Shovelhead Engines. Loved and loathed. Why?

[DoomBuggy]

Shovels are great beginner bikes, once you master working on one you are ready to move up to a Pan, Knuck, or Flatty.

I do like them, but prefer the really visceral feel of a rigid frame Pan, just something about how basic and primitive they are.

To me, Shovels were the beginning of a much more refined machine.

But hey, I still wish I had my old '69 Sporty!

[Bbqbiker]

Shovels are great beginner bikes, once you master working on one you are ready to move up to a Pan, Knuck, or Flatty.

I do like them, but prefer the really visceral feel of a rigid frame Pan, just something about how basic and primitive they are.

To me, Shovels were the beginning of a much more refined machine.

But hey, I still wish I had my old '69 Sporty!

I have an EVO, a Shovel, and a Pan. I am ready for a Knuckle.......

[DoomBuggy]

I have an EVO, a Shovel, and a Pan. I am ready for a Knuckle.......

I've never ridden a Knuck, but my first bike was a WL45 flathead basket case. I painted our mailman's barn in trade, took me most of the summer to do it, but I had the coolest bike in the school.

[fuke]

I have been riding the same 73 shovel for 38 yrs . Been times i cussed it . Been times i sang to it. I have rode it and it has rode me. They get in yer soul

[Wiseman]

I've had mine for 28 years, and still find things to refine on it. It's great to ride in its present form, but the real reward is making different stuff work, and work good. It's got more than average brakes, carburetion, acceleration, and a few more of more this and that.
Why not? It's the fun of it that makes my day. The Weber carb doesn't really make more power than a correctly tuned S&S or Mikuni. I did it just to be the only one with this type of carb.
Shovels can be made to run pretty good. I had it dynoed at 95 ponies about 12 years ago, and by now, it's probably squeaked up to a three digit figure. That's about right for my usual street riding. I don't race the thing, I just have fun with it. After all, as I said, it's all about the fun. If you can't get fun out of it, then you should try something else.

Bill

[Tater66]

I prefer the rake or broom to a shovel

[Hatchet54]

I have been riding the same 73 shovel for 38 yrs . Been times i cussed it . Been times i sang to it. I have rode it and it has rode me. They get in yer soul

Epic first post. Yeah, you'll fit in here just fine...

[Wiseman]

[QUOTE=DoomBuggy;753066]Shovels are great beginner bikes, once you master working on one you are ready to move up to a Pan, Knuck, or Flatty.

I was already WAY past beginner stage when I started working on this in 1992.

I'm still tinkering with it now, but most of the go-fast stuff is pretty much done.

Bill
With my Pingel electric shift setup, I can do clutchless full-throttle shifting. Kinda puts me a little more ahead of the game.

[DoomBuggy]

Was just jesting with you a bit. There are a few folks who have attained some serious speed on a Shovel. I just love the looks of the tin tops and will forever be a Pan kinda guy. I did have a 70s era Shovel with a side car for a summer, THAT was a fun bike!

[JBinNC]

I have been riding the same 73 shovel for 38 yrs . Been times i cussed it . Been times i sang to it. I have rode it and it has rode me. They get in yer soul

And yer wallet.

Jim

[Wiseman]

Was just jesting with you a bit. There are a few folks who have attained some serious speed on a Shovel. I just love the looks of the tin tops and will forever be a Pan kinda guy. I did have a 70s era Shovel with a side car for a summer, THAT was a fun bike!

The same back atcha.�� My first Harley was a 1960 FLH that I chopped in 1973. It was a nice chick magnet around my neighborhood. Had a lot of fun times back then.
Bill

[Hatchet54]

Good gravy, another one for the reference books right there ^^^

[197FLH]

Keep this alive.....��

Found this in Plymouth Michigan and made her mine December 24th 2017.

Ride her everyday! Today & tomorrow 43° ��

Previous owner had her 27-years.

"Upgraded" in spring 2001. Then he only put 2000 mile on her.

He has a late model Ultra his ol' lady likes better...

S&S Super Stock heads, single plug
Super E Shorty carb
ALL new bearings in engine & transmission
+0.020" forged slugs
Jim's Power Glide tappets
Taper-Lite push rods
Head Quarters Torquer cam @ 0.465" lift
True dual exhaust

And NO.....she dies NOT leak..

[Tattooo]

And NO.....she dies NOT leak..

And she is a beauty...............

[Hoghead]

And she is a beauty...............

Plus one on that! Oddly, my shovel is more oil-tight than my early Evo,

[docmel]

Shovels are like any other older machine: Typically the one that folks dont like have been hacked on and beat on over the years thru variuos owners that really didnt know what they were doing, or just kept it barely running with no real knowledge of even basic maintenance.

[Fetch]

"Love em' if you can wrench a little. Love listening to the engine and being able to make an adjustment on the fly - get it just so, makes for a perfect day out.

The problem of "hate em" is the wannabe who wants to be "that guy". Truthfully he'd be happier on on his Roadking listening to Sirius radio while wondering if his pipes are loud enough.

[Whoremonger]

Love my 78 low rider beater. SUPER reliable ,handles great at all speeds, contrary to what others have said about the breaks ,in my opinion it brakes very good. But then I’m comparing my shovels braking to my oem 65 and Frankenstein 63 on a straight leg. Like night and day.

[45Brit]

I had two shovels, one after another in the 80s and early 90s. One I rebuilt from a complete, but stripped bike (first lesson - ALWAYS do ALL the engine work before even starting the paint and chrome, because it will consume your whole budget, and you end up selling the bike for 30% of what it owes you, because you can't afford to continue...). I wouldn't have touched it, but I knew it had been pushed into that garage as a complete, running bike. Stolen in the end, spent the insurance money on another one....

Second one, I bought complete and didn't really touch it. Ex Police bike complete with foot clutch / hand shift.

I enjoyed them both but end of the day, I don't think I'd have another. Both suffered from various ongoing niggles - circuit breaker problems, wires vibrating out of the terminal block, stuff like that. Neither was fast enough to feel comfortable in main road traffic. Brakes on both were banana calliper set-up, enough but room for improvement. Handling was ok. No serious oil leaks on either, once I got the chain case sealed on the second one anyway.

If I was buying another Big Twin, I think I'd go for an 80" Evo FLT. Nice bike, with that Old School feel but generally better developed than the Shovelhead and better performance.