Let's talk... Ironhead Sportsters

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I was a harley dealer mechanic straight out of aviation mtx school for a few years. Id recommend against an iron head sporty unless you want it as a "bar hopper" around town bike. these are 4 speed bikes, and no good for running at freeway speeds for any distance. A buddy of mine has a 1971 XLCH sporty. He ran it to Sturgis one year, it damn near shook itself apart. I welded up the broken tabs on the chain guard, and a bunch of other stuff fatigued and failed. You cannot convert a 4 speed sportster to a 5 speed like you can w big twin machines. The sportster transmission is unitized with the crankcase. Big twins you can change out a 4 speed trans for a 5 or even 6 speed with the right adaptors to mate it to the frame and primary chain case.

If its gotta be a sportster, I would definitely recommend an evo block head sporty with 5 speed and belt final drive. Gets the RPMs and vibration down to an acceptable level at 70mph, and the belt drive is mtx free for up to 50k, though i have seen full dressers get 100k out of a belt drive. Only thing that destroys one in short order is a rock getting caught in one.

Sportys also have an issue with oil pump failure at constant high RPM. Rrmember its a dry sump system and the pump does 2 things, provides oil pressure on the feed side, and crank case scavenging on the other side to pump oil back to the oil tank.

Sportsters have a 2.25 gallon tank. Get a larger 3.0 gallon peanut tank , or an aftermarket sporty fstbob style tank. Its doubtful you would want to be on it for more than 3 gallons of fuel before you stop, and stretch your legs anyways.

Hope this helps
Matt
 
YY1 said:
I've been eyeing late model (2007 and up) EFI 1200 Sporties on CL in the $3500-5K range.

They turn up frequently and sit for weeks or months, even at 3K or less.
One close enough to look at will eventually turn up with the features I want.

My brother just bought a newer Triumph 900 Scrambler (enduro style).
I liked it. Plenty of power and good balance although the bars seemed a bit wide.

Not what I'm looking for though.

For my next bike I need-
EFI
Disk brakes front and rear
No chain
and NO SPOKES

On a Sporty, I also need-
1200 cc
Forward controls
Passenger seat (girls really LOVE those famous H-D vibrations)
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Yep they love the vibrations. You add the golfball option to the rear pillion pad or P pad or ***** seat as its called. Peel the carpet back, Cut the pillion pad metal frame right where she sits, remove a little padding, and stick a golf ball there, puts a nice hard spot in about the right place for her lol. then rivet the sheetmetal base back together, reapply the carpet and reinstall. About 3,500 rpm for a coupla miles, and shes gonna want to "get off" if she hasnt already lol. The original Milwaukee Vibrator.
 
MOPEkidD-3 said:
Also some background about me, I taught myself how to build engines and work on my Duster from square one. No dad or uncle to show me the ropes just pure passion for old vehicles. I'm not afraid to learn a whole new machine and rebuild it into something unique, I just figured a motorcycle is smaller and less complex than a car and can give similar thrills for a lot less money (but it's much less safe, yes I know).
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Similar thrills yes, H-Ds aint cheap partswise though. A joke about them is H- D stands for Hundered Dollars. Its like everything at minimum is $100 lol.
 
When I got my first bike I figured it'd be a lot like car maintenance.

Wrong.

Agree parts are as much or more (sometimes much more) than the corresponding car part.

...and labor is usually triple because things are so tight and on top of each other.


...and how come the chrome on my 1966 and 1973 cars that have sat outside their entire lives looks MUCH better that the chrome on the 1997 bike that spent three Florida "winters" in an enclosed shed???
 
Y'know, an XB12Ss Buell is going to run an awful lot like a 440 Roadrunner.....
 
moparmat2000 said:
I was a harley dealer mechanic straight out of aviation mtx school for a few years. Id recommend against an iron head sporty unless you want it as a "bar hopper" around town bike. these are 4 speed bikes, and no good for running at freeway speeds for any distance. A buddy of mine has a 1971 XLCH sporty. He ran it to Sturgis one year, it damn near shook itself apart. I welded up the broken tabs on the chain guard, and a bunch of other stuff fatigued and failed. You cannot convert a 4 speed sportster to a 5 speed like you can w big twin machines. The sportster transmission is unitized with the crankcase. Big twins you can change out a 4 speed trans for a 5 or even 6 speed with the right adaptors to mate it to the frame and primary chain case.

