Rebuilding the 1977 XLH
Updated 11 February
2007
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This page is going to document the rebuild/refurbishment of my 1977 Ironhead Sportster. I first came into contact with this bike when my Stepson's Bass player Doug bought it from his friend Kyle for $800. Kyle had bought it from a crackhead for alot more, but after supposedly having the top end done and replacing the rear wheel, he gave up and bought an Evo Sportster. Doug tried to get it going and I helped him along as much as his budget would allow, after putting on a new S&S, ebay front wheel (the crackhead had wrecked the bike and bent both rims) and rewiring the handlebars we thought it was ready. Soon after Doug got the bike home we realized that the whole wiring harness was shot. Doug let the bike sit outside his parent's house for about 6 months before bringing it back to me. I told him to get some $$$ together and we would get it right. After another 6 months or so Doug decided that he just wanted something that runs so he can ride and offered to trade me the Sporty for a Honda Rebel I had in the garage. Of course I said yes! The story from that point on will be documented in the pics below. |
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UPDATED!!!! Here are the before and After Pics!!! |
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This is how she looked about 30 minutes after she became mine :-) That other seat had to go and the apes had been put on by Doug. At this point I am starting the mock up so that I'll know exactly what I want it to look like and can start to tear it down to be repainted and cleaned. Mechanically it's in pretty decent shape. The wiring is shot like I said, but it runs good except for the excessive noise the top end makes. I know Ironheads are noisy, but this one is louder than the drag pipes. I hope it's just something worn in the topend that won't be too hard to fix. I guess we'll see once I get inside it. |
| This is later into the mock up stage. I've gone with a bobbed rear fender I've had for awhile, It was on the Triumph in its last incarnation and now it's going on this bike. For some reason I just love this style of fender. To make it work though and also to have the room to lower the rear as much as I wanted to I had to switch over to FX fender rails. These mount on the outside of the frame instead of the inside like the stock XL rails do. Another advantage is that I can mount the fender at the perfect height for the tire due to the upsweep of the rails. Ignore the strut I'm using in these pics, I just got a new saw and wanted to try some different shapes and at the same time determine the length of the struts I wanted to use on this bike so I cut some goofy stuff out of wood and played around until I determined that 12 3/4 is the perfect fit. My buddy Stratcat has made me some killer struts out of round bar, but I don't have them yet because he is in the middle of moving and I'm smart enough to hide until he is done LOL! |
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Sunday, November 12, 2006 - (First day of the website) This is how it looks as of this morning. It's pretty stripped and with the exception of a few wires is ready to have the engine pulled out. Hopefully my stepson Ryan and his buddy James will be over tomorrow night to help me get it out and on the stand. So far all the parts have been in great shape. If it stays this way I hope to have this bike looking pretty kickass for a reasonable price. The parts list as of now is new wires, new voltage regulator , peg rubbers and Timken neck conversion. I'm sure there will be more, but that's it so far. |
| Sunday, November 19, 2006 - The engine is out of the frame, so far the only problem I've found is one of the rocker arms is pitted and there are dings on the pushrod. Maybe this is what was causing all the racket when it was running. I'm going to go ahead and pull the heads and take a look inside, but hopefully I won't find anything else wrong (knocking on wood!) The frame is also stripped down to the triple trees. kickstand and swingarm. I pressure washed the frame yesterday and still need to finish cleaning the swingarm and then it's time to start painting and reassembling the rolling chassis. |
| Sunday Dec 3, 2006 - She's back on 2 wheels. The frame is painted and the wheel bearings have been checked, the rear were Fine and the front are replaced. The gas tank has been sanded and primered. The rear fender is going to the Southern Museum of Flight were I volunteer to be sandblasted and have the extra holes welded up. Ignore the handlebars on there, they are just to make it steerable while moving around. I should be done with chassis soon and hopefully I can get the engine finished up by Christmas. |
| January 1, 2007 - The engine is in and the wheels on. The new struts courtesy of Stratcat are sort of on. Still a long way to go. |
| January 15, 2007 - Shots inside the garage, The wiring is about halfway done, the rear fender is on after all the extra holes were welded up and smoothed, The struts are actually bolted on and it's finally looking like a bike. The 2nd shot shows how well the fender follows the line of the wheel, except for the bent part of the rim ;-P I was actually trying to get a good shot of the strut and didn't even notice the rim at the time. |
| January 25, 2007 - Took a few shots in the daylight before work. Wiring is almost done, I'm glad I invested in a new wiring harness, it has made this part of the job a helluva lot easier. All that is left is a few wires, getting another oil tank (old one has a crease in a spot that's too hard to fix without entirely too much work) running the the last oil line, putting on the chain, exhaust pipes, carb and air cleaner, changing handlebars, and finishing up the front brakes and controls. I think that's pretty much it. I think for the handlebars I'm going to use the old apehangers that are too wide and just cut a section out of the middle. Oh yeah, I have to recheck the pushrod adjustment and check the primary chain. Keep checking back, we're in the short stretch now. |
| February 1, 2007 - We're getting close! In these pics you can see that the left side is pretty much done, but there is still work to do on the right. I've finished the wiring (Woo Hooo!!) The oil lines are done, but I still need to check the pushrod adjustment and finish the intake and exhaust stuff. I did get the apehangers narrowed 2 1/2 inches. I took them down to the Museum of Flight where I volunteer and Mike cut them, slugged them and welded them back together for me. It's good to have friends with skills that I don't ;-P |
| February 10, 2007 - IT RUNS!!!! I finally got to the
point of starting it. So far so good, I tried to go for a test ride, but
battery needed to charge AND I didn't have enough brakes to try it in this
neighborhood. I'll post more pics tomorrow, I waited too late today and all
the pics except this one are too dark. The primary leaks like a stuck pig so
it'll have to come off to fix the stripped level bolt and to see why it
leaks so bad around the bottom. STAY TUNED!!!! February11, 2007 - Finally got to take a test ride!! Runs OK, need the carb tuned. The plugs were black when I got back, but I'm sure part of that was starting and screwing with it before I go to ride it. Still rich though so I'll play with it. Other than that, it's get the generator charging and fix the primary leaks and it should be OK. I'll let you know ;-P |