So, here is the story. After living in Boulder City, Nevada for eight years I decided I needed a change. I have a daughter in Oklahoma City and a son in Nashville. They both have homes with extra rooms for me. I have never really explored the east, so I packed up my old ‘86 Harley and all my clothes in a little trailer and headed for Oklahoma in my ‘76 Pontiac Grand Prix.
This was in May of this year. I spent a month in Oklahoma then headed to Nashville the northern way, because I had a
friend in Kansas to see. I rolled on through KC and St Louis in the rain. Spent a night in a dump motel in Paducah, Kentucky. Made into Nashville the next day.
I unloaded the old bike and did some riding around Tennessee, very pretty country. Lots of history. A few years ago, I got aquatinted with Phil Kaufman. He is the guy that burned Gram Parsons’ body out in Joshua Tree in 1973. I saw the movie about that event, call Gram Theft Parsons.
I found Phil on the net and saw a picture of Emmylou Harris (a member of the Bikernet Staff played drums for Emmylou) and Gram on Phil’s bike in 1972. I asked Phil if I could build him another UL. I had two of them back in the day. He replied he couldn’t afford it. We stayed in touch.
He lives in Nashville and when I came to town, we had a nice visit. He is getting on in years but still trying to ride a little. He is 85 and has a Sportster. For years he was Emmylou’s road manager. Here is a shot of them about five years ago.
He introduced me to Doug Houghton, who has a little bike shop here called Independent Cycle. Doug had an old Dyna Wide Glide sitting there all apart. I asked what the deal with it was, and he said the guy who bought it couldn’t afford to fix it.
I called the guy up and discussed it. I ended up buying the complete bike for 800 dollars. He thought the motor was blown, because it wouldn’t turn-over but it was just pieces of inner primary cover bolts. They had got sucked into the magnets on the rotor. The motor seemed fine.
Meanwhile he had bought another motor on eBay for $1,600. I scored a deal on a rolling rigid frame project, so I traded him a guitar for that motor. I found the rigid roller in Nashville. It came with a Santee frame and new twisted spoke wheels and tires and a new springer. $1,300 delivered to my door. I have an extra Evo motor. Can’t wait to build a classic chopper as well as the ‘98 Dyna.
Then the neighbor looked over my old ‘86 and told his buddy about it. The buddy had to have it. I have been looking for a buyer for that thing for years.
He gave me $3,000 and let me keep the bags and windshield. I went to work. Here are some pictures. This is how it looked when I got it home. All the chrome had been painted flat black. It was a mess.
The first thing I did was strip all the flat black. The chrome was sanded, and it was ruined. It looks more like brushed aluminum now. I saved all I could. It looks pretty good in pictures.
The primary was pretty tore up from running loose but with a gasket on the engine instead of that little O ring, I was able to seal it up. I decided to use the eBay engine as it appears to be low mileage. The bike is a ‘98. Not my favorite Evo but good if not too modified.
I put new fork bearings on it. They are the same as the 1-inch trailer wheel bearings they sell at auto zone. Since the chrome was sanded, I decided to drill and tap the side of the lower triple tree for windshield mounts. I have had a set of red fork boots for years. Think I will use them.
I cut 1-inch off the springs to lower the front a little without effecting the ride much. I used a 16-inch front wheel I had. This is how it looked after setting the motor in it. I bought the old school tire and tube from J&P. I will probably buy lots more from them. I joined their gold club again. I have got lots of great parts from those guys over the years.
With those fork boots the only thing I can do is paint it red. I haven’t really kept track of every nickel and dime, but I am in this bike way under $2,000. I just took it for a little ride tonight, November 20, 2019. It runs awesome. The motor is very tight and healthy. I think it experienced a cam change. Maybe an EV3. My bubble bags look great.
Got to do some old-style pinstripes on the red. Still needs a Sissy bar for the ladies and I may put a heritage back fender on it soon.
Well that’s the story of my latest ride. Hope you like it.
Yep, I did another like that for a guy in Tulsa a few years ago. I like Ultima 2-inch belt primary kits. They were only 600 but getting hard to find. May go with stock Softail stuff from eBay. Don’t see any swap meet hardly anymore. I want to build something for that show in Ventura and tow it out there with my ‘76 Pontiac Grand Prix. That’s my goal for 2020.
Love this Indian chopper. I built two very similar in the seventies. Amazing how good they run. I would like to go see Kiwi Mike with about 30 Grand in my pocket and build a brand new one with one of his motors. I built two custom girders using real Chief links and triple trees. I also had a ’36 chief with a chrome scout girder. Never got it to run right, so I traded it for a chopped top ’32 Ford coupe. Wish I had them both today.
–Bill May