If its gotta be a sportster, I would definitely recommend an evo block head sporty with 5 speed and belt final drive. Gets the RPMs and vibration down to an acceptable level at 70mph, and the belt drive is mtx free for up to 50k, though i have seen full dressers get 100k out of a belt drive. Only thing that destroys one in short order is a rock getting caught in one.

Sportys also have an issue with oil pump failure at constant high RPM. Rrmember its a dry sump system and the pump does 2 things, provides oil pressure on the feed side, and crank case scavenging on the other side to pump oil back to the oil tank.

Sportsters have a 2.25 gallon tank. Get a larger 3.0 gallon peanut tank , or an aftermarket sporty fstbob style tank. Its doubtful you would want to be on it for more than 3 gallons of fuel before you stop, and stretch your legs anyways.

Hope this helps
Matt
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Hey Matt, yeah that was insightful for sure... I guess at this point I just need to ride some different bikes and really figure out what I want. I was also considering earlier rigid-mount (engine, pre-2003?) Evo Sportsters with the 5-speed. There's a used motorcycle dealer I've driven by a few times I think I'll drop in there and see what's the best way to get to test-ride some bikes. It's hard to say what kind of riding I'll actually be doing anyway.
 
YY1 said:
When I got my first bike I figured it'd be a lot like car maintenance.

Wrong.

Agree parts are as much or more (sometimes much more) than the corresponding car part.

...and labor is usually triple because things are so tight and on top of each other.


...and how come the chrome on my 1966 and 1973 cars that have sat outside their entire lives looks MUCH better that the chrome on the 1997 bike that spent three Florida "winters" in an enclosed shed???
Click to expand...

If I get a motorcycle it'll be like my Jeep and my Duster... NOBODY except me gets to work on it lol so no concerns about labor costs. If the bike is too new or expensive to maintain all by myself then I won't buy it.
 
I equate Harley-Davidsons too old-school muscle cars. Loud, obnoxious, and fun with old school looks but definitely just a cruiser when it comes to Highway use.

Sport bikes I equate to Formula 1 race cars. Really fast, awesome power to weight, handle very well but you sure as hell wouldn't want to take one of those on a long distance ride.
 
What I meant by "labor" is that it takes three times as long to do the same job as the corresponding job on a car.

For example, it seems like 60% of all jobs on a MC start with removing the gas tank.
 
YY1 said:
What I meant by "labor" is that it takes three times as long to do the same job as the corresponding job on a car.

For example, it seems like 60% of all jobs on a MC start with removing the gas tank.
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Depends on the car lol... After working on my brother's 2005 VW Passat TDI (diesel) I'm not afraid of having to remove 3+ parts just to get to the one needing fixed. Changing the timing belt on that car requires detaching and sliding the entire front bumper/grille assembly 6" forward just so there's enough space to get to the crank pulley and such (and moving the front end requires disconnecting the radiator, turbo/intercooler hoses and a bunch of other BS).

I don't see how removing a gas tank from a motorcycle could take more than 15 minutes, unless it's full and/or has a bunch of other stuff attached to it?
 
...but it's not just the gas tank, it's like if 60% of all the repairs to your vw required you to remove that front end..... and discharge the A/C...and remove the entire wiring harness.
 
YY1 said:
...but it's not just the gas tank, it's like if 60% of all the repairs to your vw required you to remove that front end..... and discharge the A/C...and remove the entire wiring harness.
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I hear ya but still... putting the "lock carrier in the service position" on a VW takes a couple hours, I don't mind removing the gas tank on my motorcycle every time I work on it if it only takes 15 minutes. Hell it almost takes that long just to get a car up on jackstands and you have to do that for like 80% of car repairs. Not trying to argue i'm just trying to get a better idea of what it's like to work on a bike. I hear people complain about it and I just think "OK I've rebuilt like 5 car engines by now and swapped just as many, also rebuilt multiple entire front suspensions (a few Mopars and our VW) and done multiple rear axle swaps..." After teaching myself how to do all that stuff and going through the suffering of newbie mistakes, I can't see a motorcycle being anywhere near as intimidating or complex to work on as a car.
 
