1978-79 sportster

[wreck74]

could someone tell me if the 1978 ironhead sportster had the curved rear fender strut ?

[olpigiron]

I Believe The '78 was Straight, The '79 was Curved, Though I Could Be Wrong!

[imt4now]

olpigiron is correct, i"ve got a 78 and looked at it today, straight as an arrow.

[wreck74]

well then i have a 1979 XLCH registered as a 1978.

[dirtywhitewalls]

you better figure that out.   '79 is bastard year, I'm not saying it's a bad bike but it has some  '79 only stuff. could save a lot of time, money, and frustration when buying parts knowing it is or isn't '79.  the bike has kidney oil tank? has rear disc or drum brake? i think these were changed in '79, stuff you could eye ball easy. i don't know what all is '79 only, but my brother had one and had some issues with the one year stuff.

mike

[biker3r]

they made a early 79 and a late 79 so it could be regitered as a 78

[wreck74]

 the 79 had the rear master cylinder mounted on top of the chain cover makeing it a special for the rear exhaust pipe. i have the engine apart so i don't have a pic of it. but thats the way this one is, master cylinder up top. the #s match, frame/engine/lic.plate. but the registration says 1978. so it's a early 79. i hope. thanks for the info

[attachment removed after 60 days by system]

[biker3r]

Looking at your picture its a 79, 78 and 79 are totally different bikes , frame change, oil bag, rear exhaust ,rear disc brake, the 79 thru 81 are pretty much the same but the 79 has some 1 yr. only stuff, a bastard child but all in all a good scoot.  my .02,,,,,,,Dale

[biker3r]

Oh yeh for what its worth, if ya want to put forward controls on it the cheapys are a real pain in the ass. ask me how i know

[Pynzo]

Are you talking about the chinese copies of the old Daniel Boones? I know what you mean. I'm in the middle of fabricating up a set using the old Rigid Big Twin rear brake lever and Jockey clutch pedals. VTwin used to sell something like this but discontinued them years ago. Does anyone make a set of quality forward control for XLs?