Good job, you presented the motorcycle very well. I love watching younger riders like yourself and seeing your impressions of these old bikes. Lots of things I just take for granted are new and wonderful to you guys. You see, I'm 62 years old, and bought my first street bike - a 1976 XLCH - at the ripe old age of 18. In 1978... I soon sold it and bought a 1967 XLH (with an added kick starter), and finally, in 1980, bought my current 1976 XLCH. Yes, I still own that motorcycle after all of these years. Many others, of many makes have come and gone since (with one Ducati, one Honda, and one other Harley in the stable today), but this one has been the "keeper". It didn't start out that way, there was no conscious effort to hang onto it for so long, it just happened. Whenever I "had" to sell a bike to get a different one, I guess I just never considered selling the Sporty. Oh, and I converted it to right hand shift very early.. It just seemed "right". Anyway, good job on the review.
COOL BIKE!!! HAD TWO SPORTYS, 1983 XLX 1000 AND A 1977 XL !!!! LOOK UP ** THEN CAME BRONSON BIKE!!! A 1969 OR 1970 CH, 900 KICK START SPORTY!!!! COOL BIKE!!!! ENJOYED THE VIDEO AND THE 1973 SPORTY IS A CLEAN, GOOD LOOKIN HARLEY!!!! I ALSO HAD A 1973 FLH 1200 FROM 1996 TO 2004!!!!!
I'm jealous of all the bikes you get to ride. I just test drove a 1970 Sportster XCLH earlier today. the bike was a lot of fun to ride, but it felt very industrial, kinda like a tractor. The one I was on had the turtle tank and bench seat, which I really like
Nice. Love the AMF-era. I have a 73 XLH with the laser graphics, my favorite AMF paint scheme. Also have a 1969 XLCH magneto Sportster and a couple of Shovelheads. Pre-78 Ironheads are one of the best looking motorcycles ever produced, rawboned, wasp waisted, minimalist. Kind of like pre-1971 Triumphs.
I bought 1974 Sportster NEW ,dealer kept it more than I did BUT I love that bike so much I bought another 1 a basket case in 1994 and built it with my SON . a Blast it was, I still have it . But wonder how many guy's my age fell in love with the Sportster from a TV show called Then Came Bronson the red Sportster was the start of the show. They couldn't meet the demand at the dealer's.
@carlambrose4442...I just had to respond to your comment on Then Came Bronson. I fell in love with Harley Sportsters (and motorcycling in general) from watching this great, but little-known TV series. As a teenager, I dreamt of being Bronson. I got my first bike at age 17 and sang "Long Lonesome Highway" during most of my rides ever since then. Sadly, I never owned a Sportster or any Harley, but I rode the first 1340 Sturgis in Australia. I felt like King of the Road for 15 minutes. No brakes to speak of, just a rumble down under that I'll never forget. Great memories. Interestingly, a few days ago I saw a '78 Sportster for sale at Baxter Cycles in Iowa. It's listed as a project bike...asking $2,450. If it runs, I'd be tempted to have it shipped over, as I have a biker friend in Iowa. Anyway, thanks for your post, it brought back a lot of great memories for me🙏
BTW, That type throttle was known as a " Dead Man's Throttle", and was on all Harleys untill, I believe, '73, when they changed it, added the first disc break and turn signals., and screwed up the frame, right under the seat, by changing a heavy cast piece for a ' square strap', which allowed the rear of the bike to 'wallow around' at anything over about 75 mph. Quite an experiance ! They came with a fix mid-way through the year, whereby they added another 'strap' to each side of the top ' U ' shaped strap that caused the problem to begin with. Anyone who buys one of these old '73 Sportsters should look for this factory mod to see if it was done, & if not, should look to do the modification. The problem existed only on the "early' 73 models, which I think also had the" earlier" style " smaller" tail light. I'm amazed that I can remember that far back, but I once owned an 'early' '73 model with this' money saving mistake', and had to correct it. Any later manual will show the ' fix' and can easily be done with a welder & two metal straps of steel ,and about 15 minutes worth of work.
