G'day, I know as this is my 1st post, it should be in the "new" section,,but,
I don't like anything new.
Once apon a time, you knew which mate it was dropping in to visit before they arrived , all the HD's had their own individual sound, as any changes they had were one off's.
If Burling & Simmons didn't have it, you were up shit creek.
If, by accident, you met someone else on a HD while you were travelling somewhere, you ended up on the piss with them.
AMF tried to discourage anyone from buying a HD, only a true enthusiast rode 'em, they had a mind of their own & could be pigheaded, loved you when you rode 'em pissed, and they even came with a KICKER !
I don't consider myself "a biker" although Iv'e ridden bikes for over 50 years, and HD's only for most of 'em
I wouldn't wear a shiny leather vest if someone payed me to do it . gloves are for wearing when its cold, and they should have the fingers in 'em, unless your a fingerless amputee.(how could you start your Evo, with no thumb?)
Harleys were only as unreliable as the bloke who fixed 'em, and if it wasnt you, who's fault was that ?
If Iv'e upset you, tough,,if you agree with my thoughts, I'll chat witcha sometime.
Tiny
You sweet talkin' thang Don,,lol, your shout ?
As long as you shout back 'couse I'm slightly deaf Tiny,
Cheers,
Cris.
G'day K-oneW-one D'fer
Pull up a comfy chair,,grab a beer,,this will take a while,,,,,,
I sold my once new '80 74 s/glide to my now ex brother in law in '85 (I also had a UL1200 @ the time), but after a couple of years, I had an aching in my loins, so one year (forget which one,,but 'twas the last year racing happened on the "old" phillip island track) I bought the "67 Genny Shovel from a shop near a HD stealership in Elisabeth St, Melb for $10g (3 more than the glide gave me)
Mini apes, dodgy dog type clutch and inner city Melb sucked, but I made it to PI in one piece, got on the slops, then started the ride home (600 miles), I got to kooreup ? and wondered if I should get fuel,,hit the rear Juice, which inturn lit the brake light, also signalling the last of the battery juice,,,shit !,,crook charging system.
Filled the saddle bage with a hyundai size car battery with the addition of a couple of selt tappers, and on the road agan.
Rode to another nameless town (did I mention dementure?) and the kind soul publican let 5 smelly HD riders spend a small fortune in his establishment, shifting the cartons outa the bottloh to make room for the shovels !
Next morn,,I left my head in bed while I rode around looking for "the auto lekkie", not expecting to find anyone who had the time to look at "a bike", but,,I found him,,and after 2 minutes with a miltimeter,,diagnosed,,and sold me a regulator,,which he had IN STOCK !, grand total,,$20!
We also had a bunch of Evo riding yuppies crawl up out asses the night before, who felt obliged to "ride with us " , 'till we give 'em the the slip by having a few cones behind a servo.
The it rained,,did mention I had no front 'guard ?
Then the ex 'glide (brudder in law was with us) threw its front drag pipe at me,,but missed,,we stopped,,repaired it , and attempted to ride off,,,ever heard the noise a primary chain makes when the nylon shoe had turned to puss ?
More repairs,,still in the rain,,,eventually got to the big smoke ok (not home yet)
TO be continued
Once in Adelaide, with access to a shed, tools & some decent HD shops, I pulled the primary, and discovered the primary had not been hosed, and had ran dry for 500 miles before melting the nylon guide, and turned the chain into a nice gold colour, to the oil fitting holes were epoxied up, a new diamond primary chain fitted, along with a new shoe, and the primary was filled with just enough oil for the starter ring gear to dip into, problem solved.
On the last leg home, I snuck up on a BMW 4. and being a revhead at heart, just HAD to do a full throttle pass, unfortunately, by the time I got safely past, I was in the middle of a long sweeping left hander @ "the ton" and discovered she didn't really like me THAT much, and did some SERIOUS tank slapping, and I could feel the Beemer rider's hysterical laughter burning thru my back,,lol---- mental note------ I better look at that one day-----
That day ended up being quite a few years later, after a full rebuild inc. S&S rod ass. 40 thou over 10/1 slugs a new andrews B, and an over enthusiastic porting job from US cycles.
Next came a 9 month gestation period of a new frame, ans I couldn't find any frames I likes, me and a good mate, Wooly knocked up the frame you see now, with a 7 degree rake, and lots of triangulation in the places I thought it needed it.
Time to fit the swingarm,,,,bugga,,,3/8th out,,,,knock off, cone up, and return another night,,,,,
Swingarm pivots removed, gearbox in,,,measude,,tack,,whel in,,BUGGA ! still 3/8ths out !,,mmm? thinks Wooly,,,try fitting it upside down,,,,,,,,3/8th out,,the other way !
The reason I made a BM riders day oh so long ago was the fact that the swingarm had been whacked out of square, parrallogram style !
Oh well, I wanted MY frame anyway,,lol.
After a few more years of abuse, the ported heads work hardened to the extent they manged to suck oil from the internal oil returns , into the inlet ports, fouling plugs regularly, which was VERY annoying, so, as Gen nearly ended up being overlooked by a Pan that was sitting alongside her in the shop,, the day I bought her, and STD Pan / Shovel heads were the same price as Shovel's, she ended up with the heads as seen above, fitted with new cylinders, with 7.5 / 1 pistons, a Crane softcock cam, velvatouch hyd's, and a new set of light pushrods.
She's a quiet (mechanically) , docile bottom and mid range gruntster now, and don't complain when I work on LSR honda's along side of her, while she gathers too much dust during the twilight of my life.
Twilight my ass, you're only as old as the woman you feel.
The woman I feel is a year older than me,,,which makes me her toyboy?, she is a fully imported job from the US of A, that'd make her a 1952 FL Hydra-Glide Pan ?
No wonder I'm slowing down !
Thanks Pete, it looks like we might be neighbors ?
