Ironhead Musings

I've been looking over my Ironhead project and have made some basic decisions about it.  Going along with my plan to find a pre-70 kick only motor with a good title is going to make things a bit harder than it needs to be.  But it will also give the bike a little bit of class.  The main reason I am looking for a pre-70 motor is because I already have a frame for one.  The title will go with the motor since Harley didnt put VIN numbers on the frame back then.

That being said, if I run across a complete, or very nearly complete Sporty with title for a price I can afford, the plans may change.  It doesn't mean I am going to drop this project.  If I find such a deal, it just means this one will go on the back burner for a while.  But, I don't really foresee that happening anytime soon.  So we'll just keep Frankenbike on the front burner, slowly simmering for now.

In the future sometime, I would very much like to build another long bike.  Raked out to about 40 degrees or so with a nice long springer front end.  But that's not what this project is going to be.  Instead, the Frankenbike is going to run a stock rake.  But with maybe a two inch over set of fork tubes.  But until I score them, I'll be running stock length tubes.

Dual disc on the front, with single disc on the rear.  I may not ride as fast as some of my friends can on a little 900, but I am damn sure going to want to stop when I need to.  I rode too many bikes with old drum brakes, and that definitely taught me that I want to actually stop and not just slow down.

The fuel tank is Frisco'ed and sits nicely up on top of the frame.  With the sprung solo seat, and no P-Pad, it's going to have the look I want.  She isn't going to be fancy.  I'm not really into fancy bikes.  Just something that I think is cool, and not a bunch of extraneous bullshit on her.

I think that is another reason I like the pre-70 Sporty's.  With all the English bikes I have owned and ridden over the years, they are a nearly perfect blend of American and English.  Right side shift, plenty of power for what I want, with a motor and tranny I can wrench on myself without needing a degree in electronics.  Finicky enough that one saddlebag will have to be filled with tools.  But then, that is how I ride anyway.   I always have a saddlebag full of tools, lube and zip ties, even though I ride a VERY dependable 91 Evo (it all goes back to years of riding old English bikes and a semi-rat '57 Panhead).

Until I find the motor I am looking for, I'll be slowly putting the Frankenbike together as I can.  Going to build a wiring harness for it, and getting it ready for a new motor when it is found.  When she is finished, she won't be a "pretty bike".  When the Frankenbike is finished she will be, with respect to the Quad Cam Bastards for paraphrasing their motto, a "Livingroom built, Sportster powered, death machine."

Whether Frankenbike turns out to be a monster or a bride remains to be seen.  I am hoping that with the P Cams I have for her, she'll be a bit of both.  But a lot of that will depend on the motor I find for her, and if I can score more than just the motor and title, all the better.  That will mean she'll be getting flogged down the road the way every old rigid Sporty is meant to be.

Catch you on the road sometime...