Old school or New?

Question

What makes me want a real old skool bike, I have an 07 FLHRC, great bike, but I am just not satisfied. Where is the raw power, the pride of wrenching your own. So many new/retro, they just aren't the same. Agree/disagree

Answer 1

old thats why my daily rider is a 62 panhead. building a shovel now cause I want electric start.I could put electric on the pan by giving it an inner primary but Im selling it. gonna build a 71 shovel. I like to wrench is all. If ya really like to wrench get an iron sporty all they do is break down!!!!

Answer 2

I agree that they aren't the same.

Yet you can still turn your own wrenches if you wish.

Answer 3

Have you thought about just getting an old ironhead to wrench on? I had one quite some time ago, and it was a really cool ride. It was brutal, raw, and broke all the time, but it sounded and looked great. When it broke it was always minor and cheap to fix anyway.

An old ironhead can be built up to the 90-100HP range and still be a daily driver too. That isn't sportbike fast, but with the sound and the vibration, it feels like a top-fuel dragster going down the track.

They are so cheap lately too. For the price of some basic performance upgrades for your FL, you could buy a good runner to park next to it instead. I have seen one or two mid 70s Sportsters for under $3,000 dollars lately and quite a few between $3,000 and $4,000.

I don't think you need to choose between old school and new school. You can have it all.

Good luck.

Answer 4

Maybe you'll feel better after watching some product video,

including military marketing, of something that sold 2 million

in 20 nations.

Answer 5

I agree. I rode an '07 Ultra and what a bike it is. Fantastic cruise control, sound system, awesome power, a really nice bike. It just lacks the shakes, rattles, rough cold starts, crappy old casette tape player with crackly old speakers like my 1993 Classic has. I much prefer the old 93 over the 07 and I have more fun with the bumpy ride, squeaks, scars, and "defects" of the older bike. Almost enough to make me want a 74" Shovelhead, but I'll keep the old 80" for now.

Answer 6

Buy an old bike.

Answer 7

John,get a set of loud free flowing loud pipes for your bike, have it ( the computer) remapped and feel that RAW POWER roll on.It far surpasses the EVO,Shovelhead,Panhead,Knucklehead engines of old. And that kick start while trying to get the magneto just right to fire and the 'Durn Thing" kicks ya back over the handlebars( talk about embarassing) Ya carry 3 sets of spark plugs, and a chain repair kit, along with an innertube repair and tire irons to peel the tire off to fix a flat. And they didn't call em' "Suicide shift for nothin'!!! Left foot clutch,  hand off the handlebars to shift, biased ply tires, drum brakes that needed adjusted , Ugh, No Thanks. A friend of mine wanted a muscle car about 15 yrs ago cause they looked awesome(Gotta agree) and the raw power coming on. So I helped him find a 1970 malibu with an LT! engine and 4 spd. Drum brakes all the way around but they were power.  brakes, and power steering. He had a 1987 Camaro with pwr everything and front struts and 4 wheel disc brakes( like Macpherson ) suspension. Anyway, he takes the malibu for a test drive, and after laying into it, he tries to stop at a stop sign and nearly plows through it. Anyway he buys it. Looks great but when he came up to a curve he notices he is about to "flip it"  cause of body roll with the old style suspension. He takes it to a drag strip and runs the 1/4 mi only to find it is a full 2 sec slower. . So I show him about tuning it up, pts,plugs,timing,carb adj,carb replacement,jet changes,etc,etc. every 3,000 mi or sooner and it was sooner cause it had a rev kit in the distributor. To make a long story short he decided to sell it and stick with the late model "stuff" I think what Harley and all the other Bike manufactures have done is give us the 'Retro Look" but not the retro headaches

Answer 8

Agree. they are not the same. I have old and new and I can tell you that there is alot less wrenching with the new. But I just love the feel of "old school" with the Jockey shift, Kick start, Foot clutch. Hardtail frame.

Answer 9

OLD I like working on them - Just tinkering or a complete build

When im working on a latter model they are simple to work on but it feels more like a job to me i dont really enjoy it