its almost has a cafe racer vibe to it cosmetically, at least more so than the later harleys.... I like it.

I did a lot of iron head sportsters years ago. If you are on a budget and not reboring use plain cast rings instead of any kind of moly ones. They are more forgiving to less than perfect cylinder bores. May not last as long but I believe do a better job.

She’s a beast! Love it!💪

Are those pressure dials you bolt in to rocker box any good? Someone told me the oil pressure on these is so low they hardly register?

Next time, show us the bike!

I swapped a CV on my 80 iron and had that low end roughness till I completely changes my thinking about jets... low end jetting up to a 52 and that carb became a dream FYI not sure why the irons wanted more but it became smooth ride

Nice bike! Great job!

Use a reed breather from a old royal enfield, just run the pipe to the back mudguard like the old Bonnie's had. Stuff paying that much.

I thought you drove a jag?

Well here in Northern Indiana we probably got 4 months of winter but it hasn't been too bad the last 37 years.. Done enough electric myself you definitely have a different type system over there with the control box and all

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Bank Holiday tomorrow bud. Might be out of luck with your tyre shop - assuming this is recorded 5th May of course! Interesting tho - I get about the same miles per year on my Ironhead but it is a second/fun/hobby bike. I don't even own a car, but do own another full time bike (2016 Africa Twin) No matter how broken the iron head is (which is quite often as you will undoubtedly know) or how in the groove it is I still seem to rack up the same mileage (all weather, not precious about it) regardless, seems to self regulate somehow 🤪

I plan on getting a 1980 ironhead soon. I must assume your kickstarter was not stock. And I think an 80 would be the same frame as yours. Wondering where you got it from and if it was straight forward. Thanks!

Hey bit late to this party, but was wondering if you used the original inlet manifold for the (genuine) S&S or had to buy another manifold? Looking to upgrade my dying Keihin butterfly carb on my 82 ironhead and I might go the eye wateringly expensive S&S route, but am having trouble verifying (even from the suppliers Hogparts) as to whether I need a new matching manifold or not - I have doubts as to whether the throat sizes are compatible 🤔

The breather to the oil tank is closed loop - not being able to blow thru it is correct - I would simply run the breather from the reed valve outlet to atmosphere somewhere rather than trying to splice it in with the line for the oil tank. If you think about it when the oil pump takes oil from the oil tank the air volume increases which allows pressure from the crankcase to be drawn into the oil tank - as I say closed loop- its continuous when the engine is running.

Ahh, the first draft of what would become the sampleboard

THE SIZE IS SO COMICAL TOO

I am surprised with the lack of terrifying spiders I have encountered while recording music videos in your attic lol

We had one out in the barn years ago you couldn't fit it in a teacup

Woo Ill be putting a reed breather in a bike . on my channel . bike ..area scorrd to much ..

Do you have to slacken the push rods off to get that timing cover off? Stupid convoluted rear brake set up on 77 xlch with that splined lever goes through it to connect to cable on that steel sprocket guard?

That part of the primary cover wasn't painted. It actually had a thin aluminum decal with adhesive on the back. the other side would have XLH, XLS or whatever model and 1000 printed on the surface, showing model and engine size. I have a 1979 XLS Roadster and decided to do a complete tear down and rebuild with some engine upgrades along with brand new wiring harness and upgrades to the electrical system and some badass paint. I did all the work including paint and gold leaf.

The purpose of patents is not perpetual revenue so cloning is a feature not a bug. the S&S is inspired by the Keihin (the accelerator pump diaphragms don't swap by accident!). All the usual carbs work well properly tuned, and work badly when not. CV clone carbs are rightly popular. Ted's (US) and others have had Bendix/Zenith kits for many years but I don't save those. Butterfly Keihins are tunable IF you score the accelerator pump cover with the check ball (Andrews first offered them for the aftermarket but they're originally a stock part.

