Owned this since October of 1970. (Pic is from early 90s I think. Pretty much unchanged over the years.)
Came home from my war at the end of 1969. Had as brand new 1970 FLH waiting for me. Tunred out to be a real POS. Flywheels were out of balance and broke front motor mount. Sam Arena of San Jose CA told me to leap off a bridge. My dad helped me out, fixed it, sold it and swore I would never ride another Shovel again (and did not until the mid-90s). Bought the 65 from a strawberry farmer out of Aromas CA. Initially he had had it painted over the stock color and it was a metallic purple with silver striping, pretty much stock condition, your basic full dresser. Of course everyone at the time was stripping down bikes to bare nothing and chopping them. The plan was then to strip it down to a basic rider so that I could use it as a long haul bike. Through marriage and divorce, I managed to hang on to most of the stock parts I removed.
By the time the above pic was taken I had painted over the pruple and silver color because my girfriend (now my wife) insisted that that it was one ugly color and if she was gonna ride she needed a bit of relief from the pain of the color combination. Used to take a lot of flack from riders at the time who were wondering how in heck I could ride such an ugly bike. It was simple for me.
The purple I am referring to. Wish ihad a pic of the color combo.
My sig pic is my daughter and I on the 65 sometime in the late 80s. It was just before the helmet law came into affect in Kali.
Anyway...
In 1972 I bought a brand new 1972 Sportster that I turned int a full blown chop project.
Owned it for about 10 years or so.
In 1974 I picked up a basketcase 1952 Pan
When I sold it at the end of 1998 it looked like this...
The 65 was the long haul bike (anything over the Rockies); the Sportster and the 52 were everything this side of the Rockies. And I will say that it was never, ever a problem finding my bike in a parking lot. So after owning, fixing up, preserving and selling several bikes (Shovels, Pans and 2 Evos), I finally decided it was time to restore the 65 as close to original as I can figure out.
Over 100K miles later.
So this build thread will be a long one. Figure till the end of next summer (2020).
Why now? Because my daughter and son-in-law blessed me with a grandson. he turns one this Thursday (December 12). Figure that he too needs to experience the HD way of life. The only exception is that I am adding a 1959 sidecar to the scheme and that adds another layer of complexity to the total end game.
I will throw this out here now. Need the stainless nose trim and side trim for the hack. Also looking for a good windshield frame or complete frame and plexiglass and seat. And just realized the mods moved my request for the tanks to the Twink section of "parts wanted". Really? Seriously? Oh thanks (NOT). I will be bringing that request back here as part of the build thread. Needs to stay together. Maybe different for others but if I owned a Shovel Pan or Evo I would not even consider looking in that section.
At any rate ...game on. Got lots of pics so far, lots of nitty griity to throw out there. Should be some fun with some frustration thrown in as well.
Well spent the last couple of days parkerizing parts for the sidecar. In theory I have all that I need. Put everything in baggies, marked them and did the work on the parts in the baggies rather than making a huge pile and trying later figure what goes to what.
I was initially reluctant to use the recommendation for stripping finishes like zinc which is muriatic acid. Unfortunately in these parts you have to buy it by the gallon when I really needed just about 1/4 as much.
The parkerizing isn't that time consuming, it is the prep-work of removing paint (rinse in acetone), removing rust (Evapo-Rust followed by acetone rinse), and since I do not have a media blaster, it means a wire brush and wire wheel to make sure the parts are truly clean (followed by another acetone rinse). Next everything went into the acid dip to remove any finish, followed by a baking soda & water rinse to neutralize the acid, followed by a last dip in the acetone before going to the parkerizing.
Went to Bass Pro shop for a $39.95 fish fryer (stainless with an aluminum basket and SS tongs). Comes with the hose to connect to a 5-gal propane tank. Got the manganese phosphate from a gun supply store, distilled water from Safeway. Total cost is less than $200. The wife gave me one of her older digital thermometers.
For my initial test I did the cylinder base bolts for my 49 FL project. A bit dark but it definitely works
Sidecar fender stuff along with the check strap components
One more shot of some of the finished parts (this... windshield bracket parts)
Not gonna win any contest but this is going to be ridden and not for the scrutiny of some AMCA judge and his white gloves
I easily have over 100 pieces (including all the nuts bolts and washers).
Didin't realize how really tired, beat up and incorrect parts were on it. I haven't run it for the last 12 years. Been using the 84. Motor was tired, really tired. I could hear it so put it under blankets
I was using an aftermarket speedo. The original one took a dump on me on my return trip from Sturgis in 1990, somewhere in Colorado.
K...for some strange reason i can't get the thumbnails to go away
Continuing...
If you notice in the above pic there is no tappet screen. Mine is a late production 65 model. Somwhere in my notes on the bike I have the production number series that the right case was not machined for the tappet screen. It is just a filled in section with an indent where the tappet screen would go.
Original California plate. I have always kept it registered
Bags were swap meet specials. Never leave home without extra bungee cords.
Wiring homade but it functioned perfectly
Only electrical problems...burnt the generator on Hwy 6 in Nevada in 100+ degree heat and broken negative groung strap outside of Greeley Colorado
12-09-2019 | 08:49 PM
65 FLH Build Thread