Great memory, well done! I can fill in some additional details: - ‘73 was the last year for that this throttle on the Sportster; the FLH ran it through’74. - The frame modification on the early ‘73 XL was a Safety Recall. - Sportsters built before 1-1-1973 had the ‘55 style tail light, came without turn signals. - All ‘72 through early ‘73 XL production ran cylinders and heads with the same head bolt location as the 900cc machines. The head bolts were also the same 9/16 hex head bolt. These early 1,000cc cylinders were 3/16”, 0.1875” larger in diameter than the 900. The 900cc head bolt location on these cylinders caused them to distort dramatically when the head bolts were torqued; these engines used a lot of oil! The later cylinders and heads used a 12 point head bolt. - ‘73 was the first year for a Japanese, Kayaba front fork; I believe that ‘74 was a Showa. - ‘73 was the first year for the front wheel speedometer drive on the XL and FX models. - ‘73 was the first year for the wrinkle black finish on the engine side covers. - 73 marked the introduction of the aluminum connecting rod roller bearing retainers. 😁
I did not know that about the throttle. I thought it had the throttle lock the same as my 1976 SuperGlide and my 1979 LowRider had. Thanks for the info.
I just got a 1200 Iron and am interested in the history behind the Sportster line. A very iconic bike no matter what anyone's opinion of them may be. I'm thrilled with my new toy, not so interested in that one, but it is a beauty.
I am the original owner of a 1973 XLCH I ordered from the HD dealer in September of 1972 (they had a one year waiting list in those days). I got my bike in early April of 1973 and I am currently doing a full ground up back to original restoration. I have the original paint color, decals, most parts which I need for the project which are only NOS OEM parts; no after market parts at all. All of the nuts and bolts are the original Rockford head stamped bolts, everything has been refinished in Cadmium finish, no chrome! Harley didn't Chrome much of anything in those days; the speedometer/tach bracket was wrinkle black, not chrome! 1973 engine covers were black wrinkle, the rockers were polished aluminum. I was lucky enough to find a NOS original front wheel and hub in perfect condition with the cadmium spokes, a near new rear 18 inch wheel with black hub (we all replaced the 18 inch wheels with big 16 inch tires in those days). I found a complete near new condition original and complete exhaust system with correct heat shields, original cobra seat, original NOS black wrinkle primary cover as we chromed the engine covers and I stripped the chrome from the cam and sprocket covers which are being refinished in black wrinkle paint. The Chrome plated rocker boxes are being replaced with a NOS pair of aluminum polished rockers as they came from the factory. Brake and shifter levers were Cadmium plated, not chrome! Hand control levers were aluminum, not Chrome. Fun project!! I bought it new, so I recall everything about the 1973 in how it arrived from the factory when new. The 1973 was a one year only on many parts in the build and they used a lot of left over 1972 parts as they transitioned over to the late 1973 and up models. When completed (after a total engine overhaul by a great mechanic friend of mine who does all of my work on the other Harleys I have), this will be a display piece bike which will run perfectly. BTW, yes the later 1973 Sportsters came with the later style plastic tail light lens, early 73 Sportsters came with the older metal tail light. But my Sportster has the later rear fender, later tail light, but the engine is an early 73 with 1972 cylinders and late 1971 big valve 900 heads used on the early 1000 engines... Harley was famous for using up whatever left over parts they had from earlier bikes to build newer bikes; this is totally consistent and what makes projects like this challenging.
Ive got a 73 and they had early and later 73 decals. Some of the other parts were different for that year. There should be a small knurled screw that adjusts the drag on the throttle so you have spring return. Its under the grip. I prefer the manual return like you have it.
Thanks for the TH-cam clip on the 73' Sportster great job. Also would like to point out to you that no one used the Iron-H bullshit back in the 1970's and 1980's that's what newbee harley people call them. That always sounds like someone that has never rode one or just now been on one. I own a 73' XLH and Love it. The new machines are too soft and boring , these bikes have Soul and a real motor. People these days would never ride one of these flat out like we did back in those times. Almost no one owned one back then you never saw one on the road in the last 70's People would just stare at me on my 76' XLH j-d
There should be a spring tensioned thumb screw under the throttle that is used to put friction on the throttle grip. If you loosen that thumb screw the throttle should return on its own.
@@throttlecompany Yeah, I thought it was set up like on my 1976 and 1979 Big Twin ShovelHeads but then I found out about the older “Dead Man’s Throttle found on the older IronHeads.
