74 74 74 A Shovelhead build

[MOTher]

preface:

I started this build thread a little over 5 years ago on the Jockey Journal. Since that time Photobucket has found a couple different ways to fuck up all the pics in the thread, and the JJ has become a ghost town. Kind of reminds me of a few biker bars I've known. Things were great for a time, then something happens and the "scene" for want of a better word, moves somewhere else. I mentioned I was think about moving it and have been encouraged to do so. (Thanks!)

So, I'm going to move this thread over here. If you read it on the JJ, some of it will be the same, some of it will be edited to reflect subsequent events, and some will be left out, like where I changed directions. Some pics were lost to Photobucket, but I have many of them still in the archives, so I'll fill them in as I go.

[AlbertaFarmer]

Thank you very much for bringing it over. I'm sure there are quite a few of us eager to see what you've been up to.

[MOTher]

Chapter 1 In The Beginning God... oh wait, that's already taken.

Don't get too excited. This is just the tale of a greybeard throwing together a rider Shovelhead mostly out of stuff laying around in his garage. But... this particular greybeard has a lot of stuff laying around in his garage. And now I'm going to stop talking about myself in the third person.

There will be some tech stuff, what I did and how i did it. There may be some philosophy and history of particular parts and modifications. There will also be bad humor and outright bullshit. So let's get started.

Way before. it's a 1974, 74 cu. in engine in a Paughco frame:



Again, don't get excited. The end product will look nothing like this. I bought this about a 20 years ago. I didn't need it, but the price was right and I had the money. I got to hear it run before I bought it. It sounded sweet and tight, no extraneous clanging, banging, knocking or ticking. I didn't ride it though, because the brakes were non operational.

When I got it home, I looked in the spark plug holes with a light small enough to fit. There was fresh cross hatching on the walls and the piston tops were clean. The speedometer that was on it only had 55 miles on it, though it was a 2-1 speedometer where a 1-1 should have been. I can believe that this engine has, at the least, a fresh top end with only 110 miles on it.

Over the years, from time to time I'd take it out and play with it. I'd also push the bike out of the back of the garage and do lightweight mockups on it. Below is a pic with only the white sheet metal removed and a set of 3½ gallon fatbobs put on, a big improvement.



Here's another. This one sports cast wheels, a too short front end, and an old Paughco tank.



And one last one. Longer forks and a 21, different pipes, seat and a sissy bar.

[MOTher]

Chapter 2 Coming to Terms

The biggest reason I never followed through on the mockups was that I got this thing with the promise of a title, and not an actual document I could hold in my hand and take to the BMV. (It's a Bureau in Ohio, not a Department.) There is a silver lining to that, however. After the seller and I had agreed on a price, and he was spending the money in his head, I suggested I give him most of the money, and take the bike, and give him the rest when he delivered the title. I also had him write out a Bill of Sale just in case I had to prove it was mine while he was chasing down the title. Do I need to mention that the promise was not kept?

Maybe a year or so after I got the bike, I heard that the seller had been loud talking in a bar, saying he was gonna look me up and collect the rest of the money I owed him. But when I ran into him a few months after that, he was singing a different tune. He was apologetic even, offered to buy the bike back. I was in a financial situation where I gave him a price, what I had in it plus some for storage. He was OK with the price, but wanted to make payments. I told him to look me up when he had all the money together. That's been more than 10 years now. I don't think he's coming.

But there was the matter of making it legal. In '74 the VIN is complete on both the engine and frame. I ran the number and found out not only was it titled to someone, it had a current license plate registered to it. Presumably, the guy who had the original frame, as it should be.

I considered titling it as a special construction, but there are receipts to come up with, and turn signals to wire and inspections to pass. After all that, you end up with a bike that costs more to insure, and is worth less when you go to sell it.

So, I took what seemed to me to be the most sensible road. I bought a titled frame. It was bent a little, and the paperwork was convoluted. (a bill of sale from a state that doesn't title older bikes and a signed off title from another New England state.) I took it to a Title office that was friendly to the Dealership where I was working, when they weren't busy, and I let the lady there be the expert, only giving information when asked. I walked out with a title to a 1974 FX 1200. (There's that third 74 from the thread title.) By the time I had it straightened, I had a little less in it than the going rate for titled frames, and I knew it was straight.

Everybody knows what a Shovelhead 4 speed frame looks like, but here's a pic anyway. This was the seller's eBay pic.

[MOTher]

Chapter 3 Application Parameters

In a computer class I took a long time ago, they taught us to work from the application out. Figure out what you want to do, find the software that will best do it, then find the hardware that best runs that software. So what are the application parameters for this motorcycle?

I hope to ride this thing a lot. By a lot, I mean often, not necessarily far. If I want to go far, I'll take the Geezer Glide. So I don't need luggage. And since the OL isn't interested on riding any more a passenger seat is unnecessary.