It isnt, its just different. Get past the learning curve, plus you have mechanical experience. You will be ok.
 
I had a 1000 CC four speed Sportster (white) circa 1978 model year (purchased used). It was electric start (only) and had problems with battery going dead. I removed the electric starter and replaced it with a kick pedal. No problems after that. It only had a 2.2 gallon gas tank.

My neighbor/friend wanted to take the bike for a ride. I said sure, you start it, you can ride it. He was about 40 years old and almost died trying to kick it over. Never got it to run (thanks be to God).

I went over to the bike, set the pedal very low on its stroke (almost to the very bottom), and used my left foot to start the bike on the very first kick. The trick was not to try tp push the pedal all the way down from the top.

I did not know at the time of purchase that the previous owner had extended the forks a couple of inches. This made it more difficult to lean over in a curve. So one day on a blind curve (the utility company had placed a power pole on the outside of the curve, exactly where a vehicle would run off the road if going a little too fast) I smacked the power pole doing 35-45 MPH. Turned the bike frame into a pretzel shape and cracked the engine case.

I was wearing a full-face helmet, but fractured maxilla, mandible, orbit, pelvis. That was back in '79 and I am still here to talk about it. A little worse for wear. Be careful.

PS Edit: As mentioned above, the four speed Sportster's like I drove are not that well suited on the freeway, they have 60 horsepower, so they really need that 5th gear like the newer ones have to make it a much better cruiser. I don't know what the ratios are four-speed vs. five-speed but would like to know.
 
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dibbons said:
I had a 1000 CC four speed Sportster (white) circa 1978 model year (purchased used). It was electric start (only) and had problems with battery going dead. I removed the electric starter and replaced it with a kick pedal. No problems after that. It only had a 2.2 gallon gas tank.

My neighbor/friend wanted to take the bike for a ride. I said sure, you start it, you can ride it. He was about 40 years old and almost died trying to kick it over. Never got it to run (thanks be to God).

I went over to the bike, set the pedal very low on its stroke (almost to the very bottom), and used my left foot to start the bike on the very first kick. The trick was not to try tp push the pedal all the way down from the top.

I did not know at the time of purchase that the previous owner had extended the forks a couple of inches. This made it more difficult to lean over in a curve. So one day on a blind curve (the utility company had placed a power pole on the outside of the curve, exactly where a vehicle would run off the road if going a little too fast) I smacked the power pole doing 35-45 MPH. Turned the bike frame into a pretzel shape and cracked the engine case.

I was wearing a full-face helmet, but fractured maxilla, mandible, orbit, pelvis. That was back in '79 and I am still here to talk about it. A little worse for wear. Be careful.
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I almost went to "Like" your post but figured uhm... too serious lol, thank you for the advice that is pretty eye-opening.

Isn't the trick for kick starting mostly about getting it to come up quick on the compression stroke? As in you don't need the engine to spin for a long time (full long stroke of the pedal), just a short fast kick to get that piston moving?
 
...and then you find that the timing belt/chain you are used to spending $35 for on your car is $169 and only available through the MC dealer on a 5 day wait.

I'm just sayin' you'd think it would be the same as cars but it's not, and to be prepared.
 
JeffisOld said:
PLEASE buy a 4stroke 250 dirt bike the same day.

Only ride the dirt bike for 6 months before you fire up the HD.

You cannot imagine the ways you can hurt yourself and I would like to read how much you enjoy riding later in the spring!
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Excellent advice! In fact, buy a dirt bike now and go "get your legs" - then sell it and buy your HD.. you're too big for a Sporty, period. I am 5'10", I have an 83 FXWG and you're probably too big for that too.. although it's been a great scoot for me and the Mrs and we have done some fairly long rides on it. I'm not going to try to point you in any direction - you have to decide what bike fits you and your needs.
I can tell that most older HD's are 100% CMV's (constant maintenance vehicles) - it goes with the territory.. it's all good. Anything pre-shovel is collectible (and the shovels are getting there) so IF you can find one you like that is for sale, it's probably gonna cost ya. Some real advice, just do it. And yes, take the riders course. I'm fairly arrogant and had my HD for better than 2 years before I took the course - rode on my permit - then decided I should get a license and took the course, I was surprised at what I learned.. stupid little **** that you would never even think of.
 
