Gettin' started...

Got most of it done, at least enough to take her for a spin on the weekend. Painted the frame up pretty with a quality rattle can (semi-gloss black) & put everything back together. Clutch & tranny work better than ever, don't know if it's the new parts, the Royal Purple synthetic gear lube, or both. There's a bit of a chirping noise under load, I think it's the new drive belt & pulleys. I noticed the front cylinder base gasket seeping more than it used to, probably have to fix that next winter. I don't like the shortened shocks, the bike seems to slant backwards too much. Looks cool, but I'm gonna get a set of good stock-length shocks. (Don't want to lower the front.) The new grips feel way better than the bulky chrome ones that were on it.
I didn't get a picture of everything all together, cuz my phone battery died. I'll get some "after" pics posted when I get the new front fender painted. The last pic is what the bike looked like before I bought it.
Thanks to everybody at Bike Talk who gave me advice & help with this project!

All done! Only put about 50 miles on so far, but no funny noises, nothing fell off, and everything works good. The cylinder base gasket even quit leaking. Have the bags, backrest & windshield on for traveling but I usually take off all the geezer glide stuff when I'm by myself. Still have to paint the front fender, but it's got a coat of clear powdercoat on it for now (decided that I don't like the clear-over-bare-metal look).
Thanks guys!

Fishtails are awesome.

Definitely a beautiful machine.

Paughco 2:1 header & 29" fishtail, made for a Softail, but I made it fit.

paughco makes some good stuff don't they?

They're really proud of it too! The heat shields for those pipes cost as much as the pipes did. I found a front one that fits for $20, but the other two I'll have to pay the price for. You usually get what you pay for though, so I'm sure they'll last.

For American made stuff I will pay that. Again, I have a buddy that like to buy chinese stuff for his bike. The other night we were talking about rolling chasis for a custom and right away he brings me to this cheap azz site that has chinese frames. If I were able to do it i would go with a twisted choppers frame or a paughco. paughco does have a good reputation.