I graduated from high school, and started riding and modifying motorcycles in 1965. This means two things. 1.) The basis of what I know about modifying motorcycles was formed in the mid to late '60s and early '70's. Stuff like what should and shouldn't be done, what's cool and what's not. The rest of what I've learned over the years is built on that foundation.

2.)The other thing it means is that, if I graduated in the '60's, I'm old. 72 as of the move to CC. So by definition, this is an old man's motorcycle. That means the swingarm stays, as does the electric start. In fact, I'm going to delete the kicker. I don't need to prove I know how to kickstart a motorcycle. I don't need a kicker to baffle the newbie "bikers." They're baffled enough without my help.

Since I intend to ride this thing a lot in 21st Century traffic, I'm going to run a front brake. Most people when they think about distracted drivers focus on cell phones, but it's part of a societal shift. When I started riding, cars didn't have cup holders and the Golden Arches was a Drive In, not a Drive Thru. The biggest distraction was guys driving one handed, the other arm around their girlfriend's shoulders while she sat right next to him on the bench seat.

Since this chapter is pretty boring, and doesn't have any pictures yet, here's one of my high school graduation present from my folks. By this time I had already taken off the front fender. (Yes, it's Japanese, get over it.) For some reason (because I'm a hoarder) I still have the headlight badge from this thing. This was the start, but I think that once I had embraced the biker life, my folks came to regret their decision.

[RedHerring]

Awesome story so far. I love a good story with solid roots. I look forward to reading more and watching your vision for this bike materialize.

[Dragstews]

Keep on going ....
Post lots of photos too ....

[markwade74]

Got my attention

[nuklhd]

MOTher, thank you for documenting the build and taking us along, from one old cat to another

[Vyvyan]

Really nice story. Keep going please.

[Dragstews]

Chapter 1

In The Beginning God... oh wait, that's already taken.

.... Eve's Side of the Story ....

New twist about that, according to Eve...!!!

After three weeks in the Garden of Eden, God came to visit Eve. So, how is everything going?" inquired God.

It's all so beautiful" she replied. "Everything is wonderful, but I have one problem. It's these breasts you've given me. The middle one pushes the other two out and I'm constantly knocking them with my arms."

She went on to tell Him that since many other parts of her body came in pairs, such as her limbs, eyes, ears, etc .....she felt that having only two breasts might leave her body more"symmetrically balanced," as she put it.

"That is a fair point, but it was my first shot at this, you know. I gave the animals six breasts, so I figured that you needed only half of those, but I see that you are right. I will fix it up right away." And He reached down, removed the middle breast and tossed it into the bushes.

Three weeks passed and God once again visited Eve in the Garden of Eden.

"Well, Eve, how is my favorite creation?"

Just fantastic," she replied, "But for one oversight on your part. You see, all the animals are paired off. The ewe has a ram and the cow has her bull. All the animals have a mate except me. I feel so alone."

God thought for a moment and said, "You know, Eve, you are right. How could I have overlooked this? You do need a mate and I will immediately create a man from a part of you. Now let's see ...........where did I put that useless boob ?"

Now doesn't THAT make more sense than that stuff about the rib?

[Tattooo]

Man that is awesome, I'll be watching and helping if I can..........

Very nice looking start by the way............

[MOTher]

Chapter 4: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

No, I haven't gone all Julie Andrews. I'm talking about wheels, tires, forks and brakes. One of the things I'm doing with this bike is including a couple of "I've always wanted to...." In this case, I've always wanted to put together a bike with cast wheels. My favorite among those is the 18" 9 spoke AMF/Harley wheel. You don't see them as often, probably because they only used them for one year on a limited production bike, (the '78 XLCR), and half a year on some bikes on a production model (the early '79 Sportster XL and XLH, but not the XLS) There's one on the back of a mockup in the first post (3rd and 4th pic.) Since I couldn't decide whether I wanted to put it on the rear, with a matching 19" front, or put it on the front, with a matching 16" rear, I decided to compromise and put one in front and another one in back. And don't you think the perfect compliment to cast wheels is Raised White Letter tires? I managed to dig up a 130-90 18 Dunlop K181 RWL for the back and a 120/90 18 F11 RWL for the front. Here's a pic of an early mockup.



Some of what you see here is still part of the plan, and some of it has evolved into something else.

[MOTher]

Chapter 5: Stop it!

When I wrote that chapter title, a question came to mind. Did I hear that phrase more from my mother when I was growing up, or from a wife and various girlfriends when I was apparently not growing up?

Regardless, Let's talk about brakes, specifically, the ones in the back. Guys used to come up with a lot of things to replace the banana caliper. There's a whole thread on it somewhere on the JJ and probably one here too. I haven't searched. I'll show you where I am first, then explain how I got there.



This is the brake setup from a '79-'81 Sportster, with a slightly modified bracket, flipped over and hung from the right side of the swingarm as opposed to sitting on top of the left side as it does on the Sporty.

