Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 My search for a modern antique motorcycle.

This VL is a real antique, early 1930's.

This Indian is a 1940's model.

These two bikes are legitimate antiques.

While I'm attracted to the idea of owning an actual antique motorcycle, I'm not too keen on investing the kind of money that buying one would require. Since the only two marques that I'd seriously consider would be a Harley Davidson or an Indian, these bikes are quite expensive. A nice example would cost between 25 to 50 thousand dollars, which is the most money that I would spend on a nice car.

New Street Bob, 15 grand. But it's 117 inches and has just
under 100 horses!

Base Chief sells for 22,000 or so.

I've also been pricing new Harleys; their lowest price Big Twin sells for 15,000.00. The Heritage Softail sells for the mid 20,000's. Indian's retro base model sells for the low 20's also. So for less than the price of a restored bike, I could buy a brand new bike.

I don't need a brand new bike, since I wouldn't be riding the bike on a daily basis for transportation. I'm not going to rack up many miles. I've seen many ten year old Harleys with only 10,000 miles or much less listed for sale. My own twenty year old Sportster only had a bit more than 5,000 miles on it when I bought it almost a year ago. I probably haven't added even another 500 miles to the odometer since then. A later model bike in good condition with reasonably low mileage would be a better alternative.

The truth is that I don't really want to embark on a total restoration either. While I don't mind doing regular maintainance and cleaning and detailing, I know that I don't want to have to do a complete tear down and rebuild. I want the bike to be in good running condition.

As I wrote in an earlier post, Harley has been building a retro styled bike for many years; The Heritage Softail. I have always liked this model, but after I sold my own Big Twin back in the 1980's I hadn't given much thought to buying another one. 

The 80's were a busy time for me that extended for the next two decades with marriage, house buying, raising a family, and dealing with my job and earning a living, taking the top priorities. I also didn't have a lot of extra money to spend at the time. Then I got involved with my hobby car activities and while these weren't that expensive, that soaked up any spare money that I had available.

The Springer front end is also an exact copy of the vintage fork.

These feature dual pipes and a tombstone tail lamp
as factory equipment.

It makes sense to me, that instead of an actual antique bike, that I should get a bike with classic looks, that at least, looks like a vintage machine. HD produced a Heritage that featured a Springer front end. This Springer looked almost exactly like the type that was used on Harleys from the mid 1930's to 1948. I started looking on CL to see if any were available and what they were going for. These bikes are fairly rare, and are already very desirable as collector items.

I found one, a 2002 model that was asking 6500.00. That was more than I could afford out of my hobby cash stash, but I figured that I could borrow some money to make the difference. The '02 was an early model of the Twin Cam engine, so I did some research to learn about that engine.

Early models had some serious problems that could lead to complete engine failure after 30,000 miles. This was the first HD engine that used a chain driven cam drive system, The chain tensioner shoes would wear, and suddenly disintegrate and the plastic would get sucked up by the oil pump and starve the engine for oil. There were many documented failures. HD recommended chain and tensioner inspections and replacement at specified mileage intervals, which could head off the problem. After a couple of years, they developed a hydraulic tensioner system that alleviated the problem. However there were no factory recalls.

This whole hulabaloo sounds a lot like the issues that surrounded early models of the Jaguar V8 engine. It was well known to people on the forum that these early engines were a disaster waiting to happen. Any car considered for purchase, that had not yet experienced a failure, needed an inspection and replacement of the cam chain tensioners immediately! Unless it could be documented that the work had already been carried out. This same idea is how the early Twin Cam engines have come to be regarded; unless the seller has documentation to prove inspection and repair, the cost of that process should be deducted against the seller's asking price.

The seller of the bike on CL later amended their ad by mentioning that the cam system had been inspected and found to be in good shape, they even included a photo of the chain tensioners. The seller also raised their asking price to 8,000.00! This price is closer to what I had seen on similar bikes listed on Facebook marketplace. These bikes are becoming quite valued as collectibles.

This is what I was looking for; mostly original, nice colors,
unfortunately, non stock slip on mufflers. This is a Twin Cam.

