The Jockey Journal

crebo · 04-10-2009, 12:55 PM

***********************************
*UPDATE: I DID PURCHASE IT FOR $1500!!! *
***********************************

hey,

i got a line on 78 iron head, looks real nice in the pic but the guy said he took it to a shop to have the motor and tranny re-built. shop had it about 6 mos. wehn he got it back he said it worked 3 days then got stuck in 4th gear and clutch will not disengauge

I can get it for 1500, what do you all think...

***********************************
*UPDATE: I DID PURCHASE IT FOR $1500!!! *
***********************************

muaythaitom · 04-10-2009, 01:02 PM

I bought an 83 Ironhead from a board member for cheap cause it had engine prob.'s-----only wound up costing me a few hundred bucks to have a good running Ironhead a couple weeks later----I was happier than a pig in shit, and still am --love the bike. Go for it---what's the worst that happens? You have to spend a lil more than you want?

hatch · 04-10-2009, 01:02 PM

I wouldn't pay that much. If it was a running and riding 78, that would be OK, but not with trans problems.

crebo · 04-10-2009, 01:05 PM

here is a pic

Charley · 04-10-2009, 01:16 PM

I would buy it... Ironhead tranny parts are plentyfull, bet you can get it on the road for under $500..... 2k for a running IH is a great deal....

PONY · 04-10-2009, 02:04 PM

Both were common problems back then. I worked in the HD shops back then and we saw this all the time. It sounds like the clutch adjuster lock nut backed off, allowing the adjuster screw to back out, making it hard to shift. That cased the rider shift too hard poping the shifter shaft ball out of the shift unit in the trans. This clutch set-up also stuck when it sat for a month or more due to it's Wet clutch design. You will need a clutch pak compressor (easy to make) to pull the clutch, maybe/maybe not a trap door puller and a manual, to fix it. Unless the shift fork got bent (be sure to check them) it should only cost you a primary gasket?, oil, your time and your mind!

Destralo Roach · 04-10-2009, 02:16 PM

I would buy it for shure.........................Roach.

PONY · 04-10-2009, 02:22 PM

As long as you can do the mechanical stuff and the price is right, It's a good deal. All the AMF crap that gave these years of Harleys such a Bad rap has been delt with by now and overall they were good bikes. Now the bike will only be as good as the mechanic thats working on it..

Blue Collar Moto · 04-10-2009, 02:48 PM

Buy it. Those four speed gear boxes are easy to work on. I think its a Kawasaki clutch setup for that year. I made a tool out of a piece of 1/4" steel & some 1/4" all thread, nuts and washers to compress the spring.

eb77k · 04-10-2009, 03:14 PM

Buy it.

wvenfield · 04-10-2009, 03:21 PM

I would have bought it already. If you weren't so far from me, I'd be trying to figure out how to buy it out from under you. LOL

wvenfield · 04-10-2009, 05:05 PM

It says that the price is firm.

Just goes to show, it never hurts to ask. Nice buy.

crebo · 04-10-2009, 05:58 PM

well, the deal is done... dude and his wife dropped off the bike and we did the paper work...

Bigincher · 04-10-2009, 06:00 PM

Stuck in gear is easily overcome. $1500 for a $3500 bike. Sounds like a good deal to me, if that's the bike you want and you want to work on it.

crebo · 04-12-2009, 03:09 PM

i know it's Easter and all... but I had to rip that cover off!
guy I bought it from said the clutch would not engage, but it seems to be working fine to me... there was a little slop in the lever so i took it up with the adjuster at the engine case end (no adjuster on the lever itself) and it works fine. just stuck in 4th.... pull in clucth rock bike and it frees up, leave out clutch and its in 4th... Shifter shaft just flops up and down like it is not hooked up to anything.... just click click no resistance like its just clicking against the case...

Tore the cover off with no problems, cover did have a new gasket with permatex over it...

Guess I need to figure out how to make the clutch puller you all are talking about...

