Last night was a milestone for me. I finally finished “restoring” a 1998 Harley Davidson Dyna Convertible Wide Glide conversion (a Franken Harley). A few months ago I went to buy this bike from a guy selling it with a clear title and 21K miles on the bike. I had been looking for an EVO Dyna for a few months, had seen several Wide Glides ranging in price from $11K to this one for $5,800. Naturally, being the cheapskate that I am reputed to be, I went for the lowball in the full knowledge that it had a couple of maintenance issues.
The bikes original owner took a lot of pride in it which is indicated in that it has every chrome OEM Harley Davidson bolt on piece in the catalog for that year, to include the gold flames on a chrome backing on the handlebar risers, air cleaner cover and timing cover. It certainly is not my style but I’m glad that this person thought enough of the bike when it was new to do this. This tells me that this guy also almost certainly made sure the bike was broken in correctly and according to Harley specs (which is critical for life longevity of the bike). At some point the original owner went from the narrow glide front end to the Wide Glide front end complete with rake. My favorite Harley Davidson front end is the Wide Glide or the Springer, so in my book this is a winner. It’s a double win for me because I do not care for the duck tail (Fatbob) rear fender of a true Wide Glide and much prefer the graceful curves of a Superglide, etc. Since this was a conversion it has the front end and the rear end I like best.
When the second owner purchased the bike he already owned a Shovel bobber. His intention was to bob this bike, strip the chrome off, add ape hangers and pretty much turn it into an EVO version of a Streetbob. This would have been a shame since the tins kind of remind me of a late 1960’s to mid 1970’s throwback with the vintage, big script, western font looking letters on the tank decal. The gold lettering with red outline on a black background on makes it look all the more vintage, but I digress. The second owner had been putting so much time and money into his shovel he basically let it sit with Stabil fuel stabilizer in the tank, for at least a year. The fact that he had to buy a new batter just to sell it and the condition of some of the hoses when I got it lead me to believe it was probably sitting for longer.
Upon picking up the bike after purchase I cranked her up and had to wait a while for it to warm up enough that it wouldn’t stall and die at idle. It spit black smoke (not a lot but enough to know that it was burning additives) and it smelled very, very rich. I began to limp the bike home when about a mile down the road it died on me in an intersection…it was completely out of gas. The A-hole rode all the gas out of it before I could pick it up but somehow let it sit with bad gas for over a year…what a putz. Anyhow I pushed it to the gas station, filled her up and away we went.
I finally got the bike home, pulled the plugs and they were fouled beyond belief. After a complete tune up, changing plugs, wires, fluids, rebuilding the carburetor, etcetera I finally got the bike ready to put on the road when suddenly I back a bolt out of the primary and noticed that it stripped all the thread off of the primary (as opposed to the bolt). “DANG IT”…I was furious. I cursed my luck, kicked empty oil bottles around, wiped up the oil from a half full jug I just kicked and went inside the house to lick my wounds. I did some research and found out that it was a simple fix involving a Helicoil kit, a drill and a steady hand but even still I’m so pressed for time and have already spent so much of it on this bike, I was discouraged.
Last night was it, last night I finally got the Helicoil installed, redid some of the fluids and put the bike back onto the road. I took her for a test spin, all covered in grease, grime and oil and pulled into a gas station. Suddenly my bike was the center of attention with one biker even trying to guess its age (the Wide Glide front end threw him off or so he said). I explained that the bike wasn’t vintage, just old and that I had just finished “restoring it” so to speak and this was the first time I had it on the road all summer. The guy looked at me appreciatively and asked me if it rides better now that I know how to fix it…I thought about that for a second and you know what? He’s right…it does ride better knowing that I know how to fix it. Granted I didn’t tear the engine down, pull the jugs or tranny and I certainly didn’t have issues with the frame requiring a blowtorch and a ton of skill, but even still, the hours I spent in my cluttered garage, in 100+ degree heat with my humble collection of tools were hours that I invested emotionally, financially and physically into this machine. It makes it special, it makes it mine. Guys who wrench their own machines know the feeling of accomplishment and connection that I’m talking about. Well that’s how I feel today.
I rode this bike into work today and probably had a grin on my face all the way from Fort Worth to Dallas. I’ve been sitting at work dreaming of leaving and looking forward to the commute home. I can’t remember last time I looked forward to commuting anywhere. So I guess you can say that the bike an owner can feel the most pride in is the one he put life into as opposed to just money. The guys out there with oily jeans, busted knuckles and dirty fingernails…well…they know what’s up.
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