How To Buy Used Choppers

Welcome to Ride and Rally with Fix My Hog. Brought to you by, Gatorz eyewear, fit, form, function, proudly made in the USA. Footwear provided by Harley-Davidson Footwear. What's up, everybody? I'm Nate Beck, and you're watching Fix My Hog. Heritage, it's something that is ingrained in all of us as Harley-Davidson riders. So much to the fact, and it's so important to the company, that they even named a bike after it. But some of us want a little bit more than just celebrating the heritage, riding our newer bikes, and we want to ride and be a part of the history of Harley-Davidson and ride old bikes. I recently purchased a 1976 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead Chopper and I noticed during the buying process that it was slightly different than if I was gonna buy a newer Twin Cam or later. So, we're gonna run you down, you know, some of the differences and some things to look out for if you're getting into the vintage market of Harley-Davidson. So, what I did, is I started with, actually the Fix My Hog Used Buyer's Guide and, kind of, just refreshed myself on what is important to look at when you're buying a used motorcycle. The stuff that Tommy goes over in that video, it applies to any motorcycle, really, if you're gonna buy a 1920 to a 2008 to 2015, whatever. Things like, really, you know, getting to know the seller, do they seem trustworthy? Did they even clean the bike for the photo that they posted online? Or if you're seeing it in person, did they clean the bike for that? You know, where are they at their regular maintenance intervals? Have they changed the oil frequently? Is there any obvious binding, cracks, dents on the bike? How are the tires, the wear condition? Just get an overall feel of the things you can see, you know, will usually, you know, let you know what's going on inside the bike. And that's gonna apply for anything, old bike, new bike. Doesn't matter. So, if you're looking at buying a vintage Harley, absolutely start with the Fix My Hog Used Buyers Guide. From there, you know, you have a couple different options. I always start with the engine. I've always loved Shovelhead engines so that's where I started. But you can go, you know, Flathead, Panhead, Knucklehead. But something to check out is, when you're looking at buying a vintage Harley, is that even though, you know, you have these different motors, within the years of those motors, you'll have, you know, different kind of set-ups. So, mine is a '76 Shovelhead so I have a cone as opposed to the earlier Shovelheads had the generator bottom. The earlier Shovelheads have a ratchet-top transmission. The later Shovelheads have a rotary-top transmission. So, I spent about six months researching Shovelheads to really figure out, kind of, what years I was going after, before I decided to take the plunge and really be an active buyer in the market. When I figured out that I wanted a cone shovel with a ratchet-top transmission, I actually went to a vintage bike dealer that specialized in vintage Harley-Davidsons. I knew it would cost a little bit more but I also knew that they would understand what's going on in that motor a little bit more than a shade tree mechanic that I'd find on Craigslist or Ebay. From there it's good to ask questions, you know, when was the last time the top end was rebuilt? When was the last time the carburetor was serviced or rebuilt? When was the last time the transmission was serviced? These are all big, big money items that you're gonna run into that can definitely affect your buying budget ahead of time. From there, you gotta talk about a thing about titles. So, with the older bikes a lot of times engines are pulled out, they're put into different frames, different transmissions are put in, and that can affect the title. That was absolutely a case in buying my bike, is it's actually a special construction title. It's titled as a 2014, even though the motor is out of a '76. So is a '76 motor put into a 2014 custom frame that got titled and tagged, and then it was a new four speed ratchet top transmission that I got the MSO for that I had to show when titling the bike. Now, you know, when you're talking about titling a special construction, Chopper, Bobber, vintage Harley, you really need to check your states local laws on what that entails. Because if you live in a state like California, my bike is titled as a 2014, so my bike is held up to the standards, emission standards of a 2014, even though the motor is a '76, so I'll never be able to take that bike into California. So if you're looking at older bikes absolutely ask about the title, you know, is it clean and clear, but is it a special construction or is it titled as a Harley-Davidson that year? And lastly, before you get into, you know, buying a Harley-Davidson, you know, from the old days, you gotta think about, you know, be honest with yourself, old bikes take a lot of maintenance, and not only do they take a lot maintenance, they take a lot of time. You know, I have to loop my chain once every 300 miles and check the oil every 2,000, replace it, clean oil tappet screens. The older bikes take a lot of time, they're not necessarily difficult to work on if you have a good service manual, but they definitely take time and tools. So, if you're getting into that, you know, think about, you know, what bikes maybe, you know, need more work, Shovelheads are notorious for leaking. So, you have to be prepared for that problem. And kind of researching the engines and what their common problems are, and do you have time to address those problems to ride safely, and ride well. So that's about it. If you're looking to get into the vintage market, I would absolutely suggest it, I'm loving it. But its definitely has some unique challenges. So until next time, ride safe, wrench safe, and we'll see you on the road.