81 Project Update

It has been a long while since I posted, primarily because it is taking a long time to do the next mod. Here are the things being done. BTW this is a complete garage build, I am an amateur so not really concerned if someone can do it better.

1. Adding a Hard Tail to it. The new frame will drop the bike by 3" and add 4" to overall length. This will also require the bike to have a raked front end to level it out.
2. Changing the tank to add to the custom look, more of an oval tank, Also putting in a visual gas gauge.
3. Change out the rims, 19" in the front and a little wider tire in the back, both on whitewall old school tires.
4. Changing out the Oil tank to a full custom built tank.
5. New paint......or maybe no paint, I like the new rusted out look so might go that route. Rusted out with some nice old school pin striping might also be an option.
6. Rearrange the exhaust....I am going to look at some different designs, maybe some super short straight down, or the exact opposite, supper long that shoot way up in the back. If I go that way then I need a large sissy bar in the back.
7. The bike will be totally unrecognizable as an AMF HD 81' 1000 sportster when its done.

Mounted the Seat

Got the seat mounted. Had no real issues. However when it sits on the Bike it tilts a little forward. This gives you the feeling that your sliding forward when riding. Need to adjust the front higher to make it so this is not the case. Looks good for now and will look better once the rigid frame is on it.

Added the Apes and White Grips

I finally added the 12" Apes and the White Grips. So it is coming along pretty good. Hopefully I will have the new Seat mounted shortly and then I think I am going to be looking at white walls to finish off the look.

Looks like its slowly coming together

Coolness in the air.

Well it is starting to get cooler and it's about time to tear down the '81 again and do some changes. Currently here are the changes I got off Ebay and Shipping here as I write.

• White Hand Grips
• Braided Front Brake Lines
• 12" Apes

Looks like with the these minor items I can start some major movement on the cleaning up of controls.

• Remove the Handlebar Controls (relocate starter button to rt. side of bike)
• Change out Headlight and wiring
• move around the ignition.

A few other things that I plan is to

• Adjust the height of the rear fender.
• Remove the Chain Guard

Thats about enough for now but finding a few nice Biker sites along the way.Check out  dirtyoldbiker.com

Completing the Fender Painting

OK now that I am underway with the repainting of the TINS and the rear fender I have run into another problem. FLORIDA HUMIDITY. This hasn't been such a plague but it recently has been causing my Black Paint to Dry Foggy and Gray. It is not affecting the finish as it is coming out smooth as silk BUT the drying time between coats and the shine is a strange gray color. Hoepfully in the next day or two it will be less humid and I can get the final Base Black down so I can let it set for a day or so them get my Clears on. While I am waiting I went to the Florida Bike Builder Expo and foudn some inspiration in some of the ride in Bobbers that were there. Also searching the internet for Brake lines to replace the Front lines and allow me to work the handle bars. I think turning them upside down is going to be the way to go for the near future.

Problems seem to jump out of nowhere

Had to repaint the Oil Can and the Side tin. It seems that the paint didn't gel together so when sanding it down a little I noticed a small spot and the small spot turned into a peel and the peel turned into me taking all the paint off back to the primer. Reprimed the Oil Can and Side tin again and got the first coat on for the base color. Now its moving on to waiting for the base to dry and working on the rear fender mounts and adjusting the solo seat mount. seems like the things to do are never done.

Mocking it up for fun- Before - AlmostAfter

OK just sit the tank on put a bolt on the fender, lay the seat on there and see what you are getting towards. This can also help ID the things you want to do next and what you need to do that aren't looking like you thought or pictured. From this I can see I need to "Shave the legs" basically grind off the reflector stops on the front forks. Also I need to get rid of the Air Cleaner, a nice velocity stack should look good, and a Brass one at that will offset the gold tank emblem, a Brass Taillight and a few other details and it should be on the road.

Cutting the rear fender

OK. I went over and over in my head the thought about CUTTING a perfectly good fender and then someone coming along and wanting to buy an original bike. WELL I researched it and found a 1981 XLH rear fender and it cost $63 +shipping. SO I decided that if someone wants a "perfect" fender then they will have to spring for a new one and if I sell this and they want a new fender I will discount this one $63 lol. Anyway I finally pulled the trigger, broke out the Angle Grinder and whacked it. Marked my line, taped it off as a Straight guide and whacked it. Angled the edges and it looks great.