FWIW, I am going to make for sale a 2012 BMW R1200RT with less than 9k miles on it.

Absolutely LOADED too. Bags (3) all keyed, GPS, radio, wx radio, hwy pegs, all the factory gizmos - way too much to remember. Nothing wrong, just been sitting because of 3 knee replacements and a 5 layer back.surgery.
 
YY1 said:
...and then you find that the timing belt/chain you are used to spending $35 for on your car is $169 and only available through the MC dealer on a 5 day wait.

I'm just sayin' you'd think it would be the same as cars but it's not, and to be prepared.
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I see what you're saying, timing belts for car engines are usually like $150-250 though so it's about the same. I know motorcycles have a lot of odd specialized parts as well that don't exist on cars which can be expensive.

I'm starting to sway more towards Triumphs now, they've been doing amazing as a company and have come out with so much great new stuff in the past few years. I didn't even realize in 2015 they came out with a 1200cc version of the "small" parallel twin in their mid-size bikes (Bonneville etc.). It's like 95 HP in their Thruxton (cafe racer) model which is serious considering that bike is like 450 lbs.

For my first bike I'm going to follow the recommendations and get something like a dual-sport bike, something off-road friendly and can survive being dropped all the time but still street-legal. My good friend got a Suzuki DR650 which is exactly that, single-cylinder dual-sport bike that's built to take a beating and keep going. I'd like something a little more interesting but similar. Then from there I'll see if I want something more sporty and fast or a bigger powerful heavy cruiser. Hate to say it but I might end up with a Triumph Thunderbolt for a cruiser instead of an H-D big twin. I was really only seriously considering H-D for the Sportster but now I've changed my mind on that whole thing lol. Thanks a lot guys it might not seem like it but this was helpful.
 
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MOPEkidD-3 said:
I see what you're saying, timing belts for car engines are usually like $150-250 though so it's about the same. I know motorcycles have a lot of odd specialized parts as well that don't exist on cars which can be expensive.

I'm starting to sway more towards Triumphs now, they've been doing amazing as a company and have come out with so much great new stuff in the past few years. I didn't even realize in 2015 they came out with a 1200cc version of the "small" parallel twin in their mid-size bikes (Bonneville etc.). It's like 95 HP in their Thruxton (cafe racer) model which is serious considering that bike is like 450 lbs.

For my first bike I'm going to follow the recommendations and get something like a dual-sport bike, something off-road friendly and can survive being dropped all the time but still street-legal. My good friend got a Suzuki DR650 which is exactly that, single-cylinder dual-sport bike that's built to take a beating and keep going.
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Dual purpose bike is excellent start; a thought that comes to mind is.............. TIRES............keep the pattern more street friendly than off road, don't need greaseie tires putting you down on the road..........be mindful of the road right after a brief rain shower, accumulated oil on the road is as slick as ice
 
Buying a bike, is a lot like buying a handgun for that matter. You want to buy whats comfortable that you like, fits you best and what you can handle expertly. I also like the new triumphs. They are doing that new/old skool look, but at 50 i'm done with all that 2 wheeler stuff. Broken bones and hurt doesnt heal up nearly as fast as it does for young bucks like you. Enjoy your youth and have some 2 wheeler fun while your young Khalid, eventually you will be part of the old crowd like the rest of us geezers lol.
 
OK, I just gotta say this-

I actually priced timing belts/chains on rock auto before I posted.

Yes, there some in the $120-140 range but most were under $50.

NO parts pricing is NOT the same, unless you work on exotic or high tech cars.

Geeze.
 
For your first bike go with a duel sport.
I rode a DRZ400 for years, loved that bike until it burn up one day.

I replaced it with a Buell XBX12 complete animal of a bike, that bike was going to kill me, so I got rid of it.

On sportsters, I have seen two different ones for sale this week, both were 2000 and newer, one was priced at $2,000 and the other at $1800, they just do not seem to hold their value.
 
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