How old vintage? Evos are nice bikes that don’t require a lot of maintenance. What little you do is straight forward.

Beary

 

Go to AMCA.org (Antique Motorcycle Club of America). There are chapters all over the country. There is a chapter finder feature on the site. Get in touch with a local chapter. There is a wealth of knowledge about motorcycles in these chapters. If you get involved, there's member who will help you anyway they can.

 

All depends on budget and what you want to do. The most approachable would probably be (after the Evo) Shovelheads and iron head Sportsters, as the are fairly affordable and parts are obtainable. Once you start looking at Panheads the cost of entry goes up significantly, and don't even think about a Knuck unless you've got a pile of cash. Flatheads are another solid choice since the engine was used up until 1973 in the Servi-Car (which in itself is sort of rare oddly enough) and produced for many decades in various forms.

 

Good advice up there^^^.

It’s funny, I owned a new Evo the second year they were out so I don’t even look at them as vintage, and my first roommate in school had a '55 pan that was less than 20 years old at the time. I remember him getting the front rim, spokes, and front hub back from Browns, lacing it up in the dorm room and “truing” it up on a broom handle I was holding for him.

Man, time flies.


...anyway. This will be hard, but the fewer owners have owned what you end up buying, and the less it’s been screwed with, the less sleep you might lose trying to figure out WTF is wrong with it.

 

Thanks to everyone who has chipped in so far! This has all been really good advice.

It’s going to be a tough decision. The two best options for me right now are a mid ‘70’s shovel and an early ‘60’s pan.

Both bikes have been altered. My taste in bikes runs towards bobbers, and that’s how I’d describe both bikes. Both engines have been upgrade significantly: lots of high performance work has been done on them, one of them has an open primary, etc.

I’d have some more choices, but I see a lot of bikes with jockey shifters, foot clutches, etc., and I’m not quite ready for that.

 

Start with an IronHead if you need to stay Harley, get one if not cheep at least reasonable, parts available. Get a kicker or with starter. What ever you buy pickup a factory service manual.
no matter the engine you go with, always someone on here that can help.

 

Decide what you want as a vintage bike. Do you want the bike to be correct so that you can enter it in antique (35 years and older) bike meets? If that's the way you might want to go, get some books and catalogs on the model that you are interested in and learn as much as you can about it. Many bikes have been modified and some parts that have been changed or discarded can be expensive and difficult to replace. You'd be surprised what might look correct isn't. Bikes that aren't "correct" should reflect that in the price.
Someone mentioned AMCA, the antique motorcycle club of america. They have meets during the year where you can exhibit a bike and buy parts. You can also find information there on various models after you become a member. Antique bikes have become very popular, the club has over 11,000 members.
Should you consider something as old as an Indian, send me a message as I'd be glad to pass along what I've learned what to look for in buying one. Good luck!

 

Rode BSA's for years both as my daily and as the back up later, had some issues but nothing like the popular horror stories that come up whenever someone mentions the old brits.

OP , old iron isn't for everyone, average guy needs some wrenching skills, a practical tool set and patience otherwise a good bank account and a local old school indy to deal with it for you.

You decide to do this find somebody who knows the older stuff and become his new best friend so when you go looking you got a chance of not buying somebody else's jury rigged goobered problems

 

Shovelhead might be your best option, if you do get an old bike and start seeking out info close to home, you’d be surprised how many like minded people are close to you.

 

Good luck with that. A lot of bikes that have been bobbed or extensively modded are a money pit or need a lot of attention. If youre wanting that style why not find a clean stock (or as close to stock as you can get) bike and do the work yourself. Then you know what you have and you can truly make it yours and yours alone. Plus youll gain the experience and satisfaction of doing the work yourself.