I'm 64, and I've been changing my own tires for 50 years (my first bike was a 100cc dirt bike at age 8) I've changed tires on Harleys, Goldwings, and large Japanese cruisers. The last couple of years my joint problems and arthritis has gotten so bad that I have to have it done by a shop. There are two main tricks to removing and installing tires. I never had a tire machine. I used a couple of very large C clamps to break the beads. Once the beads are broken, the first thing is to put a LOT of tire mounting lube all over the beads and rim. I have used a lot of different things for tire mounting lube, the best I've ever found is some stuff called BeadBuster. It's kind of a gel. I used three 15" Motion Pro tire spoons to lever the tire off the wheel, and install the new one. The trick here is that you have to have the bead opposite to where you are trying to put it on down in the center groove of the wheel. Tires don't stretch, so having the other side of the bead down in the center of the wheel brings it closer to the side you are working on and gives you room to slip it over. I have run into old dried out tires I just couldn't get off that way. I would put a C clamp over the bead up against the rim, push the tire down a bit, and spray PB Blaster on it, and let it soak for a while. Sometimes you have to do it 2-3 different times in the same area. Once the beads are broken, take a box cutter knife and cut through the sidewalls all the way around on both sides, and remove the tread and part of the sidewalls. Then you can usually just slip the well lubricated beads over the rim. If you have to, you can cut them.
I like the Shovelhead as much as the next guy and I really like your down to earth DIY perspective. The thing I love about your videos is how you’re kind and considerate to animals.
I came here for shovelhead wisdom…..but really glad you left Kenneth’s part in there. I miss my kids being young. :) Thanks for sharing your experiences with this bike. I hope to pick one up at some point this year, and expect to go through much of the same.
If you know someone with an ultrasonic tank you can get the brake reservoir really clean! Great for calipers also! We bought ours for carburetors but use it for alot of stuff!
bars definitely need to go. i love the big tanks myself and had a similar issue myself with corrosion. a friend cleaned them out with brake or transmission fluid (can't remember which) thoroughly rinsed and we relined the inside with a pour in sealant . lasted the life of the bike. it cracked me up when you gave up on getting the new tire on. my first ever change was done on the side of the intersate when i had a blow out. no cell phones back then (circa 1980) and really didn't have anyone to call anyway. a touring group pulled over right after i had the blow out and went and bought me a rear tire . by the grace of god and 2 large screwdrivers i had it on but no air to inflate it. a guy in a lincoln pulled over to see if we needed help and had one of those cig lighter plug in air compressors and i was only down about 2 hours. kinda fun seeing someone else doing the ride to live and learn route. looking forward to more updates.
The best part about the tires is that I've done several sets on that same tire stand and for some reason those just were not working. I'm slowly getting old enough that I realize a little money spent is worth it vs all the time and frustration 😅
Its fun wrenching on old bikes without knowing anything about their history, My old Sporty was full of suprises. Tires suck, but, I did try the zip tie trick and it worked great on my sporty. Reason the bastids wont go is mostly because the tire beads are not in the recess of the rim.
Keep going man. I've got a wrecked 77 lowrider down to just the frame and engine. I was hoping to do the superficial stuff like you're doing, but the more I checked things out the more it came apart. At the moment the steering neck bearings were pounded out so I'm currently doing those. One of the rear wheel bearings were toast, swing arm bearings were pounded out, the list goes on. Fortunately, I've got a local shop that I'm friends with and he's an old school guy that's had his shop for over 40 years. Anything that I don't think I can do or don't want to do, I just take it to him. Mine is going to be a "survivor" style, just fix what's wrong with it and that's it. Up next is the headlight bucket that's cracked all the way around the mounting bolt. I been told the thing to do here is to install a wide glide harness, remount the breakers under the tank and get rid of the wire mess in the bucket.
I know once I got my bike back together and I got it to fire up. It was spitting so much oil out of it until I had to do some research on it and shovel. Heads are known for that if oil goes back into the case I like watching your videos cool DYII videoslike everybody says down earth and I’m watching one now as I am writing to you here so the oil pump is my go to right now and the front caliper is well is locked up
I know a trick for mounting tires that won't go on, take a pair of 2x4s, each about six inches long, get a large C clamp. Squeeze the tire together, opposite from where you are working the bead over the rim. Getting the clamped part of the tire a little deeper into the wheel will loosen it up where you are using your tire levers. Be patient, too, sometimes just a little bit at a time will get it done. I've mounted a lot of tires that seemed designed to turn my hair white with this technique. I used to just lay a large piece of cardboard on the floor of my garage so I wouldn't scratch anything, and start wrestling.
