The Real Cost of Maintaining an Ironhead Sportster

[@jameshuman7091]

Ironheads are like all other pre EVO Harleys. Be mechanically inclined, get service manual and parts manual, and enjoy! Besides my ‘97 Heritage Springer FLSTS, white with red stripes, I have one 1980 Ironhead Bobber, one 1975 Ironhead chopper, and a 1972 Ironhead Sportster. I like the Ironheads!!!!!! If mechanically inclined, really easy to maintain and repair.

[@buttcrackcycles]

You got it right, have a little common sense, a little mechanical know how, a good manual, and the desire to keep an old bike on the road. Shake, pour and enjoy!

[@daveco1270]

I bought my first non runner "flip" bike about two months ago. It was an experiment to see if I could do it, and have some fun with the bike before selling it. I started writing down every cent I was spending to get the bike back on the road, keeping in mind what I could sell it for. Stuff adds up real quick, and I'm not counting my time/labor. I paid 2000 for the bike and thought I could spend around 500 to get it running and then sell the bike for 4 grand. I've already spent about 1200 bucks on the bike...and I'm still chasing a weird electrical glitch. It starts and runs great, but every so often when idling at a stop light the RPMS drop by a few hundred for just a second which often shuts the bike off. It starts right back up, but it's still annoying. I've been spending money trying to figure out the problem and fix it...which means my potential profit is getting smaller and smaller, Its all a learning experience. And I don't think I'll lose money in the end. Fingers crossed. I should add that I'm normally a vintage bike guy, but the flip bike Ive been working on is an 07 Triumph Bonneville.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Yeah it's hard to gauge a good flip, I'm still trying to get the hang of it myself honestly. You'll get it! And I hear what you're saying about sometimes the newer stuff being harder to figure out

[@johnmartin1114]

Sounds like a automatic advance unit to me

[@wingwang007]

Vacuum leak or sensor.

[@philvale5724]

Hi 👋, That has definitely been worth the spend, you have ended up with a great bike, I have been riding bikes since I was around 10 years old, back in the 60s, I had my first Harley in 94,95, sportster FXR than a deuce, 1999/2 which, sadly I had to sell in 2019 due to my ex partner, and cannot afford anything at the moment, hopefully one day as I’m running out of time, as I’m now in my 70s, Look forward to seeing you next project , ride safe, keep up the great work, Phil from the moulin France

[@JoeRed]

Your shop helper steals the show! He deserves more screen time!

[@buttcrackcycles]

Haha! He's a character for sure!!

[@MarkPalmer1000]

I refurbished my '79 Ironhead this past winter. It cost about $1500 to get it back on the road to be safe and reliable. That was for new front brake discs and pads, tires, shifter shaft and bushings, primary chain and tensioner, output shaft seal, clean carb, new generator and regulator, and a few other small items. I ride it just about every day, no major issues or breakdowns. You just have to be able to do the work yourself for it to pay off.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Sounds about right to me! Glad you got it going and are enjoying miles on it

[@timtharp835]

Lol. Don't worry about the rooster. Sounds great

[@buttcrackcycles]

He's a big boy and loves to let the world know it 🤣

[@Iron_Horse_883_]

I just bought a ‘78 Ironhead. Definitely owned by a tweaker at one point, but I’ve made some great strides in getting it back riding smooth. Excited to get it back up to where it used to be

[@raybrensike42]

As recall, the front wheel bearing on my old Sportster was just like an automobile wheel bearing and I had it matched up at a parts store. It was real cheap. Only a few bucks.

[@xlrider1565]

My first Harley, was an '81 I.H. Sportster. Bought it in 2007. Like you, I spent a similar amount to get it road worthy. Did have some issues, but other things were hard to deal with. Due to the 4 spd., and 61 cu. in. motor, a steady 60 mph on the freeway, is about the max I can comfortably do. upping that to 65 mph, is a no go! That extra 5 mph has the motor screaming, and 70 is unobtanium. The other issue, is the unavailability of basic replacement parts. Like replacement brake caliper pins are n/a. Little things like that are discouraging. The bike is happy doing 50 mph all day, but just 15 mph more blows the deal. ~I have since bought an '05 Wide Glide(carb'd), in 2019, with less than 3,500 miles on the odometer. BTW, this is in Honolulu, Hi. Aloha! 🤙🙂🤙

[@HarleyinGermany]

I love your bikes bro! I wish I could afford more Harley's to wrench on.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Thanks! It helps I buy em cheap and broken 🤣

[@jameshuman7091]

Also forgot to add, my Ironheads are in hardtail frames with drag bar handlebars! Great looks!!!

