Shovelheads, Where have they gone?

My '74 Shovelhead Hardtail is super reliable if I'm not in a hurry, I can go anywhere at 70-75mph and everything stays in place, If I ride over 80 mph stuff starts shaking loose plus it really isn't an enjoyable ride,

A few times I have been riding with groups that insisted on running at 85-90 mph, I figured it was better to ride alone than in bad company and didn't bother trying to keep up.

I've had it up to 100 mph a few times just to do it, 100 mph on a hardtail Shovel is an interesting experience when the road is bad.

while not a shovel, my '67 sportster hardtail is reliable and great on the freeway to ~80mph.
past there it's still great... i think... but the vibration grows so much that i can't really see. anything.

i've hit 113mph. that was a ride.

it used to be a hot 11:1, andrews PB+ cammed, magneto, beast of iron that was near impossible to kick start unless the stars aligned and nobody was around to watch. it was a bit less reliable then, temperamental as could be and would run like a raped ape the rest of the time.

now it's 9.5:, andrews P cam, CV carb, magneto. kicks over easy, dead reliable, low maintenance for something that's 46 years old and was outdated technology when it was new. doesn't feel that much slower than when it was 11:1, either... and not temperamental at all.

nothing shakes loose; loctite and safety wire are my friends.

i've had a shovel. loved it. it was battered, neglected, dragged through hell and back and still ran fine. the dude who stole it must have liked it.

i've got a genny shovel that'll be on the road one of these days, as a hard tail long bike.

Any pics of your ironhead?

I have an '82 FXS with FLH front end and sheetmetal. A '62 CH, and a partial '64 CH...

I didn't think of this as a "show me your Shovel" thread but I'd love to see some.

My favorites are the late '70s/early '80s AMF bikes Willie G penned. If I could find an original Sturgis my irrational brain say's I'd love to have it. They seem to have gained "custom" paint and apes instead of those cool drag bars.

Edit to add a random YT Sturgis:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9aPcJAtgSc

I love mine! Rode it last nite. It's a rigid built from a wrecked 1980 FLH. Been on the road for 10 years in this configuration. A good friend is restoring the original frame so someday the drivetrain will go back in its original home. I agree that they are as good looking as a Knuckle.

My first shovel was a 4 yr old worn out '81 police bike that managed to teach me all the bad things that shovels can do to the uninformed. My current one is a sweet running machine.

I really admire folks like the lady with the 300,000 mile shovel. That's dedication. Not sure I'll ever have that many miles on mine but I'm gonna try!

Note to the poster above: a buddy out west has an '81 Sturgis that he bought from the original owner and mutual friend who passed away from cancer a few years ago. It is pretty much stock and is in great running condition. Nice bike!

A funny true story: I was at a local swimming hole when a group of riders came rolling in all on the latest Harleys. Later that day when every one was relaxing, I saw this kid was riding a bicycle, I turned to him and said, when are you going to get a motorcycle? He said that he was saving for one and hoped to be able to afford one by next year. I asked him what he wanted to get. He said a Harley! One of the group that rode in kind of lit up and said I ride a Harley. The kid, all 110lbs of him said "No, I am going to get a real Harley". The guy asked him what a real Harley was. The kid never batted an eye, looked at the guy and said " You have to kick a real Harley to start it, and if you don't and ride one you are a pussy! Not one of the group said a word. Everyone else was just laughing.

To this day I think the kid is right, a real bike is started with your foot.

I built a '66 in a wish bone frame for my wife, she never rode it, so I sold it
I've noticed the Evos have almost vanished too. Most every Harley I see is a Twinkie

This story is amazing! I love Shovels, and the early Evos were OK... but I would never buy a Harley newer than the mid 1990's. They got a lot more electronic 'crap' that added basically no extra features, lost horsepower, got heavier, and got more expensive...

In my area (central east coast) the Evo big twins are all gone too. Most people in my area consider an Evo to be 'vintage' ... which makes me laugh. The only time i see Shovels and older bikes are at the big bike weeks, like Daytona and Myrtle Beach (before they shut it down).

