Well I finally got this beast back to running condition.
The bike had about 58k miles when I bought it and tore it down. I know have just over 6k miles on the rebuild.
I will say that on the first restore project, all I did was replace external gaskets and seals, no motor work. It ran great, but on a fun ride one the oil line feeding the head popped a seal and I lost all my oil. I noticed the oil light was on and pulled over on the freeway to see what was wrong. I filled back up with oil, but that was the beginning of the end for the rods and cylinders. A short time after that I pulled the motor and did the work that was needed.
What I thought to be a rear exhaust flange leak that I could not get to seal up without leaking, ended up being a blown rear head gasket. I got another rebuilt head and was swapping out for the new exhaust flange and when I pulled the head there was a 1/4" wide blown spot directly over the rear exhaust flange. So the compression leak I thought was the exhaust was in fact the gasket. It's probably best anyway because the PO had filed on the exhaust flange before and I always had issues keeping it from leaking.
So with that fixed I did a few other things, rebuilt the rear wheel caliper and the front hand brake master cylinder and bled both. Although they are both very hard on the grip and pedal, these old single piston banana calipers are barely better than drum brakes. But on my test ride Saturday, I could lock up both front and rear wheels; so I'm good with that.
What I want to do is to sell this as I have not really ridden it since I bought my '08 SERK 7 years ago. I plated it a couple years, but never rode it.
Here are some pictures of the bike as of Saturday and I would like some opinions on what I might be able to get out of it.
Before I get started, I know from my searches that Shovelheads are terribly low on the market right now. I've seen some original AMF Electra Glides that look very nice and they're asking $7k to $8k. Way low in my mind, but they're only worth what people are willing to pay for them and right now, not much it appears.
I'm sure that if I find the right person, my mods to the FLH will be appealing to them as a cool old bike with a classic flare to it. I also have all the original takeoff stuff, fiberglass bags, king/queen seat, bat wing faring, all the old chrome and take off stuff along with the original aluminum spoke wheels. These parts are not pretty, but they're there.
I've had the lower end rods and side bearings replace and then I put on a reproduction stock bore 74" jugs and pistons. I stripped the bike to the bare frame and had all the black parts powder coated. It has a new speedo, nacelle, rear tail and turn lights, new wiring harness, new battery, new Barnett clutch with H/D springs, new primary chain, M-6 spring tensioner, new wire spoke wheels, new rotors front/rear, new Mustang touring seat 16"/12" with studs and Conchos, new Boss Bags saddle bags #42 all leather, new Boss Bags windshield bag, quick release Road King windshield and I think that's about it.
The last major ride I had done prior to the oil line leak and motor rebuild was when I trailered it to Sturgis. We stayed in Keystone with friends. I rode 1600 miles that week and all I did was wash it and ride two up. I will say that on the long mountain grade from Rapid City up to Keystone was a bear on this bike. Riding two up was fine as long as you hit the hill starting at around 65 mph. Any slower and it would not pull faster, so down shifting was necessary some times and with just the 4spd that was not pretty. This was in '08. In '10 I took my then new '08 SERK and oh what a difference that 110" and 6spd was from the Shovelhead stock 74".
So here are the pictures and let me know what I "might" expect to get or a starting point for my asking price.
And last but least, the old blue in all his glory...
Thanks for taking the time to give it a look and let me know your opinions. I'm tough, I can take it.
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Topic: What do you guys think??? (Read 3209 times)