[@willadams565]

Good video. I agree Ironheads are a reliable and fun bike. A lot of your costs were consumables so are not specific to HD. Thanks for the honest no bs appraisal.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Yup this has been a good bike for sure, very happy to own it.

[@LukeA1223]

I’ve had my ‘83 since 2016, rode it to death, rebuilt the top, rode it to death again and I’m just at the end of the rebuild. It’s too bad I didn’t get it back on the road this summer but I’ll still get some riding time over the winter here in Victoria, BC. I’ll see if the original Keihein will last (it was spitting from the pilot jet like yours did, could be a tad off timing or the old clamps didn’t choke off the intake manifold good enough) but there’s a CV not far from me I’m liable to rebuild and bolt on. Thanks for the video, not too many are working on these 83s.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Hope you get it back going soon. I actually really like the Keihin on this bike

[@mikegowen4967]

Brought my 93 Sportster home yesterday and the Accelrater Pump arm broke.. Just my luck. Always something

[@buttcrackcycles]

Haha sounds about right 🤣 at least that's not a huge deal to fix!

[@justadutchman5169]

I really like how you go about with your kid. Reminds me how my sons were at that age. Children only grownup ones and it seems you both do a great job. That’s what I like about your channel. Work on bikes, love the family. 😎🫵🏼👍🏼🫡👊🏼✌🏼🇳🇱

[@buttcrackcycles]

Thanks for those kind words, he's my little buddy and I love spending time with him!

[@jaynedoe1959]

I can only manage having one bike at a time, because I live in an apartment, I`m older, not wealthy, etc... I didn`t want just any rando bike, but my funds are limited, so I decided on an Ironhead. Perhaps the best thing about my bike is something you mentioned. I got mine from the 2nd owner & he had it since it was 2 years old & he took really good care of it until he just mothballed it in his garage. I`ve had it over 3 years now & yes, I spent $ome money on it to put it back on the road, but I`m completely fine with that & pretty confident in it overall. It gets a lot of looks & compliments & I was surprised at it`s performance the first couple times I ripped it, but generally I ride it pretty easy, upshift early & just enjoy the potato-potato of riding a bike which is basically operating on 100 year old technology. I love watching vids of others who appreciate the same & it`s great getting a little glimpse into your life. It looks like you`ve got the right idea! ...You haven`t stewed that rooster yet? LOL, cute kid & nice shirts you`re wearing too! Have a great one.

[@buttcrackcycles]

Haha no the rooster is still kicking! Thanks for always watching and the nice words

[@jaynedoe1959]

I was changing jets in my carb & it made me think of your Shovelhead throttle cable dilemma & it gave me an idea. I`m not sure this will work, but depending on the carb you`re using & how much cable slack you need to take up, a bicycle style cable adjuster might fit? I googled it & see amazon or ebay seem to have several options of various dimensions to fit bicycles, mopeds or motorbikes. It might be a dumb idea, but it might be a real trick new answer too? Just a thought!@@buttcrackcycles

[@DrunkenGaladial]

Your vids have me excited to get off the road and see what I got myself into. I boight my brother in law's ironhead. Like yours, its well maintained. I am a trucker so I've owned it for 3 months but haven't seen it since I bought it.

[@buttcrackcycles]

I think you need to tell you dispatcher you need a few days off 🤣

[@DrunkenGaladial]

@@buttcrackcycles for sure! Going to be home in a week, so the wait is almost over. Your videos are awesome and have kept me excited to ride the ironhead when I get home.

[@thomasobrien5976]

I love the colur scheme

[@buttcrackcycles]

Me too!

[@GJM866]

Really nice bike, colors are awesome, it is worth it!

[@darwynkeeton4665]

love the shirt!

[@buttcrackcycles]

Haha yeah it's a good one!

