Weld-on hard tail for '74 Shovelhead

[SterlingC]

Hello,
I wanted to get some feed back about what type of weld-on hardtail I should get for a 1974 Shovelhead FXE project I'm starting.
I'd really like 0" stretch and 0" drop. I see that there are basically two options. A regular hardtail kit, and the replica version. I imagine the majority of these kits come from the same manufacturer, and then are resold under the company's name. I know that there are some other companies that manufacture their own frames as well. Usually these are the USA made hardtails, and they are usually more expensive.
Are the replica hardtails the way to go, or is there a smaller company making a good version I should check out?
I plan to use an 18" X 3.5" rear wheel, so I don't need the widened version.
Thanks.

[triumphbruce]

check out fab kevin he did mine nice job
he makes the frame tubes and uses American made cast plates

[seaking]

You're basically mocking a pan-type straight leg and you want to get it as close as possible. It might not bug you now, but if you look at your bike (bikes) a lot it will eventually.

I had an EXTREMELY hard time finding someone to hardtail both of mine (actually they were both very good at what they did and local, one is still up on visionary's website) where they started other businesses in more lucrative fields....so I can't speak from personal experience as I've done nothing but wait and am buying the tooling to do the them and more myself. But it looks like you have three options, the big three:

1. Haifley Bros: haifleybros.blogspot.com

Positive: Quick and cheap. They've improved where the rear meets the backbone and seat casting to match stock. The rear lower brake tube looks close to stock.

Negative: Not plug and play, some fitment/fab. 1" tubing doesn't match the bottom rail 1-1/8" tubing of the shovel frame.



2. Fab Kevin: fabkevin.com

Positive: He's also quick and cheap and done when it hits the doorstep.

Negative: 1" tubing. No rear crossmember bend. No rear lower leg bend. Abrupt tie-in rear of the seat casting.


The rear crossmember:





3. 47 Industries: 47fab.blogspot.com

+'s: Quality work matches stock within reason, no pan-type lower brake leg, but the rear x member is bent. Looks like he uses 1-1/8" tubing on the lower legs and the uppers are 1", not sure if that was customer request or not. Tubing tied into the seat casting forward into the backbone and might reuse the flat portion to tie into the backbone. Seems like reasonable turn around times and it's done when it hits the doorstep.

-'s: may be a little more expensive? Shipping costs enough by itself, let the moths out and pay for quality.

[Eldergiraffe]

I had Fab Kevin do my hardtail. I shipped the frame to him from St.Louis and including shipping there and back the total was about $1200. He added the brake stay for the juice drum and a lower fender mount. The only thing I didn't like was how wide the frame tubing is on the top rails of the hardtail section and the lack of the bend in the cross member. (Not a huge deal) If I was going to do it again I would go for 47 ind. Mike knows what's up and has great customer service...but he has quite the waiting list to get your work done.

[Blackbetty]

Here's a haifley setup including the trans crossmember detail and lower fender mount. They turned this around for me in less than a month. Also, the 1 to 1-1/8 is nearly imperceptible.