Wrapping the Pipes

Wrapping the Pipes and making them look the bobber part.

Got my Titanium Pipe Wrap in the mail today and couldn't wait to put it on. SO with a little forethought I started wrapping from the rear of the pipe and left about 4 inches of the "good" chrome still showing. This made for a sharp contrast between darl wrap and chrome and made the pipes really stand out. The trick here is the Mounting bolst on the back of the pipes. Make sure you mock your pipes on the bike and note where the bolt is so when you start wrapping you know how to wrap the bolt into the pipe. You'll see exactly what I'm talking about if you look at your pipes.
The next piece is the pipe clamps that clamp the pipe to the head, this is rather tricky especially if you use the stock ones since they have a very rigid design they are hard to expand enough to open over the wrap and the pipe. BUT with a little prying and a one bolt two nut expansion thinga-ma-bob i was able to pry them enough to get it on.

Clear Coat Tank and Tins

Clear coating is one of the easier yet a very important part of the finishing of your painted tins. I found that Painting a first VERY LIGHT coat is the best. The lighter the coat the easier it is to control the chance of a RUN. Allowing the coat to dry between 15 and 20 minutes between coats allows enough set time and also allows each coat to chemically bond to the coat before. Messing up in this stage means sanding down and repainting. SO patience is a very good thing right here. I ended up getting mine on without a run and it looks FAR better than I thought it would for being Rattle Can.

Tank Base coat on and Putting on Emblems

The tank with a Base Coat.


Finished the Tank and for Rattle Can the finish turned out a lot better than i thought it would be. It took about a week to complete. Putting on a Coat, Wating, Wet Sanding and then putting on another coat. This is a Base coat color and these pictures show the tank without any clear coat applied. Once I measure and put the Emblem on I will clear coat over the tank.


The Tank taped up ready for the emblem.
Marking a piece of String with a Middle Mark then measuring out a mark from center and then taping to the tank will help with a GUIDE for setting your emblem on the side of the tank.

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Once one side is on make sure that the emblem is adhered to the tank in all spots.
Each side should be fairly level and if you measured correctly and where able to lay the emblem on correctly it should look pretty symetrical when done.
Went with a Brass color emblem to match a Brass Velocity Stack on the air cleaner AND switching out a lot of the nuts and bolts if possible to brass will add to the Old School look I'm trying to accomplish.

Removing the rear Fender

This was one step that had to happen so since my solo seat is on its way I figured I might as well get rid of this rear fender. The turn signals presented a minor challenge but taking off the fender helped and I was able to slide the wires out of the fenders.

SOLO Seat Found

I decided to go with a All Black Leather. With a Little cushion, and no design on it. I want the bike to be true Garage and not have a lot of festoonery. This seat from Demon Cycle seemed to be what I was looking for. I was trying to deal on a "Best Offer" from a guy on E-bay he turned down an offer I made and said he would take $105, so I offered that and he turned it down. So F&%^ him.

Researching the SOLO Seat

This isn't the most important part of the bike BUT it is where you will be spending a lot of time. So comfort is nice but since this is a Bobber SMALL and MINIMAL is best. I am going to try and find a seat that can match up with the oil can mounts BUT doubt I will find one and I will need to have the battery and top of the Oil Can covered just for looks (detail). This may be difficult and may require a trip to the welder to cover the electrics and oil. Also since the seat is a Lepera Double up. I need a Smaller Fender for the back. I don't plan on Cutting my original SINCE it is in great shape I will buy a Cheapo off Ebay and cut as needed.

Priming the Tank and Tins

Getting a nice smooth coat on is not the primary concern right now. Its getting it covered and then doing a little wet sand before for the main coats go on. SINCE this is a True Garage Bike and I am doing it with very minimal tools as well as a minimal amount of money I will be using the cheapest yet smartest items I can find or buy without breaking the bank. A good auto Primer is the best bet and one that is a "Sandable" primer will be great. Pretty much your favorite auto store will have it.


