we will need to discipline you biker style.
Here is a gift for you… LOL! “I so funi!”
Now let’s get serious for your orientation. Go down the hall on your left to the 1st room. No, wait. The 1st room on your right. That is where the commissary is.
Then you will see doors marked for the mortuary, skeet shooting, a room where we make fun of In-Jun bikes, and of course we have a ahh, umm, oh yeah a across the hall.
We had a BOMB MAKING room but, well, ahhhhh, 1 of the guys just didn't understand Blasting Caps very well so..... you know.
We have our own pub .
There are several places where you can familiarize your self with the .
So don't be a wall flower watching others . Get involved.
See you around mate. I am going to the commissary now.
**** ON THE SERIOUS SIDE ****
You are in the “New Members Area” where you can introduce yourself and let us know what Harley Davidson bike(s) (if any) you ride/own.
If you have questions about engines, exhaust systems, audio issues, etc… then:
1) Please go to the upper corner and Roll Over “Forums”
2) Then come down to and Roll Over “Harley Davidson Tech & Mechanical Forum”
3) Then come down to the section that would be most appropriate for your question like Audio Systems, Engine Mechanical Topics, Exhaust System Topics, etc… and CLICK on the topic you have a question about.
You will find the knowledge here is EXCELLENT and these here mates are willing to help you in any way they can. ‘juss be careful. There are some “Trolls”, so I suggest just ignoring them ‘ole farts.
See you around HDF. Come often, we have a humor thread, game thread, and a LOT of other stuff.
Hi NM, THAT sounds FANTASTIC!!!!!!! PIXs would be great but no worries. LOVE!!!! NICE intro man.
Be sure to come to the games section. We have a lot of fun there and get to know (and joke around) with each other.
Now, back to business.
There will be an initiation having to do with a greased pig, a rope, and some hot sauce a little later today.
We have a ton of stuff here, like an excellent mechanical and technical section, Harley-Davidson videos uploaded by our members, humor, gun enthusiast, road trips, a food section, dark side section, great vendors, classifieds, regional activity, and a lot, a lot more.
Now, for my regular welcome to you...
G'day mate,
welcome to HDF.
I will be your tour guide. Be sure to read the manual before posting ok mate?
Or we will have discipline you and if you don't "get it" we will need to discipline you biker style.
Here is a gift for you LOL! I so funi!
Now lets get serious for your orientation. Go down the hall on your left to the 1st room. No, wait. The 1st room on your right. That is where the commissary is.
Then you will see doors marked for the mortuary, skeet shooting, a room where we make fun of In-Jun bikes, and of course we have a ahh, umm, oh yeah a across the hall.
We had a BOMB MAKING room but, well, ahhhhh, 1 of the guys just didn't understand Blasting Caps very well so..... you know.
We have our own pub .
There are several places where you can familiarize your self with the .
So don't be a wall flower watching others . Get involved.
See you around mate. I am going to the commissary now.
**** ON THE SERIOUS SIDE ****
You are in the New Members Area where you can introduce yourself and let us know what Harley Davidson bike(s) (if any) you ride/own.
If you have questions about engines, exhaust systems, audio issues, etc then:
1) Please go to the upper corner and Roll Over Forums
2) Then come down to and Roll Over Harley Davidson Tech & Mechanical Forum
3) Then come down to the section that would be most appropriate for your question like Audio Systems, Engine Mechanical Topics, Exhaust System Topics, etc and CLICK on the topic you have a question about.
You will find the knowledge here is EXCELLENT and these here mates are willing to help you in any way they can. juss be careful. There are some Trolls, so I suggest just ignoring them ole farts.
See you around HDF. Come often, we have a humor thread, game thread, and a LOT of other stuff.
Have A Great Day Mate,
BuzzCap7
Hey, Thanks very much for all the info. I was just about to ask where the tech forum was, as that's likely to be my main hang-out. Perfect.
Cool, I'll post a few pics of the work-in-progress whenever I get some time to do that. The garage is cluttered right now, so there isn't a good background for a clear photo of the front-end mods I've done.
Thanks for the welcome, Squirrelsnest. Nice-looking bike. I am hoping to arrange a tour eastward at some point, maybe along Route 66, so it'd end up kind of in your neck of the woods. I was thinking of contacting Loctite to see if they'd sponsor the trip, the idea being that I would test their products on my 'paint shaker' to see how much stuff vibrates off along the way. In exchange, I would wear a T-shirt or maybe fly a 'loctite' logo flag... wouldn't that be hilarious?
Wow, all of these new-fangled evo bikes... I feel like I'm slummin' with my ancient '51 FL...
What a coincidence that your quote about the pen being mightier than the sword appears in my first novel, "Lion at the Door." The protagonist is an ex-Vietnam POW turned FBI agent, who is pressing an NYC English professor to 'name names' in the wake of 9/11, and in one of the classroom scenes, the professor puts the same query to his students.
Anyway, thanks very much. If work would let up just a bit, I am eager to get this ancient hog on the road. I think some pics of my Pan-Shovel chopper sitting in front of El Cabezon with the sun setting in the background would be very cool. Wonder what kind of MPG she'll get?
Welcome from Spartan Country, Michigan! I tell a lot of new comers to the forum to get: Factory Service manual and the Parts manual. Get a three ring binder and record all your maintenance, repairs, accessories, etc. This will be a great reminder of what was done when. And great material to pass along to the new owner should you sell and upgrade. Also know how large your fuel tank is, a rough idea of your range per tank, and record your fuel usage. I have an app called Simply Auto that I record all my fuel used. I use the odometer and use the fuel gage as reference only. I reset the odometer to zero on fill ups, and I know I can safely get 200 miles on a tank on around town riding, and upwards of 230+ on trips. Good Luck!!
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New member intro
welcome to HDF. 
Be sure to read the manual 
before posting 
ok mate?
and if you don't "get it" we will need to discipline you 
biker style.
LOL! “I so funi!” 
on your left to the 1st room. No, wait. 
The 1st room on your right. That is where the commissary is.
ahh, umm, oh yeah a 
across the hall.
you know.
.
.
wall flower 
watching others 
. Get involved.