Happy Easter!

reverendjim · 04-12-2009, 06:10 PM

buy buy buy! bent shift fork or busted cam foller. easy fiix and cheap. if you get it and need it i have a 4 speed out of a 77 bolts right in you can have cheap good luck

PONY · 04-12-2009, 06:26 PM

Take some 3/16" x 1 1/2" flat stock long enough to cross over the plug in the pressure plate and two cover bolt holes 180* apart. Use bolts with spacers long enough to locate the flat stock aprox. 2" above the pressure plate plug. Use a 5/16" bolt with a nut on the plate side and screw the bolt in depressing the pressure plate enough to remove the nuts on the studs. Best I can remember this year had a non adtustable pressure plate, achived with spacers on the studs. Pay attention to the number of threads showing on the studs just in case.

Dragstews · 04-12-2009, 06:28 PM

Could be a little 45 cent spring in the pawl-carrier....Boy, if that wouldn't be a easy fix...

crebo · 04-12-2009, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PONY

Take some 3/16" x 1 1/2" flat stock long enough to cross over the plug in the pressure plate and two cover bolt holes 180* apart. Use bolts with spacers long enough to locate the flat stock aprox. 2" above the pressure plate plug. Use a 5/16" bolt with a nut on the plate side and screw the bolt in depressing the pressure plate enough to remove the nuts on the studs. Best I can remember this year had a non adtustable pressure plate, achived with spacers on the studs. Pay attention to the number of threads showing on the studs just in case.

thanks! that will be my project this week... I found this picture online looks really easy... what do you think? (I'm a little slow sometimes and pics always help me out...)
I could make that real quick....

PONY · 04-12-2009, 07:24 PM

It looks like the flat stock wasn't thick enough and started to bend so they stuck the wood in there and used the case studs to depress the pressure plate. It would work but minght be a bit close to some of the studs and be a bit of a pain.

04-10-2009, 12:55 PM	#1
crebo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: SATX Posts: 1,272	78 iron head build *********************************** UPDATE: I DID PURCHASE IT FOR $1500!!! ********************************* hey, i got a line on 78 iron head, looks real nice in the pic but the guy said he took it to a shop to have the motor and tranny re-built. shop had it about 6 mos. wehn he got it back he said it worked 3 days then got stuck in 4th gear and clutch will not disengauge I can get it for 1500, what do you all think... ********************************* UPDATE: I DID PURCHASE IT FOR $1500!!! *********************************** __________________ Now I have one more thing to not give a shit about. Last edited by crebo; 01-10-2010 at 08:29 AM.

04-10-2009, 01:02 PM	#2
muaythaitom Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Bangor Pa Posts: 329	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying I bought an 83 Ironhead from a board member for cheap cause it had engine prob.'s-----only wound up costing me a few hundred bucks to have a good running Ironhead a couple weeks later----I was happier than a pig in shit, and still am --love the bike. Go for it---what's the worst that happens? You have to spend a lil more than you want?

04-10-2009, 01:02 PM	#3
hatch Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: lost in the sixties.... Posts: 4,025	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying I wouldn't pay that much. If it was a running and riding 78, that would be OK, but not with trans problems. __________________ WWW.GreasyKulture.com (You know you need it!!!!) "A tradition without intelligence is not worth having"......T.S. Elliot

04-10-2009, 01:05 PM	#4
crebo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: SATX Posts: 1,272	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying here is a pic Attached Thumbnails __________________ Now I have one more thing to not give a shit about.

04-10-2009, 01:16 PM	#5
Charley Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: N.J. Posts: 39	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying I would buy it... Ironhead tranny parts are plentyfull, bet you can get it on the road for under $500..... 2k for a running IH is a great deal....

04-10-2009, 02:04 PM	#6
PONY Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lynnwood, Wa. Posts: 489	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Both were common problems back then. I worked in the HD shops back then and we saw this all the time. It sounds like the clutch adjuster lock nut backed off, allowing the adjuster screw to back out, making it hard to shift. That cased the rider shift too hard poping the shifter shaft ball out of the shift unit in the trans. This clutch set-up also stuck when it sat for a month or more due to it's Wet clutch design. You will need a clutch pak compressor (easy to make) to pull the clutch, maybe/maybe not a trap door puller and a manual, to fix it. Unless the shift fork got bent (be sure to check them) it should only cost you a primary gasket?, oil, your time and your mind!

