For Shovelhead Fans

[Dave Swanson]

I went out today and found an artsy location for bike photos.  Today's subject, my 1980 FXE1200

[john fish]

Great photo.  Beautiful machine.  I think the EVO is the best engine Harley ever made but the Shovel is the best looking. 

And that is an icon of a machine.  Up there with the Guzzi LeMans 1 and the early Triumph Bonnieville. 

[SemperVee]

 I remember those and putting in 50 wt oil.  Kickstarting my 4 speed! 

[Moparnut72]

The Evo Sportster engine was the best one Harley ever built. Easy to work on and reliable as an anvil.
kk

[cliffrod]

Great looking Superglide.  Thanks for the pics, Dave. 

[blu guzz]

That there is the essential American motorcycle. Even today's Harleys don't look like that anymore.  So simple and so right.

The top-line of the bike from the tip of the rear fender to the tip of the front fender is what every company attempted to imitate from the time these first came out until the cruiser period faded and we are back to standards and adv.s ruling the roads.
My first bike was an 81 Kawasaki 250 CSR.  It looked like a 4/5 size version of your bike excepting the engine of course.  But the lines and proportions were nearly a dead ringer.  The metrics were popular in that style for the next 25-30 years.

Thanks for the memory Mr. S.

[Tkelly]

Only thing missing in the photo is the oil puddle.

[guzziart]

Only thing missing in the photo is the oil puddle.

Yeah, I had a '78 Superglide and an '80-80cu. in. Low Rider that I had bought new.  The Superglide never leaked oil in the 2 years of ownership, the Low Rider developed a trans leak but was resolved during the warranty period and was oil leak free for the following three years of ownership.  I've seen more of these that leak oil than not but wonder if it isn't the folks working on these bikes that get them to leak.  Also in my dozen or so cross country trips with my HD riding buds, the only HD's that had minor to major problems on these trip were the bikes that were altered (e.g. Power commander, big bore kits, etc.).  Even replacing the OE exhaust with HD perfomance exhaust caused problems (cracked headers, etc.).  Oh well.

Very nice Shovel, Dave!

[Tom]

Better looking than my Shovel Recon.   

[Kev m]

The biggest problems with most Harleys (or Jeeps) are their owners (who do terrible things).

[Tom]

 

[Cam3512]

If you guys know Dave, no leaks.

[cliffrod]

The thing is- it’s a relatively minor issue to resolve the leaks. 

As I’ve said before, as much as I trust my V7 Sport, I would ride my shovel to Alaska and back right now with much less angst than any of my Guzzis. If there was a problem, I probably wouldn’t have to wait for days or weeks for special parts.  It may be a vibrating old POS junk farm equipment, but a shovelhead is a great machine for what it is and what it isn’t.  It’s hard to break a hammer. And I’m pretty sure any shovel Dave has rebuilt is way better than my old FLH.

You’re welcome to talk amongst yourselves….

[Tkelly]

My brother had a 70 Electra Glide and he could find replacements for most nuts and bolt that fell off in a hardware store.My young son once aske,Uncle Jim ,what does AMF stand for?He started to reply ,Adios….,my friend.

[Dave Swanson]

Thanks for the comments guys. 

I've always thought the "business" side of a Shovelhead is just as cool looking as the beauty side.



1984 FLH

[Moparnut72]

I owned three Harleys, none leaked oil except the Sportster at first. It left pretty good sized puddles wherever it was parked. I couldn't find where it was coming from at first. It was used when I bought it and had been dropped but turned out it was at a slower speed but they wasn't the cause. It turned out the oil tank cap wasn't sealing. The oil would seep out and go behind the decorative cover. After I got a new cap it never leaked another drop. A lot of the bad press about Harleys leaking oil came from the earlier bikes automatic chain oiler which would leave oil spots wherever they were parked.
kk

[Dave Swanson]

Until the first big twin sealed primary in the 1965 Electra Glide the primary was designed to leak.  The primary chain had a drip feed and a small spigot on the bottom to let the oil escape - total loss primary oiling in other words. 

Sportsters and its predecessor the K Model had sealed primaries from the start - 1952. 

[jcctx]

Great looking bike with nicest looking tank ever!!

[Dr. Enzo Toma]

This bike being a 1980 is also right at the cut off of when seeing a puddle under a Harley was no longer expected, by design at least, as the 1980 Shovelhead had the new standard of a sealed primary. Earlier designs intentionally fed engine oil onto the chain and thus you'd expect it under the bike.

[guzzisteve]

Best of the goers, everyone complained even still till the EVO. You can still make the Shovel reliable & go. Plenty out there.

[Ncdan]

Thanks for the comments guys. 

I've always thought the "business" side of a Shovelhead is just as cool looking as the beauty side.



1984 FLH

Wasn’t those tanks known as a “PEANUT” style tank?

[SemperVee]

  I had fun with the 3 shovelheads i owned...  But I will not forget that not one of them could hold faster than 58 miles per hour sustained with me arriving home with my tooth fillings intact nor my timex still ticking!   
https://ibb.co/svDgcrMN

[PeteS]

These now come in kit form.




Pete