The Sportster was bought by my father who sold it to my brother. My brother recently purchased a newer and bigger bike. He also owns a 1200 Sporty. He put the ironhead up for sale. I jokingly told him that the bike would make a great birthday present. He decided to give me the bike rather than sell it to keep it in the family.
I had the bike shipped from PA to TX and it arrived on July 30th. If you ever need to have a bike shipped, put up an auction on uShip. You will get alot of bids and the shippers are very competitive.
While I was waiting on the bike to arrive, I starting researching these old ironheads and the general concensus is this is not a bike you just get on and ride like the newer Harley's. If you own one of these, you better not be afraid to turn a wrench. Ironhead owners love their bikes and spend a lot of time keeping them on the road. This engine was introduced in 1957 and phased out in 1985 giving it an impressive 28 year run. Many purists consider the ironhead engine to be the last true Harley engine. It was designed and manufactured by Harley Davidson with no outside consultation.
I knew the bike had some things that needed to be addressed to make it road worthy. It is missing the speedometer, mirrors and turn signals. I also knew the bike would need a clutch adjustment right off the bat so I started researching that as well. My brother also put drag bars on it and told me that I'd probably want to change them back to the orignals. He shipped the original handlebars with the bike. Gas had been spilled on the tank and caused the paint to haze over in spots real bad.
I decided, as I start to get this bike in road worthy condition, I would keep a record of the journey. As a complete novice in motorcycle mechanics, I'm hoping that I'll pick up tips along the way and share what I've learned with others.
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