[@michaelmitchell5909]

U got some cool bikes man, can't wait to see what you do with the shovel

[@buttcrackcycles]

Hopefully I'll be back to working on it within the next month or so

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

To have a shop redo the rear brakes and paying for labor the cost of the job would be $400 . That was the price I was quoted by an independent shop.

[@SaddleTrampTV]

I agree. Those old sportsters are only about as reliable as the people who own them. By the way... I too have sunk a small fortune into my P.O.S. shovelhead as well and plan on attempting to ride it to Born Free Texas next month. We'll see what happens.

[@buttcrackcycles]

I think you'll be just fine!

[@BrianKyne]

I got my 1st Harley 3 months ago and it’s a 82’ Ironhead. I’ve spent close to a grand into it but maybe $300 in needs for it. It seems to have something wrong every 4-5 rides but I’m in the getting everything up to par stage. It’s actually dependable in my eyes. The little things I been running into are annoying because I’m learning as I go Thanks to your content!!👍🏻🤙🏻 Last but not least where did you get the shirt? Flipping great shirt!!👍🏻😎

[@buttcrackcycles]

Shirt is from KYODT you can look them up! I think getting all the little annoying stuff worked out of a bike is often frustrating but, once you do, it's worth it

[@BrianKyne]

@@buttcrackcycles Thanks and I absolutely agree!! Keep the great content coming🤙🏻🙌

[@BrianKyne]

@@buttcrackcycles what service manual do you recommend? Thanks👍🏻🤙🏻

[@buttcrackcycles]

@@BrianKyne definitely the factory shop manual. I have a Chilton and Haynes also, but very rarely use them. Always open the FSM for any bike I work on, and I vastly prefer paper copies vs PDFs on a computer.

[@BrianKyne]

@@buttcrackcycles Perfect, I appreciate the advice!!

[@dynasore2993]

Had a 73 xlch for 25 years. Tires. Batteries,carb kits, 1 generator, 1 top end rebuild. She was a cheap date. Just had to remember, there's tight, and there's Harley tight.....

[@buttcrackcycles]

Sounds like a winner to me, I really like those older Sportsters, one day!

[@bmp72]

And now compare this to the depreciation of a new Sportster. I've had my shovelheads for several years now with no big problems. Because of the saved depreciation I wouldn't blink twice at putting a new Baker transmission in one.

[@crminalminds12]

i own a 79 roadster xls 1000 and know the life of spinning wrenches more than riding. what would be your list of go to tools to always have in your saddlebags for a bike like that ?

[@neilsevery2209]

Hey bro, just started watching your channel and love your content! And Kenneth is awesome too.. Say hello to him! But why is there never any repair videos on 85 sportsters? Like mine lol! They just don’t break or???? lol

[@buttcrackcycles]

I just bought and fixed an 85 Sportster! I have two videos about it, check my channel page out and thanks for watching!

[@user-vm5gb2yj9w]

Had a "74" loved it and never touched it.......clean runner.

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

I would buy it if it had a kickstarter.

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

Having both British motorcycles that are the opposite so I trained myself to grab the front brake because they are all the same in that aspect 90%of braking power is the front brake.

[@benderbender1233]

tanks fur remindn me eye needa d0 a lifter adjust s00n. 🤔

[@buttcrackcycles]

I do it at every oil change, it might be overkill, but it's what I always did on air-cooled VWs, and they're basically German Harleys 🤣

[@benderbender1233]

@@buttcrackcycles th0t eye mite hav heard a slite clatter wile hammering 0n her hard da 0tha day.

[@pl7868]

getting parts sorta bothers me , i mean it's a harley . should be like an old chevy or ford

[@buttcrackcycles]

Yeah, should be cheap and easy to find, but it's not!

[@pl7868]

@@buttcrackcycles yep even my chev pickup took three weeks to get plug wires cause they cut down the rubber trees an planted palm oil trees cause more money but most things are ok , makes me wonder why you can't get harley parts though would think be important for the brand

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

$4,000 for that bike is a bargain.

[@frankmarkovcijr5459]

12,000 is very low mileage.

[@buttcrackcycles]

I believe that was the "reset" mileage after the last engine rebuild. I know my uncle rebuilt it at some point in time. Unsure how many miles are on the chassis.

[@jeffreyness9741]

That's an interesting t-shirt.