AKSHERLLLLY - the rear cylinder runs slightly cooler than the front one - due to the direction of rotation of the crank it has more oil splash cooling than the front one (or so im told)

The reed valve is a one way valve, to let blowby out, but no atmosphere in. Normally this outlet is either directed to the floor (early bikes) or has a connection to the back of the air filter housing on later bikes to allow blow by to go into the engine for burning (EPA stuff) This is the outlet that is notorious for dripping oil from either the filter housing or the pipe to the floor and is often modified to be redirected high up under the tank, or elsewhere with a mini K&N style filter. The line to the back of the oil tank is the one which facilitates vacuum in the system - as the oil pump delivers oil to the engine from the oil tank it forms a closed loop with the tank/crankcase. Ideally when the engine is running you should feel a slight vacuum/pull on the oil tank cap as you hold it near to the opening. (Im guessing you prob know all that any way lol)

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that on the front tube is called a woohoo valve over here, no idea why.

Watching the care and time that you put into your ironhead is the most American thing I ever seen a non American do. I had a 1978 with a wide glide front end and miss hearing it come to life after wrenching on it. Love the videos btw

I have made seats over the years they don't really look good but they're comfortable LOL

Good luck with your seat. The seat that came with mine is the front half of a 'normal' aftermarket two up seat that somebody cut in half. If yours turns out well I may attempt it myself.

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I put a Screaming Eagle carb.on mine(same make and year)It worked.Only problem is,one of the pipes turned blue 4 to 5” starting from the exhaust port.I didn’t know much about jetting.

It is just you, you made the mistake of trying to use a purely decorative appendage. 😣 Like the one I use to have on my bike it is aftermarket crap. If you remove the rubber there are metal barbs that are supposed to hold the rubber. With use the barbs simply cut through the rubber and it slips off. I used some pliers to bend the barbs in different directions for a better grip which helped for awhile, until new grooves were cut in the rubber. I trashed mine and use an old round one that used to have a rubber tube. You could try some epoxy to fix it. The metal where it meets the kick start arm was as soft as butter on mine so the pedal keeps angling back, mine was junk.

That is NOT what a Harley is suppose to sound like. Disgusting man,,,,,, put some slash cut strait pipes on that and give is a tune up... GEEEEES

Hello your 79 harley Is no where standard I'm Purped that you believe you have a 79 harley probly not your fault Theses old bikes are so good my reading on these machines are big thick books Best reading!!

Great video 👍🏼. Was it difficult installing the forward rocker box motor mount? Getting the front mount off my 79 XlS was a bear, looking fir vids on the re-install cause I know it’s not going to go smoothly 😬.

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Not useless, just buy an S&S tube. Mine runs really well

These old British bikes have so much more personality than American or metrics in my opinion. I recently came into owning a 64 B40 Motor I found for $300. I'm planning on building a chopper outta it. Cheers from California

I have one wet and one dry plug, would this cause bad running? i've cleaned carb but still running rough.

What model windscreene and how effective is it?

Where did you get the handle bars from, please? Thanks Mines a 79 also

Even when new, the front rod will 'move' more from side to side........I've owned 3 1972 sporty....after a just a few thousand miles...the front rod will be sloppy loose sideways. I would probably not hesitate to use this crank assembly. the rear looks pretty good....My 1946 Knuckle is like this also.

Had a 79 XLH, sold it when I joined the Navy...Sure would like to know whatever happened to her

My 78 XLCR has what I think are the original rear shocks that measure 12.5 inches. It gives you a clear spacious view between the rear tire and fender, it also leans dramatically to the left when on the kickstand. I prefer the way yours sits, could you measure the shock length and post it. I am shopping and thinking about 11 inch units?

That wiring might not be proper but it is a lot better than what I am looking at on mine. 🤔☹ Mine uses house lamp cord in places, soldered connections without any insulation and the list goes on. I actually plan on fixing it someday so I can ride it but my other bike keeps wanting my attention, yep another Harley. I've only had it for 7 1/2 years, don't want to rush into these things. 😎

The first few times you got up to speed and the camera started jumping around it seemed like you crashed. Your scenery and housing is a lot different than what I am used to. How close are you to the ocean?

😎👍😎 What is it that your doing that you bang around your rear rocker box that constantly causes it to leak.. Isn't that a bit much of that hilow Mar sealant..sounds like your filling holes in your driveway ..

I can't believe they make you run a license plate that big. I guess we're lucky over here in the USA with our tiny plates.

With my 30 year old charger which was giving the same symptoms, I found that the rocker switches which controlled 6/12V and High/Low charge rate were corroded and stopping electrical flow. A squirt of serviseol contact cleaner into the back of them, few clicks back and forth and then it was back to working again. Result!