Harley Love?

shovelheadrob · Post by **shovelheadrob** » Wed Sep 26, 12 12:36 pm

It would appear that there is a bit of Harley love here so I'll put up a few pics of my Shovel, it's nearly finished, been a few years in the making but worth the time & effort.

Been trying to get it up & running before I get started on the Demon but I've just discovered a lack of compression on one cylinder, so pulled the heads. Exhaust valve not sealing, seat not corroded (I expected that as it's been stood for a few years) so a fresh valve job & back together soon.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Wed Sep 26, 12 12:41 pm

Sweet.

Dave81 · Post by **Dave81** » Wed Sep 26, 12 1:34 pm

Great looking Bike.

Love the Air filter location, would be great if you could get some chrome surround for the element!

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Wed Sep 26, 12 1:49 pm

I've got a bigger headlight on me pushbike.

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Wed Sep 26, 12 2:53 pm

Lovely bike

Where is the front brake and clutch lever ??

Rogue Trooper · Post by **Rogue Trooper** » Wed Sep 26, 12 5:03 pm

I know on the market there's a throttle twist grip that can been used on the other side as a clutch twist grip so there's no visable lever, as for the front brake i've no idea

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Sep 26, 12 6:11 pm

Beautiful bike. Looks like a ton of mods on it, bet it sounds the nuts with that 2-1 pipe.

I've ridden Harleys since the late 70's and the 80" Shovel was my favourite.

My mate ran a 120" Shovel a few years back with an open primary and a 3" Primo belt. One night he ripped out of my local pub car park with me behind, picked up a small stone on the belt and it snapped in half. The belt went past my head like a bullet and landed about 40 feet away.

shovelheadrob · Post by **shovelheadrob** » Wed Sep 26, 12 7:08 pm

Bilko wrote:Beautiful bike. Looks like a ton of mods on it, bet it sounds the nuts with that 2-1 pipe.

I've ridden Harleys since the late 70's and the 80" Shovel was my favourite.

My mate ran a 120" Shovel a few years back with an open primary and a 3" Primo belt. One night he ripped out of my local pub car park with me behind, picked up a small stone on the belt and it snapped in half. The belt went past my head like a bullet and landed about 40 feet away.

Your right about the mods, the only thing that hasn't been re-engineered is the 4 speed transmission, the exhaust isn't a 2 into 1, it just looks that way from that angle.

The clutch is on the lefthand twistgrip, the brakes are linked, I just wanted the cleanest set of bars out there, there are only two small switches which are for the horn & the dipswitch.

Tony Jarvis did most of the fabrication for me, I designed this coil mount/head steady & he knocked it up, there are over a dozen bits of stainless all tig welded together in that bit alone. The same attention to detail has been followed through with everything.

It's the little details that really make it special like the rear brake line is routed through the torque arm.

I like things to be clean looking as in uncluttered & plan the same sort of theme for the engine bay with the Demon.

autofetish · Post by **autofetish** » Wed Sep 26, 12 8:17 pm

That brake line is Class

Mossy68 · Post by **Mossy68** » Wed Sep 26, 12 8:45 pm

Quality bike Lovely !!!!

Gary

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Wed Sep 26, 12 9:31 pm

How do you adjust brake ballance between front and back and are those brake discs not prone to warping??

shovelheadrob · Post by **shovelheadrob** » Thu Sep 27, 12 8:33 am

Dave wrote:How do you adjust brake ballance between front and back and are those brake discs not prone to warping??

Willwood adjustable proportioning valve hidden under the transmission, I don't expect the discs to get too hot, but we'll see!

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

Prothed · Post by **Prothed** » Thu Sep 27, 12 9:53 am

Very nice bike.

I don't expect the discs to get too hot

Mine still has the original calipers and the MC with the microscopic return valve that clogs up so that the fluid can't return once you let the brake off, so the brake drags, gets hot, everything expands, the brake applies harder, gets hotter, applies harder...

Did finally get the clutch working properly though. A great day when you can stop without it dragging or slipping.

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Thu Sep 27, 12 12:37 pm

Showing my age here..

I bought this Superglide new in 1976 from Fred Warr when he had his shop in the Kings Road. This photo was taken just a few days after I picked it up from Fred in August 1976.

It is a 74ci (1200cc) shovelhead with 4 speed trans. I rode this bike accross Europe into Belgium, Holland, and France and Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was from the AMF era, which was not the best for HD, and I did have some reliability and quality issues with it. But I also had a lot of fun on it, a new Harley was a very rare sight in those days.

I have owned five Harleys over the years, including a Road King and a softtail Deuce, and in 2010 bought a new Superglide and rode it to France, Belgium, Holland in May this year. The only problem is I am not as good at getting on and off of them as I used to be. But I'm already planning my next bike.

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Sep 27, 12 1:08 pm

Crikey, I wouldn't be too sure about that rear tyre Jim....looks like it's off a 1967 Morris Oxford!

Where have all those original AMF Harleys gone?