That was getting out of my comfortable range, so I started looking for the standard earlier Evolution powered models, which are considerably cheaper. The Evo engine is considered to be one of the most reliable engines that Harley has ever produced. By the end of their production, which spanned almost twenty years, they were well regarded with a great reputation. Harley has sold a lot of Heritage Softails, so there are always many listed for sale on CL and Facebook.

Prices vary, but depending on year and condition, for twenty something models they usually start at the low end of 3,500.00 to six grand. Depending...

I was looking at bikes that were twenty years older, or more. Early 2000's to late 1990's. These are old bikes, but remember, I had considered buying an antique which could be around 80 years old, so that's entirely relative. Of course, these later models are still much more modern in engineering, with electric starters and disc brakes as standard equipment. They would be fully capable of dealing with modern riding conditions.

These Heritages are bikes that people buy to ride, so they usually rack up more miles. Many bikes are well over 50,000, but there are still a lot around 30,000. That was the mileage that I was looking for.

This looks like a Heritage, but it's a FatBoy. Rare to see with
wire wheels, they usually have alloy wheels front and rear.

Harleys are bikes that their owners like to modify and individualize. Most older bikes have been modified from the original configuration. Some of that is due to replacements made for worn out parts, but most are made for owner preference. If the modifications fit what the prospective buyer wants, then that's a plus. But if the mods don't suit the tastes of the buyer, then that's an issue. But trade offs have to be made when dealing with old machines, and price considerations play a big part.

Some changes are difficult to return back to original, like paint jobs and engine hop up modifications. If the potential buyer doesn't like what's been done, it's best to just pass and find another bike. It's not like these bikes are rare.

Most of the modifications however are "bolt on" in nature. Different bars, seats, bags, windshields, fairings, chrome components, and covers, and of course different exhaust systems. 

This was a bike that I considered, it has dresser style duals.
I asked the seller if the pipes were quiet or loud, he replied; loud.

This can be a problem, as most systems are much louder than stock. For improved "performance" the rider will tell you. That's probably true as HD built some very restrictive mufflers to conform with noise standards. Opening up the pipes will result in better throttle response, and the bike at least, will "sound" faster! 

The sound level varies, but it's apparent that a lot of riders just want the bike to be LOUD! There is a series of exhaust systems that are named "neighbor haters." You can imagine how loud those things must be!

More popular are muffler replacements coupled with the stock header pipes. These utilize "slip on" replacement mufflers. This is the least expensive route, and it would be the easiest to return to stock. 

I decided that I wanted a bike with a completely stock exhaust system. I want it quiet! Especially after my experience with my Sportster. It isn't that bad, but I find the noise level discourages me from riding it as much as I could. Riding it just seems like a bigger deal than it needs to be. Luckily Heritages usually don't get stuck with some of the awful, extremely short unmuffled pipes like a lot of Sportsters do. Usually the stock head pipes are still used.

Late model touring Harleys will often still carry their original equipment mufflers, but that's not as common with Heritages.

I was lucky to find a bike that combined the things that I wanted; a stock engine, stock exhaust, original air cleaner, a nice original paint scheme, and low mileage. It was in good condition, was well maintained, and had a set of new tires. This bike was initially listed at a price that was higher than most by almost a grand, (4,950.00) but I hoped that that price was negotiable.

A benefit was that the bike was located only 25 miles from my house, so it would be convenient to go see it.

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As a postscript I'll add that I also considered the rubber mounted Electra Glide and Road Kings. The Electra Glide looks very similar to those from the '60's and '70's. These bikes also are extremely comfortable with a plush low seat, good suspension, and dual dresser pipes. They also have a large windshield or the Batwing fairing and saddlebags.

The newer Electra Glide wouldn't look as vintage as a Heritage of course, but I'm sure that it would be a great bike for riding.

A good looking bike in a nice color. Most casual onlookers
would think that it's a vintage bike.

While they carry a lot of the classic styling cues and they are very practical and useful bikes, they are not as clean and basic as the Heritage. Prices were actually a little lower than those asked for similar Heritages. Since touring bikes are usually well taken care of by their original owners, these are great bargains.

Very handsome, it was tempting.
The seller was asking 3,800.00.

This two tone blue Electra Glide was a beautiful and handsome machine, but I still wanted traditional wire spoke wheels instead of alloy wheels. 

I still wanted a Heritage.