'79 FXE Questions

1193 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Larry T, Jun 5, 2006

viciouscycle

Discussion Starter · Jun 3, 2006

for as long as i can remember, i've always wanted to be a gangster...i mean, own a shovelhead. a friend found me a '79 fxe in great shape for a good price, but there are some things i need to find out:

1. as i looked through catalogs for transmission and primary parts it seems that the cut off for a lot of the cool stuff is '78. what did they change in '79 as far as trannies and stuff?

2. eventually i want to turn this thing into an flh. is there any reason i could put a 50's flh front end on this frame? same buddy fount the front end for me. i realize that its drum brake, but would there be any problems mounting it to the frame?

3. anything else i should watch out for with a '79? is it some kind of bastard motor and tranny you can't get cool shit for?

any help is greatly appreciated as i don't know the slightest thing about HD. looks like i'm gonna have to get used to having the brake on the right!

thanks
Jake

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justinNY

· #2 · Jun 3, 2006

1. in 79 they introduced a new trans top. they switched from the ratchet type to the "rotary" lid aka "maytag" lid, aka "cowpie" lid. they kinda suck but it's no reason to not buy the bike...shifting can be more sloppy but that can also be cleaned up with better bushings, etc.

2. no problems that i'm aware of.

3. nothing really to watch out for but 79 is also the year (or maybe it was 78?) that the motors went from 74" to 80" but if i'm not mistaken the fxe stayed 74" until the following year or maybe they made both in 79. i'm rambling...but check on that...no big deal but just one thing that changed around that time.

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FLAT-TOP

· #3 · Jun 5, 2006

get that thing bought,

i'm ready to keep the battery charged up for ya till it goes out west.

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Fredo

· #4 · Jun 5, 2006

The front end will fit. Depends on what your definition of "cool shit" is. There is always sonething you can do to a bike to make it your own, no matter the year. None of those things will make you a gangster though.

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Creepinogie

· #5 · Jun 5, 2006

Ain't nothing wrong with a 79 shovel 0r it's transmission. I have a rotary top tranny with over 100,000 miles on it and it's still working. The one weird thing about 79 HDs is the first year electronic ignition which still had a mechanical advance. You can get a 50's FL looking front end with a disk brake if you use one from a newer heritage. Oh, and you should rejet the carburator it it hasen't already been done.

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Larry T

· #6 · Jun 5, 2006

FLAT-TOP said:
get that thing bought,

i'm ready to keep the battery charged up for ya till it goes out west.

Since Flat-Top is talking like this is a local bike, it isn't in Quanah is it??

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