Ah the hubris of youth, lol. Does it start better when you do it as he said?

 

Space and cash can be a limiting factor but you can always sell something to make room for something better.
Easier said than done in my case. Hard to part with these old girls.

 

Very nice score right there. Only thing I would add is that those petcocks do not age well. It is the same type that is used on my 67 FLH that had been sitting for some 40+ years. I had partially filled the tanks to run it, turned off the ignition and gas supply and the next morning I come out and there is gas all over the floor. The gas had leaked past the petcock and into the carb. Pot metal that cannot be rebuilt (with my abilities anyway). Ended up replacing it.

 

So far so good, the 72 has one as well but I don't trust them. The repop one I put on the 66 worked so I'll pick up a couple more of those.

 

I haven't tried since, just been checking it over but maybe later today. I think I better check the timing first, the guy said he "thinks" the timing is close but suggested I go electronic and get rid of the Zenith carb. My 72 is all stock so its possible to make it work as is.

 

Here's some forging details and some questions.

Its a - 16



Random letter D on top of trans case.


Inner primary is pretty clean, no chain damage.







Upper tree has no casting numbers. My 72 is a -64 if I recall correctly.





Underside of top seat post forging


71 Stand, Im assuming its correct?


72 stand, is it correct?



Rear cylinder head casting date is 12-70
Front head casting date is 1-71
Rear cylinder date Jan 4th 1971 Monday (Julian calendar date 4 - 71)
Front cylinder date Dec 7th 1970 Monday (Julian calendar date 341 - 70)

 

Thanks for the confirmation. It may be a die number but I can’t say for certain. IIRC it’s the only extra number I’ve seen on a 47651-58 forging even though that forging was first used for 58.

The lower left rear forging number was used for about mid-70 through early-73 but I still don’t know why the suffix is 65 as opposed to 70. I thought there may have been a number 1 at the very end but it looks like your forging has the number 2 there.

On the R-H axle clip that forging number was used for 59–72. And for most, if not all, of 58. According to Palmer the proto 58 had forging number EX2039 and it’s visible in his 37–64 SE. He said perhaps very early 58s had it too but I haven’t found evidence of that yet. Hallmark is Q with WF inside it but I still don’t know what company it represents.

On the lower tree the letter looks like P which is one of at least four letters consistent with 71, the others being M, N and R. (Apparently O and Q were skipped.)

I’m not sure if the upper tree should have a casting number or not? I see a small round boss either side of centre and I’ve seen them before but they were tapped and the tree had a casting number with -62 suffix and a UF hallmark.

Re the sidestands I’d expect the 71 and 72 to have the spike, partly because the rubber tip for the end is #50052-70 as I mentioned earlier.

I don’t know what D on top of the trans case indicates. Some have D followed by one or more numbers. Same applies to N, with some cases only having the letter while others have it followed by one or more numbers. But some have nothing.

Trans case casting number 34703 65 was used for 65 thru about early-77.

I can’t see anything wrong with the BNs and the characters appear consistent with factory stamping.

Even though the engine is FX you may find Hs on top of the cases near the rear mounting bolts like a lot of FLHs had.

Blank number boss on the left case is consistent with 71 and it was still present on some 72 models.
Eric

 

Thanks Eric,

I do have a blank raised vin pad on the left case, I meant to post a picture of that whereas my 72 does not.

My 72 has the -62 casting numbers on the upper tree.

The engine cases do have the H's on the rear mount boss.

 

I asked Paul about his two boat tails and tried to pry one out of his hands, but he's keeping them for life (he says). But he gave me details on this one and the contact information. I have some stuff going on in my life so I didn't think too seriously about it. But then I took my FXR to the AMCA meet and saw this bike in the judging area.



That got me thinking how nice it looks, and that I've wanted a boat tail since I first saw one in 1971, so I bought the one in Canada! Price was even better in USD. All the chrome doesn't bother me, because I don't plan on another 99 point restoration The seller says he has new decals and some other parts, which I'll find out about. Two obvious things I want to find are an OEM speedometer and original exhaust system. Paul said he'll be able to help me with both. It'll be a little while before I get it, but money has changed hands.

Here are pictures he sent with a video of it running.









I'm just going to clean it up and ride it at first. Then tackle one little job at a time.

 

wow that's nice for real