Regardless of what most say, the Ironheads and Shovelheads of the late 1960's and into the 1970's were good bikes! AMF saved HD and they needed to compete with imported bikes, so they amped up production and machining that was very antiquated.....almost 70 years old at the time! But a well built Ironhead or Shovelhead will give you plenty of miles, they are not a new M8 or even a Metric bike out of the 70's. They need maintenance but that is just the game with owning an old HD! What is the difference mechanically to a ironhead and a 2003 sportster? 4 cams, two push rods, 4 valves. But my a Cycle Electric generator and voltage regulator, a good carb and go!
The 1st Sportster I rode was on '73 and it was a stock '69 (900) and it had a throttle return spring. So is yours just broke? Or is that an internal type? By the way, that one ride sold me!
73 Sportster Superglide and Electra glide had internal throttle yet with Bendix carb. 74 went. external with Bendix carb. 73 first year mandated directionals and approved tail light.
Interesting note... "IRONHEADS", were never called "Ironheads" untill the "Evo Sportsters" hit the market. They were just known as "Sportsters" , or "Ch'" for the kickers, or "H models" for the "E- Start" models. The dealers started calling them 'Ironheads' to distinguish them from the ' newer' evo models they wanted to sell. It would have been mass confusion to keep calling them "Sportsters".
My 74 xlch had a jamb screw that held the throttle stick like that or loosen it and the spring return worked normally, yours is messed up or just needs to be loosened
You know I might visit ye shop whenever I come down to the Buddhist Temple. Didn't know you guys were across the stadium. Did you guy recently open shop a few years ago like 3yrs?
It's called a dead mans throttle. If you're used to it, it becomes second nature -- even to the point where riding a bike with a spring return throttle is annoying.
.1967 was the only year they came from the factory that way. I was a dealership wrench 69-86 I took 73's out of the crate new it was either or as he stated in the beginning, We installed a lot of kicker kits on the XLH's for customers who didn't trust the E start.
I had a 73 TX 125 bought new. rode a brand new 73 XLH sportster when I was 16 and rode that TX on street and Trail.at the time. Few years later ran across a 73 superglide had to have it. I still have a Sprint. Noŵ have several HD's I regret selling them bikes though was stupid of me.
XLH is electric start and XLCH is kick start. On stock bikes just look at the oil tank. Electric start gets the kidney bean shape and the kicker gets the smaller rectangular box shape.
Good job, you presented the motorcycle very well. I love watching younger riders like yourself and seeing your impressions of these old bikes. Lots of things I just take for granted are new and wonderful to you guys. You see, I'm 62 years old, and bought my first street bike - a 1976 XLCH - at the ripe old age of 18. In 1978... I soon sold it and bought a 1967 XLH (with an added kick starter), and finally, in 1980, bought my current 1976 XLCH. Yes, I still own that motorcycle after all of these years. Many others, of many makes have come and gone since (with one Ducati, one Honda, and one other Harley in the stable today), but this one has been the "keeper". It didn't start out that way, there was no conscious effort to hang onto it for so long, it just happened. Whenever I "had" to sell a bike to get a different one, I guess I just never considered selling the Sporty. Oh, and I converted it to right hand shift very early.. It just seemed "right". Anyway, good job on the review.
This era Sportster is the best looking of all. The full narrow glide front fender should have never ended.
Definitely, the Superglide and early Sportsters had the coolest front fender ever put on a bike.
COOL BIKE!!! HAD TWO SPORTYS, 1983 XLX 1000 AND A 1977 XL !!!! LOOK UP ** THEN CAME BRONSON BIKE!!! A 1969 OR 1970 CH, 900 KICK START SPORTY!!!! COOL BIKE!!!! ENJOYED THE VIDEO AND THE 1973 SPORTY IS A CLEAN, GOOD LOOKIN HARLEY!!!! I ALSO HAD A 1973 FLH 1200 FROM 1996 TO 2004!!!!!
I bought a 73 Sportster XLC in 75 for $2,000. Oh how I wish I kept it. Memories. Thank you.
I'm jealous of all the bikes you get to ride. I just test drove a 1970 Sportster XCLH earlier today. the bike was a lot of fun to ride, but it felt very industrial, kinda like a tractor. The one I was on had the turtle tank and bench seat, which I really like
OH yeah Thank's for the ride !!
