Quote:
Originally Posted by herr_oberst
Sounds like you had a lot of fun this winter. If I may ask a couple of questions, I've never heard the term "wheels" when discussing the guts of an engine; is this HD speak for crank halves? And when you swap shifter for brake lever do you keep the old covers and just modify the holes, etc, or is this a "Big Deal" requiring lots and lots of new replacement parts?
Anyway, thanks for sharing; it's always cool to see how people modify their toys.
|
Yup, "wheels" are simply Harley shorthand for the two flywheels making up the crank assembly.
Swapping the brake and shifter are extremely easy on '75 and '76 Sportsters. Harley really ass-patched these parts on those two years after the federal law in 1975 stated all bikes had to be left hand shift. Pretty much everything is there to go either way; all I had to buy was a longer shifter shaft that would fully exit the case on the right (the hole in the case had a brass plug in it, and the original shifter shaft ended jut behind that plug), a different crossover shaft from the pedal on the left to change its function from shifting to braking, the brake pedal, and the shift lever.
This really cleans up the shifting on these bikes. The long shift lever (that used to be a brake pedal), coupled with the crossover shaft, made for a very long, sloppy shift action. The setup is not bad as a brake lever, but as a shifter is really sucked. H-D fixed it right in 1977, with a shifter shaft that exited the left case, but none of those parts would fit my cases. It was easier to "fix" it by going older than by going newer.
Motion, you'll be stunned at how easy it is to do all of that on these bikes. So easy, even Harley mechanics can do it. These things are prehistorically simple. That's part of their charm, really.
Don, it's really not all that loud. Those are simply stock replacement pipes/mufflers. Granted, noise standards back then were not what they are today, so it does make a bit more noise than today's stock bikes. Nothing like the modern aftermarket pipes that are made intentionally to be loud, though, but more a deep thump that you feel as much as hear. Old Harleys, like this Ironhead and Panheads, Shovelheads, and Knuckleheads, have a sound that the newer bikes will never match. It's a function of their porting, cam timing, combustion chamber shape, and other outdated aspects of their design that make them sound the way they do. Modern, more efficient designs will never sound the same, no matter how just plain loud they are.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words, guys. This was a labor of love for me, having owned this thing since I was only 19 years old. It was a bit daunting when I first tore into it, seeing just how well and truly shot everything was. There was a very strong temptation to just sell it as a "bike in a box" and be done with it. I have far more modern, far "better" bikes. I'm sure glad I decided to bring this old girl back to life, though.