1975 ironhead or 1979 ironhead

LowellGS

New Member
Okay heres the deal

Ive got a 1982 gs 650g cafe project (havent started the thread yet) sitting in the garage. I wanted a bike for the season because the 650 wont be done for a year probably.

Ive wanted a iron head for a while and found a couple in my price range.

I don't want to spend more than 2500

Little bit about the bikes

1975 ironhead. Kick only. runs. has sticker. Needs carbs rebuilt, pain the ass but not biggie.
$2000 prolly walk away with it for a little less

1979 ironhead. runs. tank needs paint (never done that). needs a brake line.
$2500


I really like the idea of a kick start only... but it will be easy with an electric start.

But for its not really worth 500 bucks to me lol

What are you opinions

Also I'm very new to bikes.. Never bought one before.I got the 650 for free

What should i be looking for when i look at these bikes? obv oil leaks.. Anything else really?

Thanks guys..
 
if the bike had an electric start, i would take it off. but thats just me. for some reason i can start a bike more easily with kick then electric.

your call. go with the one in better condition.
 
Pick the one that trips your trigger. The one's with electric start can struggle a bit to turn over when hot, but they do work and can be upgraded, but costs to do so. Pick the one that appears to be in better mechanical shape and what your comfortable with. Paint is no problem, you can't screw it up, if your not happy, let it dry, sand it off can do it till you ARE happy. You'll get along either way. A properly tuned one will start with a kicker just like any other one.
Stik
 
Is 75 pre AMF? I cant remember the years, but if either is non-AMF HD than pick that one...
That said: Im cheap, so if I could snag up a sporty for under 2k, thats the one I would go with. Plus the Ironheads arent tough to kick, and you only have 1 carb to rebuild anyway. Should take 30min and your golden.
 
Based purely on spare parts availability I would go with the 75. Quite a few parts for the 1000cc ironheads don't fit the 79 due to a frame change. But it depends on what you're going to do to it, if you're ok fabricating your own stuff or modifying then no problem.

After this amount of time, any issues arising from production practices or QC during AMF ownership will have been sorted.

If it still has the Tillotson carb it'd be better to replace it with a Mikuni VM (round slide), S&S Super E or later cv carb rather than rebuild it, eBay is your friend.
 
LowellGS said:
Also I'm very new to bikes.. Never bought one before.I got the 650 for free

And you want to buy a 70s Sportster? That's a perfect recipe for endless frustration. Would not recommend it.
 
Well i really want an ironhead..Its going to be my 1st bike that i'll be ridding.. And i can't afford most bikes out there that are ready to ride.

also ill definitely look into those carbs..

And i have no idea how to fab stuff.. I'm learning on the 650 as i go soo when i get there i will learn that part.
 
Unless you have a damned good independent Harley shop in the area avoid 79 Ironheads like the plague. Close to half of the bolt on parts are one year (or less) only. The oil tank is almost impossible to find, they had a tendency to split. The swingarm is unobtainium if yours gets screwed up. The catalogs claim to have both of them...they lie. And the starter is a piece of low torque pot-metal.

If you are dead set on an Ironhead, pre-1974 with right side shift left side brake is the way to go. You'll want to have the engine gone through with a fine tooth comb regardless of the year you choose, some of them shipped with severely substandard bushings and bearings. Make sure the pushrods are properly adjusted, wiping out a cam, a rocker arm or a valve on one of these engines is a very expensive and painful lesson.

Mikuni, Keihin or S&S carbs, only. If you plan to just look at it you can keep a Tillotson on there. I have one on my Panhead, it will make a nice paperweight. Or fishing weight, they aren't worth a damn as a carb.

Best thing about an Ironhead Piglet? A competent machinist can mill the cases for 80 cubic inch Shovelhead jugs and slugs.

I've had 5 Ironheads, wouldn't have another if it was free with lifetime service thrown in.
 
iron heads are finicky and very different from metric bikes. constant adjustments and what not. push rods always gettin fucked up leaking oil... but thats an iron head. my brother has one and loves it.. i love it too its a fun little bike. are they both soft tails right now?

but to answer the original question i would go 75... older the better. carb is no big deal. get a mikuni round slide, the VM model. i dont remember what size but the ironheads run great with a mikuni.
 
man i work on HD motors and would not want an ironhead for nothing! i stick to the EVO motors and 88ci even the new 96 is a good motor, but the ironheads, NO WAY... just countless hours of working on them and working on them... not my bag, i like to ride and wrench... riding more than that
 
An old timer around here used to have one... He said if he left it running while he went in his house quickly it would hop down the street, knock its self over and shake its self to pieces.

What not a better way to learn about bikes than constantly fixing them?
 
that is true for all rubber mounted motors for HD's if i leave my bike on the stand in the drive running it will roll back, it is alot of motor to turn over and created alot of vibration
 
I dont know why they decided to go with the 45* unbalanced... its almost like a single cylinder with all the power stroke coming on the same rotation well... 45* from the next... Hell it took em near 100 years to get it right. Its taking a slab from a radial... its just not "right"

sounds kinda good tho.
 
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