04-10-2009, 02:16 PM	#7
Destralo Roach Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tera Firma WA Posts: 6,358	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying I would buy it for shure.........................Roach. __________________ The Road to success is covered by the Backs of Many! I chose the Hard way!!!!

04-10-2009, 02:22 PM	#8
PONY Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lynnwood, Wa. Posts: 489	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying As long as you can do the mechanical stuff and the price is right, It's a good deal. All the AMF crap that gave these years of Harleys such a Bad rap has been delt with by now and overall they were good bikes. Now the bike will only be as good as the mechanic thats working on it..

04-10-2009, 02:48 PM	#9
Blue Collar Moto Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Torrance, Ca 90501 "That's Old Torrance" Posts: 1,837	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Buy it. Those four speed gear boxes are easy to work on. I think its a Kawasaki clutch setup for that year. I made a tool out of a piece of 1/4" steel & some 1/4" all thread, nuts and washers to compress the spring. __________________ "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -Leonardo DaVinci

04-10-2009, 03:14 PM	#10
eb77k Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Minnesota, USA Posts: 224	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Buy it.

04-10-2009, 03:21 PM	#11
wvenfield Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Williamstown Wv Posts: 450	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying I would have bought it already. If you weren't so far from me, I'd be trying to figure out how to buy it out from under you. LOL

04-10-2009, 05:05 PM	#12
wvenfield Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Williamstown Wv Posts: 450	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying It says that the price is firm. Just goes to show, it never hurts to ask. Nice buy.

04-10-2009, 05:58 PM	#13
crebo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: SATX Posts: 1,272	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying well, the deal is done... dude and his wife dropped off the bike and we did the paper work... Attached Thumbnails __________________ Now I have one more thing to not give a shit about. Last edited by crebo; 12-24-2009 at 03:05 PM.

04-10-2009, 06:00 PM	#14
Bigincher Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 103	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Stuck in gear is easily overcome. $1500 for a $3500 bike. Sounds like a good deal to me, if that's the bike you want and you want to work on it.

04-12-2009, 03:09 PM	#15
crebo Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: SATX Posts: 1,272	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying i know it's Easter and all... but I had to rip that cover off! guy I bought it from said the clutch would not engage, but it seems to be working fine to me... there was a little slop in the lever so i took it up with the adjuster at the engine case end (no adjuster on the lever itself) and it works fine. just stuck in 4th.... pull in clucth rock bike and it frees up, leave out clutch and its in 4th... Shifter shaft just flops up and down like it is not hooked up to anything.... just click click no resistance like its just clicking against the case... Tore the cover off with no problems, cover did have a new gasket with permatex over it... Guess I need to figure out how to make the clutch puller you all are talking about... Happy Easter! Attached Thumbnails __________________ Now I have one more thing to not give a shit about.

04-12-2009, 06:10 PM	#16
reverendjim Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: tulsa ok Posts: 6	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying buy buy buy! bent shift fork or busted cam foller. easy fiix and cheap. if you get it and need it i have a 4 speed out of a 77 bolts right in you can have cheap good luck

04-12-2009, 06:26 PM	#17
PONY Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lynnwood, Wa. Posts: 489	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Take some 3/16" x 1 1/2" flat stock long enough to cross over the plug in the pressure plate and two cover bolt holes 180* apart. Use bolts with spacers long enough to locate the flat stock aprox. 2" above the pressure plate plug. Use a 5/16" bolt with a nut on the plate side and screw the bolt in depressing the pressure plate enough to remove the nuts on the studs. Best I can remember this year had a non adtustable pressure plate, achived with spacers on the studs. Pay attention to the number of threads showing on the studs just in case.

04-12-2009, 06:28 PM	#18
Dragstews Moderator Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Also Lost in the Sixties Posts: 6,983	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying Could be a little 45 cent spring in the pawl-carrier....Boy, if that wouldn't be a easy fix... __________________ www.dragstews.com On to the next "WOW" experience !

04-12-2009, 07:24 PM	#20
PONY Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lynnwood, Wa. Posts: 489	Re: 78 iron head stuck in 4th gear thinking of buying It looks like the flat stock wasn't thick enough and started to bend so they stuck the wood in there and used the case studs to depress the pressure plate. It would work but minght be a bit close to some of the studs and be a bit of a pain.

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