1983 FXE rebuild.

TommyC - wuz wondering if you've made any more progress on yer '83 FXE.

Yes, she's just about done. Frame powder coated, motor and tranny rebuilt, new front end, polished the wheels, new clutch cable, etc. Just gotta button up some wiring and get the paint work done. I fire her up for the first time this weekend. I tried posting pictures but this website is too much of a pain in the butt to do so. Other sites are easier.

I used to use "paint" to post pics with my old laptop, but this newer laptop is tough to figure out. I can't post pics either, but I'm still trying. Good to hear you're nearly through. I know you got to be excited about the first start up.

Yes, I am thanks.
I got the pipes on yesterday and got her down off the lift. Might fire up next weekend. Just gotta bleed the brakes, fab fuel line and connect the handlebar wiring.

Hope you got her fired up. I'm getting ready to take the heads off mine and send them out for a rebuild. One of has been leaking oil for sometime and it sems it's getting worse. Unfortunately, oil leaks only get worse, not better.

Leaking oil how and from where?

When I start it up it smokes for a second or two out of the rear pipe, then stops. We think it's leaking valve guides or seals.

So, the oil is leaking down past the valves into the combustion chamber. It's not a lot, but where there's smoke, there's burning oil. And the rear plug is always fouled - front one looks fine.

Valve guide or it could be the head gasket leaking where the oil drain hole is located or a cracked head, etc. When you take it apart be carefull when you pull the head off and try to determine it the gasket was leaking or not. Did you use any gasket sealer on the head gaskets? I had that problem once. Motor ran great but smoked a lil. Oil was seeping past the gasket somehow near the oil drain hole. I didn't use any sealer and the heads didn't sit flat down on the jugs. You are gonna have your heads done right this time so you should be good to go next riding season. You should have Kirby dual plug the heads for you. I designed a bracket that mounts the second coil on the right side of the bike on the seat post. Looks like stock but on the opposite side.

I'm sticking with single plugs, double fire coil on my stock engine - it's been working great for me, so why change? I will look for all those things when it comes time to pull the heads, thanks.

How's this going? Any new progress? I have an 85 FXEF and can't decide to either do a modded bike like I planned or a resto.

Mechanically it's done, the tins are being painted now.

Cool . . . it won't be long now. My heads should be back next week and maybe I'll be riding soon. Gets chilly this time of the year in N.C., but the days have been in the low 60s for a few hours - December will average 10 to 15 degrees colder.

I generally don't ride when it drops much below 60

That decision is totally yours. A true resto is hard to do. Some OEM type parts are very hard to find. I suggest either way you go try to buy American made parts. They are more expensive but the quality is better than the Chinese junk.

You will be able to find OEM parts at swap meets, flea markets, etc., and there are a few dealers around who sell OEM Harley parts, like Rob's Used Harley Parts, or the Jebby Shack which specializes in Sportster parts. If you buy online - it's a buyer beware situation.

But half the fun is looking around for the old parts, and you meet lots of interesting people and make valuable contacts for hard to find stuff.

Like Tommy says - it's your call . . .

Can't wait to see the finished product, seems like you're taking your time and doing it right.

As for my project, if I was missing a bunch of parts or there was damage or something, I'd have no issues at all, I'd chop and rake it, fat tire the rear and switch out the 4 speed for a 5 speed. But the fact that the bike has just over 7,000 miles and is in great shape makes it difficult. I bought it from the original owner, a little old man who kept it around in his garage because it reminded him of his youth. More than likely I'll sell it off to someone and buy a softail or something to chop up and not care.

Only 7000 miles, wow. I think I would be into restoring it and riding it everywhere. It is really hard to find a vintage bike like the one you have with low miles.

Sounds like you found a nice restorable bike.
But I have a question: "you are a nerd for hire that likes fighting". How does that work?

LOL! I know it's a strange mix. I grew up in Detroit, on the wrong side of town. Apparently I was the wrong color to live in the area and go to school, in fact I was actually only 1 of a hand full of white kids I saw. I didn't have any friends growing up so I just stayed inside and studied all the time. I enjoyed reading, but not novels, text books. I even graduated high school 2 1/2 years early by testing out of classes and taking courses at the college. In college I got my masters before my 22nd birthday. Since I got into fights about 3-6 a week all through elementary, jr high and high school, after a while you just sort of adapt to it. I started liking the fights and got into martial arts. Spent 19 years in tae kwon do, eskrima, and kenpo before my current wife forced me to quit. She tried making me quit when we were engaged with the "if you don't quit I will leave you" line, but my comment was "sorry to hear that, I have a fight next week so can you be quiet as you pack up? I need to train". She got me when she was pregnant with our first born and asked "you're going to be a father now, can you stop fighting?" I said sure. BUT I've laid in waiting, I've been training the entire time still, just not competing. I waited until my boys were 5 to begin their training. I've done very well for myself as a programmer, so we live in an extremely nice neighborhood, so their training isnt out of necessity like mine was, but from the years of the watching me lift weights and train in martial arts they were excited for the day they could learn. I got giddy when the day approached, and their uniforms arrived. We've done 3 sessions with my boys and they LOVE it (of course I'm making their training fun so they will). After a year of training them I will need them to see some competitions and of course I'll need to demo for them.