The 18" cast wheel is not a direct replacement for the stock Shovelhead wheels. The brake flange is farther offset from center. The best way I can think of to illustrate this point is to show you a '79-'81 Sportster rear hub for a laced wheel. Yup, that much.



Here's a shot of some brackets:



Right to left, yes I know that's backwards. The one on the right is a stock, unmodified bracket. If you're going to do this modification, look for a bracket where the steel axle sleeve does not turn in the aluminum. Sometimes they would wear and come loose. The second bracket from the right has a notch in it. I'm pretty sure this was done to clear the shock mounting block on a Shovelhead swingarm. Not a problem on this bike because of the modified rear fork. The third from the right... I don't know. There is a hole drilled through the far end. I think someone intended to anchor the brakes with a bolt through this and through the swingarm. Don't know what they had planned for when they had to adjust the chain.

The one on the left is from an XLCR. You can see that the caliper mounting points are closer to the axle. The XLCR used a 10" rotor as opposed to the Sportster's 11½". This one isn't suitable for flipping. The little tab on the left side was engineered to hold the anti-rattle rubber plug, and maybe to anchor the brake if someone used it while backing up. Not only is it too small to use in the other direction, it's a lot closer to the axle, which gives the wheel more leverage on it.

Below is a pic of the modified bracket vs. the stock one. You can see that it's been shortened, and material has been added in the anchor area. Some of the webbing in the middle was removed to allow for full chain adjustment, and the anti-rattle rubber plug moved to the (now) bottom.

[farmall]

I like where this is going.
(Lee Ermey voice) "Holy Jesus! What have we here? A practical custom!"

I love the cast wheels because I despise punctured tubes (instant flat most times), pitted chrome (chrome exists to pit ever since HazMat regs killed off old style horribly toxic plating processes and that shit eventually pitted too), and loose spokes locked to their nipples by corrosion. Fat tires up front work now as they did in the days when most US roads were dirt so if you like them that's pure win and also a bigger contact patch on the street.

Split tanks hold useful amounts of fuel which is why when hogs were still mostly transportation they were more popular than today.

I like the later Wide Glide. What bike donated the Nissin caliper and who makes that large rotor? Who made the lower fork boot clamps? (All my rides have narrow glides so my Wide Glide brain bank is modest...)

I have bagger shocks on my Evo FXRs and will add 'em to my Shovels. (For those not familiar, NAPA stock Schrader valves with the 1/8" NPT threaded base that fits bagger air shocks.)

What's your plan for controls? I run mids for better control and ability to stand on the pegs to save my back along with highway pegs to stretch out on. but if your back is perfect then forwards work. So do footboards but I prefer more cornering clearance.

Not running a kicker when you already have the nice folding arm seemeth odd to me since it's useful backup and the stock starter is underpowered, hideous (external solenoids) amd mechanically awkward. I still run the stock style with All Balls motors on my Shovels but that was because all the NON-starter stock parts work fine (even the cowpie transmissions) and I have too many other projects to replace what's installed and working. OTOH if I were building another Shovel it would get a splined Evo Softy five speed with the late.much more powerful Denso starter. That opens up modern clutch choices (or cheap stock choices which are fine with a modest engine), reduced effort ball ramps for comfort and the ability to run the pushbutton solenoid end cover. Those Densos are so good a kicker is pointless.

I think split tanks look cleaner without the late dash breaking the lines. Earlier cat's eye black repops are much sleeker than later dashes and can be painted to match other sheet metal. I just run plain covers and no speedo.

I like Bar Enterprises seat pans similar to that solo because they're so convenient for maintenance yet wide enough for butt support.

I like your latest version much better than the others, which are also respectable. As for being an old man's motorcycle all those mods were standard on young men's motorcycles though they seem to me to be more common on the East coast. Passage of time made all choppers retro so there are no "yound man's" versions, just choppers young men own.

A strutless style rear fender would complement the lines while disposing of extra parts and weight. They also make for easy rear wheel R&I. While my two are original aftermarket strutless fenders the design could be improved for for sleeker looks by narrowing the sides of the fender then stitch welding some 1/8" TIG wire or gas welding rod down the edge for a tidy rolled look. It's a very old trick to get a rolled style edge. Shallow fenders with no external struts would accent the fat tires and you already own a fender to modify.

That 2-into-1 exhaust header smokes drag pipes for power and mid-range torque while the rear pipe bend is maintenance friendly. Unlike drag pipes it's not the same old shit. A turnout muffler would complete the look. One rugged way to mount that is a bracket with two C-shaped sections to control the downpipes and protect those delicate exhaust ports. Pic shows my FXR Thunderheader bracket (the stock Barry mount abortion is famous for cracking pipes) but the outboard part is relevant. Pipe is retained by a stainless steel car muffler clamp (easy to bend to suit) which will go back on after polishing and with a more attractive pinch bolt. While mine picks up the trap door bolts as baggers do, a mounting block would be easy to weld to the frame.