That's a good tip, I've got a set to put on within the next few weeks and was going to give them a shot on my own before paying. I'll try that if I get stuck again. Appreciate it!
Have experienced the same thing with the plugs, my experience is the short reach plugs don't spark as well. I took longer reach plugs and filed off the threads that extend into the cyclinder
I enjoy your videos. I have a couple of Ironheads, and an 81 Shovel. I bought a LOT of new parts for the shovel, apes, tires, brake kits, chain, cables and more. I was all into it, now, it has been sitting on the lift untouched for 4 years. I DO have too many bikes, gonna try to get back into this Shovel this winter. I am not a very good mechanic, and I spend a lot of time on YT trying to figure stuff out.
I think going with completely new a break system is the right choice. It’s cheap insurance. I can’t begin to tell you the dangerous things that went wrong with my shovels while going 60mph. God rode on my shoulders.
On the tires: lay them flat on cardboard and knee down the near side sidewall, taking small bites(1 inch) with the levers to "walk" the bead over the rim. Front master cylinder: There was still trash in the (vertical) relief port (down inside the resivoure) if it was sucking at the port. And no, im not French!
Those brass lines just look so much better than the braided stainless & yes, it was definitely worth the money for the independent dealer to mount them tires
you can use nylon ties to hold the beads together then it is easy to get them over the rim. look up nylon ties motorcycle tire change. the reason you had so much trouble is that the bead needs to be in the groove on the rim on the other side to be able to get the bead over the rim. when you squeeze the beads together and tie them with nylon ties it becomes easy or at least easier. I did the same thing
I rebuilt a 73 FLH last year (finished this January) that had been parked for 20+ years. Total teardown and rebuild. Nice thing about the bike is it's very simple. Not a complex system on the bike. The only thing you need to make it run is money (airplanes are the same)!
I bought a 78 FXE back in June, I'm willing to bet you saw it on FB. It was in NC and I probably over paid, but I have always wanted a Shovel. I'm working on mine getting it up to par to put it on the road. Nice channel and I'll be keeping up with it. Saw you live in the upstate, I am from Charleston originally, in Goose Creek now.
1. Remove the oil tank and clean it. 2. Remove tappet screen cap and clean the screen. 3. Install fresh oil and filter. 4. Repeat steps 1 thru 3. 5. Replace oil lines to rocker boxes with Y line, feeding both cylinders equally.
Hey Man, stick to your original plan, get the bike running, get all the bugs out, then bring on the new parts for your personal build. Making a bike to your personal touch is most rewarding. I know I have two Harley's, an 1989 XL1200, and a 1993 FLHS. Keep Clean And Running Top for the best of Rides.
Great video! If you have any rust in your tanks, seal it with Caswell gas tank sealer. Just did mine (and the greybeards swear by it) and it eliminated my fuel issues. Also, inline fuel filters don't usually work that well on shovelheads because the heat can cause fuel delivery problems-just something to keep in mind if you run into that!
Really appreciate your content, I'm on my first Harley, an Evo heritage softail and I made the mistake of thinking the previous owners knew what they were doing, but I'm making my way through it, I fancy an iron head sportster or shovelhead but they're quite rare although folk are starting to import them from America, respect and greetings from the north of England 👍
You lucked out getting the Evo Softail if you've only one Harley because the Evo Softail is a vastly better motorcycle (I own an Ironhead, two Shovels, two Evo FXRs etc and wrenched many more). If you want the ultimate Shovelhead you can bolt one into your Evo Softail chassis to the existing primary with little fuss. Everything in the Evo Softail drivetrain is also used by builders to upgrade cone Shovelheads. Compared to either an Ironhead can be fun but they nearly give them away in the US for many reasons subsequently fixed in the Evo Sportster.
Red gas is probably from tank sealer that someone used to seal the tank interiors. Same thin happened to me. Or it's from rust if the tanks weren't sealed inside.