3 of my 5 Harleys are kick only, 1 is kick and electric, and one is electric only... but I dont hate electric start. Actually, I prefer to have both kick and electric. The only reason that my 1978 is electric only is because thats how it left the factory, and it was an exacting restoration.

my 1969 XLCH (not a shovel, but the Shovel was based on the early Ironhead, so its close). Honestly, the 1958-69 XLCH is my favorite Harley of all time... maybe even favorite motorcycle of all time. You just need to ride a short frame, magneto CH sometime... it will cahnge your life.


1978 FX (kick only superglide):


1978 XLH1000, 75th anniversary edition - mid restoration. Thats a 1945 WL in the background:


the 1978 XLH1000 post-restoration:

I only have a 76 Ironhead I fully rebuilt, tore apart the sprocket shaft and left flywheel pretty good, turned that key into a puddy ball.

I'd love a shovelhead, but like one man said, they're all going to Japan.. I was even offered a job to help a man find them all and send them over there... I need the money :\

daily driver, good timer:







it really is that skinny, in person. super narrow trees, machined fork legs to squeeze around the drum, narrow bars, wee svelte thing it is.

(not much of a photographer, me)


i had a shovel that was stolen.
i had a shovel i sold to someone in japan.
i've got a shovel that'll find its way into a long bike one day.
and... i'd love a shovel FXR.

i occasionally see a killer deal, but they're either swept up fast or not legitimate and/or fishy (ahh, the joys of harleys)

That's a beautiful bike.
It's simple, light, original with a ton of personality and attitude.
How hard is it to start with the mag? When I ran a Joe Hunt mag on a '76 shovel, I hung a bigass Bluestreak condenser on the side of it. It made starting much easier.
It looks like you've adapted the oil bag to accept the old style oil filter cap.
Is there a filter under it?

Evos really took a hit being shipped overseas in the '90s, mostly to South America and South Africa.
A few weeks ago, there must've been a couple of hundred bikes at the local HD dealers party. I counted 5 Evos, the rest were twinkies and newer Sporties.

I haven't seen a Shovelhead for years over here. My 1990 Evo seems to be regarded as an old oddity as well. To be honest most of the UK harley riders never seem to do many miles at all so i guess theres a few tucked away.

thanks!

it's a pretty easy starter as long as it's got clean plugs and points. i really only clean the points every couple months. adjust them a couple times/year.

cold: a couple prime kicks then two or three and it's running
hot: get it to TDC then kick hard. usually one, sometimes two kicks.

the above of course completely changes based on how many people are watching and/or if there's a hot woman watching. when it was 11:1 it'd throw you over the bars if boobs were around.

i cut the neck off an XLH kidney tank so i could run that cap with internal drop-in filter.

it weighs in just a bit over 400lbs wet. pretty easy to whip it around and surprisingly well mannered when ridden hard. the drum brakes are what holds it back (or fails to) for the most part. eventually i'd like to go to a TLS on the front. both front/back are properly arced and have a good compound, they're just crap designed.

Makes me wonder how many were made over the years?

Lots of shovel's here in Reading, they have a huge following with the local HD boys.

I've got an '81 FLH on one of my lifts at work. Everyone who walks in casually wanders over and w/o saying anything starts looking it over. And we have lots of $30K bikes sitting around.

Well done, sir! That is just perfect. Thanks for sharing.

I've got a 1980 Sturgis. Pretty original with all the little upgrades that make a shovel run right. I bought her from the original owner. I'll try and post up a pic or two tomorrow. She's a great bike

I have a '48 FLH. Bought it from the original owner. In 1967 he upgraded the heads to the new design because of the better oiling. He also later put on a glide front end and all it entailed. It used to be people tried to hop up the performance, now we all want to bring back the pan heads and springer front ends (me included).

This pic was taken on the way to putting it up for storage during my last deployment.