I appreciate all info
I will have to to some more research but I was told 68 was the first year for the black stripe front fender tip and A/C cover however this is a police bike, no chrome no trim no extras and actually most police bikes had no turn signals in 68/69 just a couple holes in the rear fender and wire looping out of the spot lite bar. I am gonna change them lens to red now that I am aware.the rack is temporary until I find a radio box (their is a swap meet in Jefferson PA Oct.4-6, not far from York) Bendix was a temporary choice (I do not like tillitsen << i do have it >> i owned a 69 police bike previously and it proved to be a very difficult starting carb in cold weather) this winter plan to adapt a CV to this bike but want to hide it behind the stock air box need to create a custom manifold as well. muffler is a police model specific cigar used in the 2 into 1 exhaust system. I have the windshield brackets, at the upcoming meet I hope to find a better windshield at swap meet prices or I will buy replacement lexan and mount proper hardware. The P clamp is actually down their I will have to look at routing the line. gas line clamps are another swap meet item Old Dude has them. I am surprised you didn't notice the kicker which was optional on 1968!!!
On the civilian machines, ’68 was the first year for the rectangular fender tips; your front tip is correct. The oval air cleaner first showed up in ’67, the first year for the Tillotsen. As I recall the air cleaner trim with the horizontal stripes first showed up in ’1974; I’m not absolutely certain about that because as an accessory it was later installed on a lot of earlier machines; but if I had to pick a year, ’74 is it.
The early Tillotsen’s were a pain in the a$$; although part of the romance would be to have a decent running machine with a Tillotsen. FWIW, Andrews (the cam folks) offered a 45 mm HIPO version of the Tillotsen that I ran on my 1974 stroked FX Superglide; it worked very well.
The right gas tank on the Tillotsen equipped machines had an extra nipple behind the crossover line for a vent. This vent ran from the top of the carb to the gas tank; there was a standpipe inside the tank that came up to just under the right gas cap. I don’t see the nipple on your tank. The Tillotsen requires the vent in order to operate and running one without it would result in heartbreak, misery and general unhappiness. The vent prevented the carb from becoming air locked; not an issue with the float and needle carbs. If your right tank is not equipped with the stand pipe vent, you can tee into the vent line between the tanks, under the speedo housing.
The Bendix has a 3/8” hex on the low speed mixture adjustment. The hex head on the needle in your photo looks quite a bit smaller than 3/8”, which prompted the speculation that it might be a Kehin.
I did notice the kicker but I am not sure about the application on Police machines. I don’t recall ever seeing a ’68 with a Factory installed kick starter. 1968 was the first year that H-D offered the civilian Electra Glide and XLH Sportsters without kick starters. I recall that in ’68, even though the kickstarter shaft and gear had been removed, both starter clutch gears remained as well as the starter shaft bushings and seal. This was noteworthy because these were expensive pieces (not the bushings). After the starter clutch gear was removed, the mating starter clutch, fastened to the end of the shaft, remained in order to support the clutch release bearing; again this clutch was an expensive piece. H-D ran this arrangement until the 1975 model year.
BTW, the muffler on your machine was widely used over many years. It was the OEM piece on the 2 into 1 exhaust on my 1974 FX when that machine was new.
Your front fender tip is the correct piece; my previous remark was intended to point out the lack of a rear tip. It is possible that a Police machine may have been delivered without a rear tip; although I’m not sure if the machine would have been intentionally optioned with a front and not a rear. Back in this era most of the accessories were Dealer installed; they were shipped in the crate with the Motorcycle but it was the Dealer’s responsibility to install them. Installation of many accessories, including the rear fender tip, involved drilling the necessary holes in the fender. Pre-delivery assembly on an FLH from before 1977 was a full 8 hour process for each machine. I’m a little fuzzy on the model year that they finally came mostly assembled; although as I remember it, 1977 was the year.
djkak
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Topic: Restoration Project Needs Photos (Read 3300 times)