Thank you.
They are awesome, good people. And, this project has given me the shot in the arm I needed. It's become part of my story in more ways than one.

 

Wow, a month is a long time to spend in the hospital. I hope your recovery is progressing well.

Congratulations on the new bike.... but a Heritage? I'd never ride a Heritage.

 

LoL... Never say never! And, yes, a month IS a long time to spend in the hospital. Trust me!

I was tied up with doctor appointments, physical therapists, and several visitors today. But, my bro-in-law sent me some photos of progress. He's a tinkerer with a penchant for shiny things. His favorite color is chrome. So, he went out to the garage, turned on some tunes, and polished out the front forks on the bike. He removed all the tin in preparation for painting.


There is getting to be less and less of the bike on the lift anymore. But, this is progress!

He said the lowers buffed right out and look pretty good compared to what they were.


He's picking me up tomorrow so I can help with the bike. We'll be checking the cam chest to see how the tensioners look and if they need to be addressed, we'll do that in the process. I've had this done in the past on my other bikes, but we have a service manual and we're both pretty technically inclined. And, I'd like to learn more about my bike, so if it needs to be done, we've decided we'll do it. Plus, it's a great time to do some upgrades!



I'll likely bring the front wheel home tomorrow so I can clean up the wheel and the spokes while I'm putzing around the house. The back wheel will wait until another day.

When the Springer went away, I thought long and hard about what I would replace it with. I told my family not to try and find me a bike because even I didn't know what I really wanted. The way this Heritage came into my life just makes it feel right. And, I'm learning more about this bike than I ever did on my others. Constantly learning!

Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement and for the interest in this project. When all is said and done, I hope you all will like it as much as I think I will. We'll see!

 

I was kidding. I ride a 2012 Heritage. Keep us posted on how you are doing and the bike.

 

Went over and worked on the bike yesterday with Eric. Had a great time and a pleasant surprise!
Since the bike is torn down right now, we figured that it would make sense to go in and check the cam tensioners. I tore the exhaust off of the bike and popped all those little, shiny plastic covers the previous owner put over all the bolts holding the cam cover to the engine. They look good, but....

So, I get into the cam chest, and everything looks brand new! The shoes have virtually no wear on them and everything is nice and clean. I do think someone took care of this bike along the way. Perhaps it just languished as the chrome from another ride caught the eye of those who owned it previously. We may never know, but we can say that these shoes don't have 51,000 miles on them!


Does it look like this cam chest has 50,000 miles on it?

Even the rear shoe doesn't look bad at all.

A little bit of wear, but not bad.

At that point, Eric was ready to start pulling cams in preparation for the upgrade, but I suggested that we wait. For those who can swap cams, plates and bearings in their sleep, this might have been a no-brainer. But, due to the condition of the shoes, and the fact that cams, SE hydraulic cam plate upgrades, and all the tools to do the job cost money, I suggested we wait to allow me to gather all the parts necessary and then do the job. Re-doing some work, for sure- budgets be damned.

We then turned our eyes to some other shiny bits - Eric's favorite color.

The handlebars showed up, so of course, we needed to try them on for size. It's amazing how much one item can change the character of a bike. I figured out that choosing handlebars is very much like choosing a holster. You can ferret over all the specs, measurements, descriptions, and data, but in the end, if it/they don't fit you -- they just don't fit. I spent way too much time trying to make a decision on which bars I wanted. I'm not much for apes, and I did like the beach bars on my RKC.

I wanted some "angular" bars with some pretty good reach, but didn't want my hands to be 40 inches apart while riding. I decided on Wild 1 Chubbys 1 1/4" Road King Style Handlebars (WO508s). They have the "bends" like the earlier bikes had, but also have 16 inches of pullback and are only 32 1/2 inches wide. I tried a quick sit and think they'll work fine for me. We also got the chance to measure for a new brake line (+4 inches) and we believe the OEM wires and cables will fit. We'll see!



And, of course, the last task of the day was to swap out that ol' football air cleaner with a shiny, new H-D 8-inch round variant, Part Number 29136-91. It was talked about on these forums HERE.


Looks much better than that old football-shaped cover! But, I need to get a pan-head screw to fasten it. =(

The one piece of chrome I DO need to get yet is the front rocker box cover. It is roached! It's the only really bad chrome on the entire bike. Not sure why exactly, but we're going to try and find one at a local bike shop or possibly a swap meet. Only need the top of one rocker box, as the rest of the chrome is good. Go figure...




At that point, we turned off the fans (Florida) and headed into the house. I think we made good headway and the bike is really starting to come around to what I have in my mind's eye. It's been a LOT of fun working on it with Eric, and it's all part of my story.

We're going to take a few days off while I order some parts and Eric gets some R&R from work. It's been fun, and we want to keep it that way. Hope you've enjoyed the trip so far!

 

Odd, here is my latest. Last weekend. A 2004 as well.

 

They could be twins! Save for the wheels and the bags, that's pretty much what mine started out like. Likely with a few more miles and some extra wear & tear.

 

I bought it with 17076 miles. I couldn't pass it up.

 

Progress has been steady on the Heritage with my Bro-in-law working in his garage and me in my air-conditioned shed. I brought the front wheel home in an attempt to clean up the spokes and hub a bit. I've heard of using metal polish and a shoelace to buff out the spokes, but these were really oxidized. Instead, I used some steel wool and metal polish, the same thing I used on my Springer's front wheel and spokes. They didn't come out too bad!


Kinda hard to see, but the spokes have a little bit of shine to them. Better than before, so I'll call it a win.

Even the brake rotor cleaned up pretty well! The best part is that Kenda tire is brand new! (It's not out of date either.) =)

Bro-in-law stripped the rear wheel and cleaned everything up. The old bags rubbed the swingarm paint off in some spots, so he painted the swingarm while everything was apart.



Brake levers got the same treatment. They were pitted and oxidized pretty badly and they may need replacing at some point. That'll give me something to fuss over once the bike is back home. We also received the longer brake line so this Saturday I'm heading over and we'll run the wires through the bars and hopefully get the handlebars finished. It doesn't appear that we'll need extensions, but we'll see.



Eric is starting to work on the tins. He's going to sand them down and get them in primer. I have some colors in mind, but of course, as soon as I think I have my mind made up, I see another color that would be oh-so-cool.

I've not disclosed what I have in mind for the bike until now, but feel like it might help understand where we're headed. One of our hdforums members posted this photo of his bike a few years ago. I tried to locate his screenname so I could tag him here but I'm unable right now to find it. But, this got me thinking...


Now, he did a LOT of work to get it to look like that. I doubt I'll go with all the lights and vintage derby cover (right now, LoL) but I started noodlin' on what my bike could look like. This one is gorgeous, but I'm not wanting to go black. So, I found this one that was at the H-D museum. It's a Shriner's bike (only ones painted that color). This one is a '58 and I put a set of bubble bags on it for good measure. Thoughts?

I like the blue, but of course, I get looking at other colors too - Blue, Green, and even that orange on that 2023 Highway King was a consideration. In the end, I keep coming back to this color. Now I'm trying to decide between these gold, round emblems of the '58 ($$$) or going with the vintage-fan-favorite "crosshairs" tank emblems from H-D.


I think they look good too!
Hope you all like where this is going. I think it'll make a great ride and I'm looking forward to getting that first ride in. The plan (if I can get cleared) is to have it in Daytona for Biketoberfest next month! We'll see!

 

Glad you’re getting better everyday, I like that nostalgic look you’re going for. Very nice. Heal well brother.