Topic: Finally a Harley I like

[Hush]

Shame it was made in 72, has no electric starter and the guy wants $60,000 for it.

[ken736cc]

Back when CYCLE magazine tested that model it actually caught fire during the road test.

[The_Crippler]

Back when CYCLE magazine tested that model it actually caught fire during the road test.

Please tell me you have a link to a web-archived version of that story...

[ken736cc]

I agree that is the only Harley that has ever caught my eye. They made that in solid colors also. Sorry, I don't have a copy of the article. I do remember there were pictures of it going down the road with the rider standing on the seat Indian Larry style.

[754]

 The boattail disappeared the next year or year following.. There was also a boattail available for the Sportster, I think they called it a Daytona fender.

 When I was a kid delivering paper a guy had one at his house, my eyes bugged out when I saw it..the coolest thing I had ever seen. Eventually they chopped it and put it in a chrome rigid frame..

 You would go to swapmeets in the 80s and you could get the tails for around 200 bux or so, but mostly they didnt sell.

 Fast forward to the 90,s.. went to a buddies to look at some mags and bike parts he had just got in.. there was early SuperGlide parts there. He did not seem to know so I bought what I could.. brake parts, mc cover , taillight & bezel... then I found out they were from that bike I had first seen in  71 or 72!! Sold the unique brake bits on ebay.. still got the light and bezel...

 The FX was the first big twin offering from the motor company that was not an FL.. ElectraGlide.. so that brought their big bike lineup to 1 or 2 FL models, The FX shown here, 2 or3 Sportster models and the ironhead XR...

[Frankenkit]

Back when CYCLE magazine tested that model it actually caught fire during the road test.

Please tell me you have a link to a web-archived version of that story...

No kidding.

[Hush]

But $60k?

[traveler]

First year of the Superglide.  Willie G's creation....got the idea from all the big old FL's seen at shows with sporster front ends on them.  Bags stripped off, bobbed fenders.

An AMF Shovelhead bike......maintenance intensive to say the least.

~Joe

[72 yellow]

First year of the Superglide.  Willie G's creation....got the idea from all the big old FL's seen at shows with sporster front ends on them.  Bags stripped off, bobbed fenders.

An AMF Shovelhead bike......maintenance intensive to say the least.

~Joe

Friend of mine had one of the boat tails.  Took some getting used to the style.  I had a 77 FX-E Superglide.  A horror story from the day I picked it up from the dealer.  Drove it off the dealership lot into traffic only to discover I had no brakes. 
I had to be restrained from the service manager and salesman. Turned out no one checked the master cylinders, both empty.  Had many problems with carburator.  Finally fixed after a friend discovered plastic jammed in the idle transfer ports.  Recalled a couple of times.  Final straw was the rear wheel bearing seal failed and coated the pads with grease and again no rear brake.  Only saving grace was I sold it for what I paid for it.   

[traveler]

Yeah, the mid-70's with all teh Union vs. management wars, and AMF's mismanagement made it hard to want anything to do with the bieks coming out of Milwaukee.


It's a different deal now.  My Twin Cam has fuel injection, brakerless ignition and is maintenance free, aside for regular servicing (which I do myself).

Don't get an OLD Harley if you want reliability.

~Joe

[vanillagorilla]

AMF actually improved quality control @ HD... They also developed the Evo, which saved HD from a miserable death. I dont know... I am a certified HD tech, and I still don't think too much about em. I mean, my 31 yr old 750 makes almost as much power as a TC88. That is shameful. Especially considering modern 750s(still roughly HALF a TC) make dang near twice the power. Tractor technology... Plain and simple. I do like riding modern HDs, I enjoy all the torque. But they killed off their best line when they axed Buell. Just my honest opinion, please don't flame me!

[traveler]

no flame.  My harley is the best in my opinion at what it was made to do.....jsut cruise.

I have my Cafe Racer for everything else.  Touring is not my thing.  For touring I like my A/C, stereo, etc.

~Joe

[Retro Rocket]

AMF actually improved quality control @ HD... They also developed the Evo, which saved HD from a miserable death.

I thought the government was responsible for saving Harley, over and over again...

Mick

[754]

I have to disagree with the statement that a 71 FX was high maintainence or fraught with problems.. the mid 70s to late 70s, there was trouble at the factory, lots of sabotage going on..

 Reminds me of Honda workers walking off the job in an Eastern land at the present time.
 The 71 was not a bad bike, I think it had the lower flow pinion and the drum brakes.. pretty easy stuff to change out.. plenty of them still on the road..

[72 yellow]

I have to disagree with the statement that a 71 FX was high maintainence or fraught with problems.. the mid 70s to late 70s, there was trouble at the factory, lots of sabotage going on..

 Reminds me of Honda workers walking off the job in an Eastern land at the present time.
 The 71 was not a bad bike, I think it had the lower flow pinion and the drum brakes.. pretty easy stuff to change out.. plenty of them still on the road..

I agree with the union vs. AMF statement.  I knew from a couple of H-D dealership mechanics that  would open a crate to find a note stating "I seem to have lost a wrench, hope you can find it".  Then having to tear down the engine or trans to look for it.  I never understood the logic of sabotaging your company. 
Does losing your job prove your point ?

[dusterdude]

hell,they`re union,there aint no such thing as losing your job and dont get me started about my harleys

[scottly]

Politics and reputation aside, the first time I saw an XR750, in my teens, I fell in love. It was the best looking motorcycle I had ever seen, and I still think it looks sweet. It soured me on Harley, that they were never sold to the general public.   

[754]

 For those that think that way, they came out with the XR 1000. I know a guy that loved flattrackers, anfd got the XR1000 when it came out, still has it.. its modded and looks pretty nice..

[vanillagorilla]

For those that think that way, they came out with the XR 1000. I know a guy that loved flattrackers, anfd got the XR1000 when it came out, still has it.. its modded and looks pretty nice..

And lets not forget the sexiest HD of late,the XR1200!!! 

[zzpete]

  Check this one out! I kinda of like it.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/nch/mcy/1851869334.html
2006 35TH ANNIVERSARY SUPER GLIDE
ONLY 3500 MADE!! #1312
ONLY 8,073 MILES