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This is my 1961 Hardtail Ironhead Chopper

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Left and right views of the whole bike

 

I acquired this bike almost exactly as you see it here. Very little needed to be done so I did very little. It came with drag bars which were a real handful with the extended forks so I put some "ape hangers" on it. The sleeve on the extended length clutch cable for the ape hangers compressed too much and made shifting a nightmare. So I changed over to the low, wide bars and a shorter cable which fixed the shifting problem. I cleaned up the contacts on the ignition system and painted the tank to suit my tastes and that's about it.

This is a great bike for barhopping or running out for a pack of smokes. It has a habit of setting off car alarms and once it even set of an alarm at a furniture store. You think maybe the pipes need more baffles?

Nah.   Loud pipes save lives.   Right?

She doesn't have an "electric leg". It's a pure kick start and I like it that way.  The kick starter on the old Ironhead Sportsters seems to have been purposely designed cripple anyone brave enough to try to kick it over and it does this quite effectively, hence the nickname "The Milwaukee Crippler".   Have you ever wondered why there are so many old bikers that limp?   I still kick her over every chance I get though.  I figure, what the heck, I already have bad knees and there is just something about kicking that motor to life yourself that just "feels right".  Especially when you have it tuned so good it rumbles to life on the first stroke.

 

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Close ups of the powerplant

 

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The view from the saddle

 

I painted the tank myself with a "rattle can". It isn't perfect but it ain't bad.

 

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The "bumper" sticker. You may have seen it before but I still laugh every time I look at it.

                            ~Smaug

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Yet another 1961 Ironhead

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A few shots of another '61 XLCH owned by "Reese"

Since the time these pictures were taken he has changed the seat for a Corbin gunfighter style, removed the luggage rack and shortened that lengthy brake cable. Current project is eliminating the oil leak of Exxon Valdez proportions. He says that his bike also tends to set off quite a few car alarms and gets admiring looks where ever it goes.  I can see why.

Nice ride, Reese.  Thanks for the pics

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Lance from  Graham Texas sent in these pics of his '77 XLCH.

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  The paint is black with blue pearl. In the sun it looks kinda like electric blue otherwise it looks black.  He's running a crane single fire ignition, bendix carb and p-cams,  made the license/taillight mount himself and would like to find a 2 into 1 exhaust next.  He rides it almost everyday to work (25 mile round trip), and long trips every now and then (Texas to Sturgis).  You can email him at xlchrydr@hotmail.com

Very nice ride!

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Butch from Garden City, NC sent in this pics of his '79 Ironhead

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Yet another nice ride!

The Redheaded biker babe in training appears to be an aftermarket accessory.

Butch is a good person to contact if you need info on Myrtle Beach Bike week.

He can be reached at ButchHDSC@aol.com

 

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John Dunn  from Chattanooga, Tennessee sent in these pics and info of his '79 Ironhead

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He is running 9.5 to 1 compression with "Y" Grind Cams, a 2 into 1 collector/header, a CV carb with 185 and 52 jetting,  an O-Ring chain geared with 49 rear and 22 front and a 4 Gallon gas tank from an old FXE. He changed the rear brake to the bottom of the sprocket cover so he could try different pipes other than the few you can still get for a 79 and relocated rear blinkers and now has 3 brake lights instead.

John Dunn can be reached as :  Johnd611 on Yahoo Sportster List

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Ray sent in these pics of an Ironhead in progress

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Here is his current ride, a 1970 XLCH.

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He says it has a different seat now and he put the front fender on.

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This picture was sent in by "Padu". That is all the information I have other than this is one FINE bike!!!

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Now this is a take no prisoners kind of Ironhead!

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I'd like to hear somebody call THIS one "half a Harley"

Pics sent in by Steve Hillion

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Ironhead XLCH-TT?

Sent in by Enrico from the Netherlands

Here's what he had to say about it:

  "This picture was taken at the famous Dutch-TT track in Assen. My 1980 XLCH is normally used to get to work 12 months a year and it runs great. I've had it now for 5 years it marks it's territory a bit but doesn't use oil!  It normally has the standard HD laced wheels, brakes and fork. But for the race it's a bit improved by putting on Ducati wheels with very nice Brembo brakes hmmmmmm.... and Marzochi forks. The seat is from Moto Guzzi, home made exhaust pipes, Laverda handle bars, the little screen is from a Honda mb5 50 cc moped ahum ahum... last but not least a Coca Cola bottle for engine breather. As you can imagine it was a bit under powered and despite of the of a big loss of weight by using the Italian stuff, still over weight. The rest of the field were big, fast, classic, Italian bikes like 70's early 80's Ducati's and Laverda's. But despite of the lack of success, no # 1for me not even flowers, every one had a lot of fun."


                                                                            Enrico.

Thanks for the picture Enrico. I must say that is definitely a unique Ironhead. Very nice!

                           Smaug

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Hey folks I think this one might be for sale. For info contact:  wthomassteelman@aol.com

Nice Chopper!

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This nice little 77' Ironhead belongs to Jay from Little Rock, Wa.   He's stripped most of the electrics off of her, no turn signals, different generator, 4.2 gal Paugho tank, 16" bars LePerra seat.  Looks like a very clean ride to me

   Thanks for the pic Jay

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"Heres a before and after and after shot of my 74 xlch. Next step ( in process ) late 60's early 70's homemade springer front end. 1st picture as bought. 2nd picture, ground up rebuild, 3rd pic after bitchin ol lady wanted to ride. 2 yrs+ since rebuild and about 60-70,000 miles ( maybe 1 or 2 top ends in there and possibly a new shifting mechanism rebuild, but who's counting ). No speedo, no tach, bad brakes, and high speed........
ride it like you stole it....."  John from Houston

Thanks for the pics, John.

 

An update on Johns bike:

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John says this is what it looked like when he blew the top end off in Daytona 2001, now its a frame up rebuild in process.

Don't foget to send me pics when you are done with the rebuild, John!
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"Stretch" from Lewes, De. sent me this pic of his '76 XLH

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His first Harley, after a "bunch of stuff"  he did to it..

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I stole this pic of his bike off of his website at:  http://www.dol.net/~stretch/bikes.html

Thanks for the pics Stretch

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An Ironhead MX bike! You can bet that THIS is a one of a kind bike. I want one!

I only wish I knew who's bike it was. If you know drop me a line.

Courtesy of Steve Matz - Billings, Mt. MATZ1949@aol.com    Thanks Steve!

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1970 XLH 1200  CHOPPER

This beast belongs to Shawn M. Kempf  from Fond du Lac, WI.

Raked and extended with a springer front end, ape hangers,  all the  chrome on the motor has been etched, skyskraper sissy bar and a king and queen seat. You don't see many like this anymore.   Nice ride!

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Roy from Lompoc California sent in this pic of his '81 Ironhead.

He says it's still not done. I don't see anything wrong with it the way it is now. That  is one Nice bike!

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