Nice. Love the AMF-era. I have a 73 XLH with the laser graphics, my favorite AMF paint scheme. Also have a 1969 XLCH magneto Sportster and a couple of Shovelheads. Pre-78 Ironheads are one of the best looking motorcycles ever produced, rawboned, wasp waisted, minimalist. Kind of like pre-1971 Triumphs.
I bought 1974 Sportster NEW ,dealer kept it more than I did BUT I love that bike so much I bought another 1 a basket case in 1994 and built it with my SON . a Blast it was, I still have it . But wonder how many guy's my age fell in love with the Sportster from a TV show called Then Came Bronson the red Sportster was the start of the show. They couldn't meet the demand at the dealer's.
@carlambrose4442...I just had to respond to your comment on Then Came Bronson. I fell in love with Harley Sportsters (and motorcycling in general) from watching this great, but little-known TV series. As a teenager, I dreamt of being Bronson. I got my first bike at age 17 and sang "Long Lonesome Highway" during most of my rides ever since then. Sadly, I never owned a Sportster or any Harley, but I rode the first 1340 Sturgis in Australia. I felt like King of the Road for 15 minutes. No brakes to speak of, just a rumble down under that I'll never forget. Great memories. Interestingly, a few days ago I saw a '78 Sportster for sale at Baxter Cycles in Iowa. It's listed as a project bike...asking $2,450. If it runs, I'd be tempted to have it shipped over, as I have a biker friend in Iowa. Anyway, thanks for your post, it brought back a lot of great memories for me🙏
That would look awesome next to my 2002 XL1200S downstairs in the garage.
BTW, That type throttle was known as a " Dead Man's Throttle", and was on all Harleys untill, I believe, '73, when they changed it, added the first disc break and turn signals., and screwed up the frame, right under the seat, by changing a heavy cast piece for a ' square strap', which allowed the rear of the bike to 'wallow around' at anything over about 75 mph. Quite an experiance ! They came with a fix mid-way through the year, whereby they added another 'strap' to each side of the top ' U ' shaped strap that caused the problem to begin with. Anyone who buys one of these old '73 Sportsters should look for this factory mod to see if it was done, & if not, should look to do the modification. The problem existed only on the "early' 73 models, which I think also had the" earlier" style " smaller" tail light.
I'm amazed that I can remember that far back, but I once owned an 'early' '73 model with this' money saving mistake', and had to correct it. Any later manual will show the ' fix' and can easily be done with a welder & two metal straps of steel ,and about 15 minutes worth of work.
Great memory, well done!
I can fill in some additional details:
- ‘73 was the last year for that this throttle on the Sportster; the FLH ran it through’74.
- The frame modification on the early ‘73 XL was a Safety Recall.
- Sportsters built before 1-1-1973 had the ‘55 style tail light, came without turn signals.
- All ‘72 through early ‘73 XL production ran cylinders and heads with the same head bolt location as the 900cc machines. The head bolts were also the same 9/16 hex head bolt.
These early 1,000cc cylinders were 3/16”, 0.1875” larger in diameter than the 900. The 900cc head bolt location on these cylinders caused them to distort dramatically when the head bolts were torqued; these engines used a lot of oil!
The later cylinders and heads used a 12 point head bolt.
- ‘73 was the first year for a Japanese, Kayaba front fork; I believe that ‘74 was a Showa.
- ‘73 was the first year for the front wheel speedometer drive on the XL and FX models.
- ‘73 was the first year for the wrinkle black finish on the engine side covers.
- 73 marked the introduction of the aluminum connecting rod roller bearing retainers. 😁
I did not know that about the throttle. I thought it had the throttle lock the same as my 1976 SuperGlide and my 1979 LowRider had. Thanks for the info.
I had a 78 and84 ironheads loved both
I just got a 1200 Iron and am interested in the history behind the Sportster line. A very iconic bike no matter what anyone's opinion of them may be. I'm thrilled with my new toy, not so interested in that one, but it is a beauty.