Watching with great interest from the UK. I love this project, you must keep going. If you swapped the word Triumph for Harley Davidson, everything you've struggled with, I've had at some point in the past. So I feel your pain. 😂 We do these things for 'fun' you know..?
Troublehead lol for sure .been rebuilding harley motors for 35 years ,and the biggest problems is parts from internal engine parts V twin are garbage same as eastern mc & Superior cycle nothing heat treated right ! I have had some little problems with S$S & jims but way better
Keenan Tatro from tatro machine will know and answer anything you need to know about your shovel including plug length, without looking it up too...he is the wizard of older harleys....if you call his number he will answer ive talked to him before....and is a super nice guy. He will have parts to sell too if you need something.
I have searched RU-vid for a video of this bike and I was hooking up my new fire stick and you popped up. I just bought me a 1980 Shovelhead low rider hadn’t been run since 1990 and I watched all your videos and was great and I wasn’t sure if you was gonna do a video on the oil pump I don’t think I am getting enough oil pressure even with the gauges on there and this is my first shovel. Let me know what you think.
I call troublehead. I bought a neglected old sportster. I feel like the main problems with the older Harley’s is the sketchy work previous owners do to the bike.
Spark plug threads look like a repair job, not factory. But take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, I'm not a Harley Tech. It's not uncommon in air cooled engines for the original threads to get stripped out and repaired using a Heli coil kit. Ask me how I know! This is typically the case when spark plugs are not tightened to the CORRECT torque specification and or are not replaced with the frequency that is determined in the maintenance schedule by the manufacturer. In aviation, a graphite release agent is used when re-installing spark plugs. Copper grease can also be used to the same effect, but it is important to take this into consideration when torquing the plugs. If the manufacturer torque specifications make no mention of release agents or lubricants, as a rough guide (it's rough!), reduce the torque applied by about 30% or else you WILL over tighten the plugs and risk doing damage. I know that there are a lot of people out there who will say, "I've never used a torque wrench on a spark plug in my life". And, honestly, I have to say that I'm somewhat guilty of the same offence, albeit, not on aircraft. But the specs are there for a reason, especially in engines that run hot. 95% of the time, the "calibrated elbow" overtightens things by a wide margin. When it comes to steel male threads and aluminium female threads, this isn't a good combination. For all those that say, "I've never used a torque wrench in my life", there'll be plenty that can give you very detailed guidance as to how to remove a cylinder head, how to install a heli coil, or which is the best engineer or mechanic to do the job for you. Once again, ask me how I know. Clue: 1976 Kombi. Now ask me how easy that was to do, with a smattering of tools, no idea, not much patience and no clutch alignment tool.
Nice videos buttcrack. I doubt the heads came heli-coiled from the MoCo but the short threads stripped out easily and had to be heli-coiled over the years.
Hey Paul, I got a question you might answer for me. I am getting oil pressure on one cylinder because the lifter is tapping on one cylinder. I don’t have very much oil pressure has been ran since 1990 but I can’t get the check ball or the piston that big brass screw is a screwdriver. I can’t get it to come out. Any ideas
for one thing you don't have the bead opposite the one you're working far enough inside the wheel. and did you happen to purchase a can of brake parts cleaner for the master clyinders?
"The worst thing about them if what the last guy did" is hitting the nail on the head for so many classics! Bikes, cars, boats, houses... Appreciate the comment
The rear master cylinder kit must be assembled for disc or drum , be sure to read the instructions . Keep the Wagner Lockheed rear master cylinder , its the best made . New ones are junk .
That sounds familiar, about drum or disc, I think I've read it in a manual. I haven't thrown the old one out, I may try to rebuild it (have a kit on the shelf) to have as a spare.
eye feel really lucky t0 hava friend dat hasa really nice tire machine. ive kn0t needa any new tire m0untd yet but eeery single friend ive sent his way has been very very very plzd!!
I have a few good seats that came with my shovel, reach out to me and let me know how I can send you pics of them. I will give you whichever one you want.
Anyone who says Shovelheads are undependable is either to lazy to maintain it or doesn't know which end of a screwdriver to hold. Same with Knucks and Pans if your not a mechanic you need not apply.
