My 1980 HD Sportster

[Weldangrind]

You've got such a good attitude! I'm looking forward to watching your trans rebuild process.

I like your buddy's brat. Nice bike.

[JPG1911]

Thanks. Cliff's bike has a pretty cool story too. It's a 1993 Yamaha Virago 535... well, it used to be. This was his first bike, passed down to him by his father. It was completely stock when he got it, and he went through at least half a dozen paint schemes that I remember. Due to the numerous shades of green it has been, the shape of the handlebars, and the fact that it's a bar hopper, the bike has been permanently nic-named "The Grasshopper". He had the frame, rear fender, and exhaust chopped last year, and put on the solo seat, handlebars, whitewalls, retro "STOP" light, triangular headlight, and a few other things. Very recently, he replaced the bars again with 13" rise apes, white grips, had a new rear fender and braces fabricated, sent the tank and fender out for a really nice earthy green metallic powder coat, and replaced the triangle headlight with a 7" round LED unit. It looks amazing, I will get some pics of it this week and post them. The bike had a factory reserve fuel tank under the seat, which he removed, leaving a large irregular shaped hole through the frame, exposing the battery and rat's nest of wiring. We are exploring the possibility of employing a smallish ammo can to house/hide the battery and wiring.

All of my projects and any extraneous spending will have to be put on hold for at least a month or two due to the fact that we were BLESSED yesterday with the opportunity to buy the house we are currently living in for substantially less than it's worth

It's a long story, but we moved into this house on Thanksgiving, and in January, the sheriff came to post foreclosure documents We have been trying to work with the landlord, but he was not honest with us, and the house was sold at auction on May 19th. I worked out a deal with the buyer last week, and now we are in a mad dash to raise the 3% we need to put down. I may be forced to sell some treasured items, but I am happy to do so, this has been the biggest answered prayer EVER for us!!!

I only post this here because I probably won't be around on here much for the next month or so, but I'll be back soon, with more pics and projects

[Weldangrind]

That is a blessing indeed! I hope you're able to get the DP together, so you can take it over.

[SpudRider]

X2. I hope everything continues to go well with the purchase of your home.

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by JPG1911

It's an Ironhead, the engine and trans share a case. Extremely similar to the shovelhead motor except for theddisplacement, shared case, and it has parralel push rods vs the shovel's V configuration. I've already pulled the tranny and confirmed that it will have to be rebuilt or replaced. My options range from $400 for a used one to over $1200 for a built Andrews transmission. Since the motor is well built and significantly more powerful than stock, and I don't want to strip any more gear teeth( I sheared off 6) I'm going to resuse the trap door and shift forks, and replace all gears and shafts with Andrews parts. Should run me about a grand before I'm done. More info and pics when I get the kiddos in bed tonight.

Even thou I once owned an iron head Sportster, I'm by no means an expert on one. BUT a bar I used to hang out in had a half dozen Sporty riders many of whom had blown a transmission. The story they told me was this was caused by full throttle clutchless upshifts. I said you guys do full throttle upshifts on pavement? The answer was "Well, by closing time, we'd be pretty well Yacquied up on H-D Lemonade ( a stomach etching concoction of vodka and Wild Turkey, plus a little lemon juice) and have to drag race home. The fastest way to shift is not to bother with the clutch If the motorcycle God's were smiling, everything lined up, and you'd be good to go. If not, a stripped transmission." He also told me that shifting that way over stressed the gears, and they would "puke" a tooth or so, somewhere down the road.

[BlackBike]

Originally Posted by Ariel Red Hunter

Even thou I once owned an iron head Sportster, I'm by no means an expert on one. BUT a bar I used to hang out in had a half dozen Sporty riders many of whom had blown a transmission. The story they told me was this was caused by full throttle clutchless upshifts. I said you guys do full throttle upshifts on pavement? The answer was "Well, by closing time, we'd be pretty well Yacquied up on H-D Lemonade ( a stomach etching concoction of vodka and Wild Turkey, plus a little lemon juice) and have to drag race home. The fastest way to shift is not to bother with the clutch If the motorcycle God's were smiling, everything lined up, and you'd be good to go. If not, a stripped transmission." He also told me that shifting that way over stressed the gears, and they would "puke" a tooth or so, somewhere down the road.

[Ariel Red Hunter]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

The Sportsters transmission was very stout. You had to really abuse it to strip gears. How stout? Well KR's were routinely shifted this way on dirt race tracks at the start of each race. It was fun to watch them, because they would just touch the kill switch during every upshift, 2 foot long flames coming out of each exhaust pipe. The sportster of those days was a K model, or a KH (883 cc) with overhead valve heads attached to it.