Ouch - you guys are brutal! Told my girl I was getting beat up in the forums with horrible pictures of fake EVO rat rods and fake grease comments... she laughed and called me a bitch. Truth is, you guys are partially right.
Been riding for over 30 years, had my share of all kinds of bikes. My WLC was totally rebuilt by TATRO Machines in CA (he's all over YouTube) and is certainly the real deal as far as originality. Although I love the patina, I'm not going very far with confidence on that bike. Too many things can go wrong - and OEM parts are getting harder to find. Hence, the concept of a ratty looking bike that is FULLY reliable and more fun to work on without having to worry about originality.
The forum comments DID make me think however. The Baker 4-speed tranny concept especially - they're all going to leak eventually. Now I'm thinking about a full rebuild on an original 4-speed. I'm assuming Jim's is the best choice for a leak free rebuild. I'm zeroing in on a complete FLH now - hope to make an offer today.
The big question is, rebuild the original motor with all of the EVO stuff they make for shovels, or slap in a new S&S and put the original shovel on the side.... can you honestly say a property rebuilt shovel will be as reliable as a new S&S?
jims stuff went in the toilet for the guys in the business years ago they off the guys and farmed out to Mexico
andrews stuff is and always has been the go too for almost every shop - reasonable money hi quality and real customer service if needed
your choice your project - FX shovels are always around 5 or 6 grand driving and running your changing almost all of it so
S&S offers a good product but warrantee is iffy - have used them cant say they dont work and like you presume its all new not 50 years old heat cycles
with disc brakes your gearing is up too you - gear it hi you loose using 4th around town its 3rd gear - you do not to me sound like a guy who is happy on 50 MPH back roads
if you are lowering the bike be mindful the chain can and does eat the starter housing and primary area that attaches the starter housing so you need someone that is knowledgeable in what actually works and not the guy good at reciting the you tube looney tunes
rebuild the original motor with all of the EVO stuff they make for shovels, or slap in a new S&S and put the original shovel on the side.... can you honestly say a property rebuilt shovel will be as reliable as a new S&S?
One More ouch... If ya want an Evo.... Buy an Evo
a 1985 or 1986 4-speed chassis with any Evo powerplant, and a Baker 4-speed... Rock on...
Or... Another ouch
Grow a Set, and build an awesome Ironhead!!!!
i guess one of your questions was is the evo shovel a good deal - yes they work well together makes more usable power then any shovel using shovel performance parts - NOW that is in street driving in my experience - having them come into the shop for issues all kids of things not just engine gaskets and alike
yes they seem to be reliable as they use an evo cam and special rocker arms - you use less of any cam you use because the rocker ratio is smaller - this changes the lift and a bit of duration - so they use bigger cams then the same evo engine to get the same power -0 S&S designed a great cam for this 585 by memory will look if needed
i was not on board but have seen enough of them now to say yes they do the job well but stay away from compression if your kick only - did i say stay away from compression
the ones we built are 8 to 1 tops you need a solid deck forged to get 71/2 to one but i prefer cast pistons for street and they do not come solid deck
Cheap and reliable, you are talking about an Evo. They will go around the world twice and all she will ask for is some fresh oil every once in a while. And she won't leak. Really feeling cheap, Evo Sportster, 1991 and up to get a 5 speed, and now you can go around the world 4 times without a care in the world. Make it as ugly as you want, she will start every morning.
That said, a well sorted 45 will go almost as far with only a couple of complaints, like keep adding oil. but you would be 1000% cooler, just sayin'.
You want to ride cross country trouble free or you want to be cool, answer that in your head and the rest will follow.
Cheap and reliable, you are talking about an Evo. They will go around the world twice and all she will ask for is some fresh oil every once in a while. And she won't leak. Really feeling cheap, Evo Sportster, 1991 and up to get a 5 speed, and now you can go around the world 4 times without a care in the world. Make it as ugly as you want, she will start every morning.
That said, a well sorted 45 will go almost as far with only a couple of complaints, like keep adding oil. but you would be 1000% cooler, just sayin'.
You want to ride cross country trouble free or you want to be cool, answer that in your head and the rest will follow.
Perfect....
Well said..
only thing for me is the 45... reliable certainly... but so is a Honda CT-70, and they both go the same Speed!!!!! LOL
The Evo Sporty is Famous for "Takes a Lckin, and Keeps on Tickin"
and will Outrun any of the others... Flame on??? Come to the Track and See....better yet... Show Us
Ok - just to recap, it sounds like everyone is saying the standard S&S will be the more reliable option. Since I’m concerned more about reliability than performance, I’m not interested in anything with high compression, so that’s out of the equation. Second choice would be to rebuild the original shovel with EVO parts.
If I include a 1200 dollar deduction for the sale of the OEM running shovel, then option 1 and 2 cost about the same. However I think option two would hold more value since it would be a numbers matching bike.... but does that matter since this will be a custom and NOT original regardless? For example, my shovel picture below has the original motor and frame - but does that matter since nothing about this bike is original?
Any time you split an original motor and frame, you make the remaining ones more valuable. So yes, keeping those parts (and the tranny) together is worth more.
07-08-2020 | 03:19 PM
