Howdy ya'll. New to this forum and just bought my Harley last year so yes, I'm a NEWBIE NEWBIE NEWBIE just to get that out of the way. Anyway, I found it in a barn and had been sitting for 12 years. $800.00 later and it was in the back of my truck and on the way to my shop. Now, I've been riding for about ten years now but as I say, this is my first Harley so bare with me. Since I have started modifying and upgrading my 85, I have noticed that the aftermarket world is somewhat limited when it comes to this year Softail. Kinda like it's been left behind or forgotten about (hence the title "red headed step child"). Seems like all the catalouges and websites go from 77-84 to 86-99. What gives? I'm sure that to some of you this is probably common knowledge. Anybody care to enlighten me? Thanks.
1985 Softails "RED HEADED STEP CHILD"?
- Thread starter bender1
- Start date
There's certain years/models like some of the earlier dynas and FXR's that there just isn't many aftermarket parts for. Could never figure this out myself and I had an early dyna and also an FXR and couldn't find many choices for parts so I know what you are going through.
Good luck in your hunt for parts.
Good luck in your hunt for parts.
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Hmmmm, well I appreciate that glider. I've waited a few days thinking that I would get a few more replies about this but apparently that's not the case. My little post there has been read 145 times and nobody has anything to say about it?, I figured that what I was asking was no big deal and getting involved in a forum like this would help me get this figured out. SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHY MY 1985 SOFTIE IS SOOOOO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN A 1984 OR 1986!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Well, for one I really want to go to an open primary and have just started to do the research. It just (EDITED) I'm going to have to spend alot of time (which I don't have) trying to figure out what will fit and what won't. Thought about switching to a belt final drive and lose the chain but I've heard alot of people say that can be quite costly but I haven't really read up on that one yet. I figured that as you said alot of the parts haven't changed much. It just seems strange to me that certain year of Softail is such an oddball. I've done alot of searching and reading about the 85 Softail Standard but not really noticed any info like I'm wanting to know or anybody talking about why it's so hard to find parts for their 85. Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing too!!!
Please read this...
Please read this...
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yeah man it's an Evo. So why do you say 89 instead of 86, 87 or 88? I'll tell you one thing, regardless of trouble finding and fitting parts and such, I lucked out on this bike BIGTIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! $800.00 BOUGHT IT MAN!!!!!!!!!! 10,186 MILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUDE, TALK ABOUT HITTING THE JACKPOT, I BELIEVE I DID THAT DAY. I still freak out everytime I come out to my shop to start for the day and see it there. Especially since I'm getting closer to getting it on the road. Gives me cold chills man.
Let me ask you this Hobbit. So this Softail I have hasn't been started supposedly for over 12 or so years. Besides new fluids, hoses, plugs, wires, seal the tanks, new neck bearings & races, swing arm bearings, battery, brake pads and a few other things, what do you think I should do regarding the motor before I try and start it? Remember, first Harley so I'm not familiar with Evo's. Also, when I drained the fluids out, EVERYTHING was super clean, I was really surprised at how clean the engine oil was. With only 10,186 that motor isn't even hardly broke in yet, atleast I don't think so.
Another good trick is to spray a penetrating oil into the cylinders then fill cyl.with diesel fuel ,leave it sit for a day to allow it to wash past the rings,then try to turn it by hand ,most of the time this will prevent scoring of the cylinder wall if they are only lightly stuck
I do know that the motor is not siezed. Before I bought it, I kicked it over 1 time just to make sure it wasn't locked up so I'm not at all worried about that. Another positive thing is that for the 12 years it was sitting, it was inside a climate controlled barn believe it or not and the guy said he would come out a couple times a year and turn it over a few times to keep it from getting stuck (which I thought was pretty cool, he was atleast 60-65 years old). The guy had horses so the barn was REAL fancy. I live in Lexington, KY which is "The Horse Capital of The World" all these people that have horses are LOADED so a climate controlled barn isn't anything special around here. Anyway, so the motor is free. I knew that the carb would be all kinds of nasty so I bought a new one. I got a great deal on a brand new S&S Super "E". I figured I had better just put a new carb on it instead of trying to clean and rebuild the old OEM unit. So what else you think I oughta do?
What??? Surely not!! How can you possibly go wrong with a brand new carburetor? I figured with my new carb, freshly sealed tanks, new fuel filter, petcock and new lines I wouldn't have to be concerned with any rust, sludge or any other contaminents going directly into my engine right off the bat. I figure the first few minutes that my engine is running are the most crucial after not running for 12 years. So, I wanted all that stuff to be NEW NEW NEW!!!!!!!!