HarleyTechTalk

Still have my 58 pan in a wishbone frame, 16'' tires, 16 psi in the tires helps.

the kicker part is no problem, I ran several strokers that were kickers back in the day. The hardtail part, sooner or later you'll be riding somewhere in the dark at night and will hit a big bump and it will go straight  up through your spine and you will know it. So how old are you and how big are you, cause that's gonna matter.

Almost embarrassed to ask, but do 'Kick only' bikes have a battery?
Thanks.

Quote from: DrSpencer on August 31, 2013, 11:56:08 AM
Almost embarrassed to ask, but do 'Kick only' bikes have a battery?
Thanks.

Most do, some don't if running a magneto for power only. Put it this way, all factory bikes have a battery. Custom built or modified is up to the guy doing the work, and or owners desire. 

I had a 68 XLCH (my first Harley) if I remember right it just had a magneto no battery,
stock from the factory.

I ran a Joe Hunt on my slabside stroker. It needed a good kick to fire crisp. Ran a small battery too so my lights could be used without running the engine.

I've ridden a kick start panhead chopper everyday for the last 9 years. I don't have a car but I do have an old Vespa scooter for backup. They can definitely be ridden long distance. My last really long ride was in 2011. I rode from Arizona to the east coast and back. About 6000 miles. It was a great trip. I serviced the chain a couple times on the trip. Replaced the intake orings when I got to Tennessee (should have done it before leaving home). Had my kill switch short out at a gas station in Arkansas on the way home. That took about 20 minutes to diagnose and fix.

Kick starting is much easier then legend would indicate... AS LONG AS your bike is properly tuned. If you have an intake leak, bad timing, crappy carb, etc it can make you kick a lot more. Stories of guys getting thrown over the bars are mostly exaggerated.  I've had it kick back on me plenty and ended up with a sore ankle once or twice but nothing more. Never close to going over the bars and I'm only 165 pounds.

Panhead motors DO NOT make power like today's motors. You can hop them up so they make more power, but reliability goes way down. The cases just weren't designed for high horsepower. If you are looking at a S&S panhead it will make a lot more power, but it's not a real panhead.

Belt drives... I don't like wide belts on panheads. They put a lot of stress on the transmission main shaft. I much prefer a narrow belt drive (1.5") that is covered by the stock tin cover. If you are going for a 70's look, wide belt drives were pretty rare. More common on today's fat tire choppers.

Oh... And I'm 51 so age isn't really a factor. But it helps to have a strong core (abs and back).

-Craig

Rolling through Deal's Gap in 2011. Fully loaded...


Making another pass after unloading my gear at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort.


After repaint in February 2012.

I knew he was around here somewhere. 

Love that bike!

Quote from: crazy joe on August 31, 2013, 12:35:36 PM
I had a 68 XLCH (my first Harley) if I remember right it just had a magneto no battery,
stock from the factory.

Yes, you're right, I was thinking in terms of Big Twins, but I did say all. Th early XLCH I think had a capacitor in the system, and a generator for lights, magneto was for spark. 

Yup it did have have a generator, just that I throw the XLCH into the conversation cuz it
was a kick start with no battery. Wish I still had that bike.

I ran a Morris magneto on one bike. I would like to add that at least for me so goes the generator so goes the light, meaning it was pretty dim at idle, reves drop, light fades, takes a bit of getting used to at night.

Modern generators and a good AGM battery will solve the dimming problem. I've had my Cycle Electric generator on my panhead since 2004 and over 110K miles. They are bullet proof compared to the old Harley generators.

-Craig

Totally agree, a battery solves the light problem.

This is my baby and my daily driver. They can be just as comfortable as a regular bike if you set them up properly. Mine is set up for highway gearing with a six speed. A decently comfortable seat and floorboards put my feet underneath me so I don't have that birthing seating position. 2 1/4 inch stretch and 35 degree rake

Hardtails have the best look. Rode them in the 70's and early 80's.
Looked for another Chopper for years and come across this one.
It's a Softail, at 56 guess what, don't want it no more, lol.


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What do you want to use it for,  do you know how to work on them? They are not a gas and go style bike. If that is what you want then stay away from the custom.  here is a little 1200 set up ,



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1 big bump that you didn't see in time + rigid frame = ruptured discs, broken teeth, biting your tongue off.
Ask someone with a bad back how much he'd pay to return to the "day before the accident".
Which is more important: how the bike looks in a photograph, or pain for the rest of your life?

 its really f@žk  riding experience.  you have to be really old school to endure it.  most of the old school end up selling them once they learn about suspension.  your back your ass nearly every bone in your body will pay a price.  nice looking bike for bike shows but that's about it.

You won't need to get your back disk's fused in surgery , the hard tail will do the job for free.

All the talk of back problems is not at all what I experience. In fact if I have a sore back, I go ride. Fixes it every time. You can't setup your bike so you are sitting up straight if you ride a rigid. You will hurt yourself. You need a little bit of curve in your back so it bends over the bumps.

-Craig

I think a lot may depend on the condition of the roads you ride on, different states, places have widely different roads.

Quote from: slo-poke 03 on September 01, 2013, 01:37:55 PM
I think a lot may depend on the condition of the roads you ride on, different states, places have widely different roads.

Exactly, well maintained state routes or nice city streets are not so bad. Where I've lived most of my life, I have a lot of country roads to ride on. Lots of patched places, bumpy spots, etc. Not very rigid frame friendly. That's why I only kept mine a couple of years, and I was 19 when I started riding it. Just couldn't keep up with the guys that had suspension without beating myself to death.

Well, my experience was that assuming a soft rear tire and a sprung seat it is do-able up to age 62, which is what I was when I sold it. I never did any long mileage runs  on mine (longest day was 300 miles) but I did put over 4,000 miles on it on Puerto Rican roads, and they have no idea of how to join slabs on what we'd call an Interstate and their idea of patching asphalt is to throw a bucket of mix in the hole and let traffic beat it down.

You can make it rough, though. One time I was a hundred yards or so in front of a couple guys I was running with when they took an exit we hadn't discussed. I saw 'em in the mirror so I pulled off the highway to cut across the deep grass in the cloverleaf to rejoin them on the exit ramp (mostly, back then, traffic laws didn't seem to apply to Harleys down there - you could get away with a whole lot.) What I couldn't see and didn't suspect was that the area had been plowed before it was planted and I was riding across the furrows! It like to beat me to death before I got across to pavement again. The guys were laughing their butts off but nobody got pictures.

My personal prejudice is that if it's gonna be a hardtail it's gotta be kickstart only and it oughta have a jockey shift. There are extra points for an SU carb, magneto, and no battery and still have it start reliably. Mine finally failed to reach that goal too often and I got tired if making it do so, so I sold it after the second time I rebuilt it. Except for the time it put me on crutches (yes, they can kick back that hard, but that's another story) I'm sorry I sold it, but it went back to the guy I'd bought it from 20 years before and he was happy to get it. Rightfully so, considering everything I had put into it over the years!

More detail pics here
http://www.wildwestcycle.com/f_reaperebuilt3-done.html

This is an entertaining thread, I have enjoyed it. One more thought on it, they invented suspension for a reason.   

I don't think anyone would deny that a bike with a swingarm is smoother, by a long shot. But the OP asked if rigids are "unridable" which they clearly are not. They are not for everyone though.

-Craig