Had a pretty bad reputation. Curious to know what the AMF owners experience were

 

Mine still runs. Has been for over a quarter-million miles now.
Although, in 40 years, I may have worn some parts out, but that was just temporary.

 

I had a 1976 Sportster that could eat a generator every 100 miles. They say there is a fix but back then I could never get anyone who could make it stop.

 

I had several ... I rode the carp out of the 76 XLCH and it never gave me any trouble ... My 79 FXEF was ( kind of ) a bran find ... brought it home and took it down to a bare frame ... Went through it from top to bottom ... Pretty dependable scooter ... But it loved to be "fondled" every once in a while, kind of like my wife of 50 years :>)

 

1970, AMF years started in 1969 I believe, she is technically an AMF bike, but they did not come with the AMF logo in '70. Old bikes take patience and maintenance, after that nothing but fun. This one is going out for a little putt shortly with the wife, we need to distance ourselves from the neighbors. But I did have a '79 XLH in the 80's, it ate electrical parts like I had money in my wallet. Real bitch of a bike, this one is much better. But I also have some $$$ in my wallet these days, makes things a bit easier with old bikes.

 

Have a friend who has one. He bought it new and drove it a few years. FX Super Glide. The brake cylinder froze up and locked wheel up. He parked it and for some reason decided to upgrade motor. I hate that word upgrade. Anyway, after he was done, it would not run. Been sitting in his garage ever since. Has that ugly or maybe just outdated long fender seat pan.

 

my 78 Low Rider only had 2 problems , brand new it leaked oil ( i know , they all do that!) but this was more than other more experienced riders thought was normal . turned out it was a problem with the rear chain oiler , dealer fixed it easily under warranty . after a few months it started coughing while under load , turned out whoever assembled the engine put an incorrect ring in the rear cylinder . the dealer bored the cylinders out and put in whatever parts were needed (again under warranty) and i never had another problem with it .

 

I had 2 A M F bikes wore them out, wish I had them back, good bikes

 

I bought a 79 lowrider brand new and rode it until 1991 and sold it to my brother. Up until last year it was his only bike. This bike has never even had a push rod cover off of the engine it in all these years. It's has a wideglide put on it and different sheet metal put on it, but that's it. 1 primary chain and 1 throw out bearing along with a clutch and rear sprocket and chain is all that's been done to the drive train. It is starting to puff alittle out of the rear cylinder when you start it,but it's not ready to come apart just yet. Got alot of miles on it too.
Now another friend bought the same bike, same day at a different dealer and had all kinds of problems with it. Stuck a couple of valves a couple of times when new and where fixed under warrenty.

 

I bought 3 new H-D (AMF) bikes; '75 Sportster XLH, '75 Electra-Glide FLT and a '76 Super-Glide FXE.

The Sportster fouled the rear spark plug every 100 miles and I soon discovered that it was too small for me and sold it with 400 miles on the odometer.
It was a nice looking, good sounding bike with the "staggered duals" in a Gold color.

The '75 Electra-Glide was the proverbial "AMF" f-up!
It had a lifter noise from day one and the owner of the dealership offered another bike if I wanted OR he would "make it right" if I wanted that bike.
I kept the bike. After replacing two sets of lifters (without success) he replaced the entire upper-end......and that got the job done!
His claim was that the both "jugs" (cylinders) had been bored more "oval" than round and was the cause of low oil pressure and oil consumption.

The '76 Super-Glide's only problem was with the rear brake caliper design (clearance).
It totally locked up on me with less than 90 miles on the odometer.
They had to be kept clean of dirt, rust, etc., fresh fluid seemed to help also.
I had no serious mechanical issues with the engine or transmission related to design or quality for the 35,000 or so miles that I rode it.
I did add an extra oil filter and cooler and being in the days prior to synthetic oils I always used Valvoline 20w/60w Racing Oil.

As for the oil "drips", much of this originated from the drive chain oiler that received it's oil from the oil return line between the crankcase and the primary chain case. The fic was to simply shut-off the "oiler" and replace the OEM drive chain with a pre-lubed "O" Ring chain and have no more drips!

Once the EVO's were introduced with the belt drives, I always said that I'd take a Shovelhead with a belt drive over an EVO with a chain any day!
Chains have a purpose and are easier to repair/replace than belts but IMHO they are nastier, louder and creates vibrations.