The next MAIN coats will be regular Gloss enamel paints that will be layered on once the skins are smooth. Then the FINAL coats will be "Auto" clear coats. about 7 coats should do it.

Picking out the color scheme for this type of job should be simple I am going with a two tone Orange on top Black on bottom like the 2008 Nightster style.

Removing the Tank and Tins

Taking it all apart is really the start. Removing the tank is simple BUT required especially if I want to paint it.


First getting it all apart is a chore. since it has probably never had the oil tank or any of the other tins off it I will take them off and make sure I clean the whole area of the bike so when I put it back together I know what is in ther.



The tank sanded down to metal and the other tins on their way to metal so the primer and first coats can go on.

A few things while I wait

While I wait to get parts a few things need to be done. One is the COIL is an awful Yellow color and if I pull it off, Clean it and paint it, it won't stand out and look so bad. A nice Flat Black will work. Also cleaning the connections and removing the tank will allow me to see what else is under the tank and can be cleaned. Simple Green and some rags are great to get alot of the grime off and the ugly yellow covered by a nice flat black High Temp paint makes the COIL un-noticeable. These are very minor things but details on a bike that will try to stick to the minimalist concept are everything.

Step 3 - Take the front fender off - Ironhead Bobber Project Bike

After a good cleaning I just had to take the front fender off thats just mandatory no matter what else gets done.
Then of course I want to take it for a ride and being that it is carburated of course I flood it out and one of the cylinders runs a little rich for a while. BUT it worked itself out.
Took it down to the gas station and filled it up with NEW gas and found that on the ride back the gas tank lid leaks so a nice bunch of streaks down the tank. A little simple green cleans em up nice but that seems to be the next move. Sand the tank down to bare metal.

Step 2 - See What I have

This is where I just got the bike and finally take some simple green and rags and clean off the years of road grime. I found that for the most part I can get a lot of the surface stuff off but a lot may need some power tools and some special cleaning items like long cleaning q-tips or even a dremel polisher to get into some of the cracks. The rims (which I thought were stock aluminum) where Chrome once I got the first layer of grime off them This was kinda a surprise and a let down. A surprise because it is now chrome and do I want to paint over the chrome with either red? or Black? not sure yet but thinking about the color scheme I think Black is the way to go but need to really polish the chrome to see exactly how bad it is. First look is the Front rim is about 90% good looking chrome but has the aging blemishes that just won't polish up.

1981 Ironhead Harley Sportster as Purchased.

This is my 1981 Ironhead Harley Sportster XLH 1000. Here is the bike the day I got it. There is a lot of things that I want to do to it and I am trying to figure out what to do first. I have a million questions that need answered. 1. Do I Bobber it? or leave it stock? Do I need the engine rebuilt? or can it wait? A million ?'s. Anyway I think the first thing I will do is clean it up and see whats underneath some of the oil and dirt. Once I've done that maybe the starting point will show itself.

Here is my list of things to do that I don't need to purchase.
1. Clean the bike.
2. Remove the Front Fender (the tire is too big right now for it anyway)
3. Sand down the tank that is on it. The original is with me but not installed needs some work on it as well.
4. Do something with the back end. if I remove the fender I may find something else to do but that might be a good start.
5. look at all of the connections and see if there is some cleaning I can do to make it look a little neater.
6. Wrap the pipes. (for now wrapped will have to do.

Here is my preliminary list of things to buy to start the project.


1. New Seat (bobber/solo seat) even if I stay stock it still needs to have the seat removed since it isn't stock.
2. New Handlebars. (Drag or Apes?) not sure yet.
3. New Front Tire (21" maybe 40spoke) Might as well go white wall and do both while I'm at it.
4. Exhaust some LAF Y pipes should set it off, but will have to wrap the current pipes as they are.

There will be a lot of things changing and as I do them I will post on here the results. Or the steps that I have taken. SO far I haven't done anything but title and plate her. About $150 bones later and I can drive her if I want.

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Chrome won't get you home.