I am the original owner of a 1973 XLCH I ordered from the HD dealer in September of 1972 (they had a one year waiting list in those days). I got my bike in early April of 1973 and I am currently doing a full ground up back to original restoration. I have the original paint color, decals, most parts which I need for the project which are only NOS OEM parts; no after market parts at all. All of the nuts and bolts are the original Rockford head stamped bolts, everything has been refinished in Cadmium finish, no chrome! Harley didn't Chrome much of anything in those days; the speedometer/tach bracket was wrinkle black, not chrome! 1973 engine covers were black wrinkle, the rockers were polished aluminum. I was lucky enough to find a NOS original front wheel and hub in perfect condition with the cadmium spokes, a near new rear 18 inch wheel with black hub (we all replaced the 18 inch wheels with big 16 inch tires in those days). I found a complete near new condition original and complete exhaust system with correct heat shields, original cobra seat, original NOS black wrinkle primary cover as we chromed the engine covers and I stripped the chrome from the cam and sprocket covers which are being refinished in black wrinkle paint. The Chrome plated rocker boxes are being replaced with a NOS pair of aluminum polished rockers as they came from the factory. Brake and shifter levers were Cadmium plated, not chrome! Hand control levers were aluminum, not Chrome. Fun project!!
I bought it new, so I recall everything about the 1973 in how it arrived from the factory when new. The 1973 was a one year only on many parts in the build and they used a lot of left over 1972 parts as they transitioned over to the late 1973 and up models. When completed (after a total engine overhaul by a great mechanic friend of mine who does all of my work on the other Harleys I have), this will be a display piece bike which will run perfectly. BTW, yes the later 1973 Sportsters came with the later style plastic tail light lens, early 73 Sportsters came with the older metal tail light. But my Sportster has the later rear fender, later tail light, but the engine is an early 73 with 1972 cylinders and late 1971 big valve 900 heads used on the early 1000 engines... Harley was famous for using up whatever left over parts they had from earlier bikes to build newer bikes; this is totally consistent and what makes projects like this challenging.
I have the 1979, hard tail fat rear, chopper,springer show bike. It's very wild looking. I'm 5.8 now, you need 6ft to reach the pedals lol
Amazing Bike Bro 👏👏👍👍😇🤗😊☺️💯🔥🔥🔥
Ive got a 73 and they had early and later 73 decals. Some of the other parts were different for that year. There should be a small knurled screw that adjusts the drag on the throttle so you have spring return. Its under the grip. I prefer the manual return like you have it.
restoring a 73 to give my daughter...XLCH
@@danheino7006Good Dad.
@@garydiggins1836 single parent since months old...she was a great kid...made me proud every day.I hope the bike does her.
Thanks for the TH-cam clip on the 73' Sportster great job. Also would like to point out to you that no one used the Iron-H bullshit back in the 1970's and 1980's that's what newbee harley people call them. That always sounds like someone that has never rode one or just now been on one. I own a 73' XLH and Love it. The new machines are too soft and boring , these bikes have Soul and a real motor. People these days would never ride one of these flat out like we did back in those times. Almost no one owned one back then you never saw one on the road in the last 70's People would just stare at me on my 76' XLH j-d
There should be a spring tensioned thumb screw under the throttle that is used to put friction on the throttle grip. If you loosen that thumb screw the throttle should return on its own.
Nope
@@throttlecompany Yeah, I thought it was set up like on my 1976 and 1979 Big Twin ShovelHeads but then I found out about the older “Dead Man’s Throttle found on the older IronHeads.
Nice Bike Bro 🔥🔥🔥💯☺️😊🤗😇👍👍👏👏
Regardless of what most say, the Ironheads and Shovelheads of the late 1960's and into the 1970's were good bikes! AMF saved HD and they needed to compete with imported bikes, so they amped up production and machining that was very antiquated.....almost 70 years old at the time!
But a well built Ironhead or Shovelhead will give you plenty of miles, they are not a new M8 or even a Metric bike out of the 70's. They need maintenance but that is just the game with owning an old HD! What is the difference mechanically to a ironhead and a 2003 sportster? 4 cams, two push rods, 4 valves. But my a Cycle Electric generator and voltage regulator, a good carb and go!
The 1st Sportster I rode was on '73 and it was a stock '69 (900) and it had a throttle return spring.
So is yours just broke?
Or is that an internal type?
By the way, that one ride sold me!
73 Sportster Superglide and Electra glide had internal throttle yet with Bendix carb. 74 went. external with Bendix carb. 73 first year mandated directionals and approved tail light.
Interesting note... "IRONHEADS", were never called "Ironheads" untill the "Evo Sportsters" hit the market. They were just known as "Sportsters" , or
"Ch'" for the kickers, or "H models" for the "E- Start" models. The dealers started calling them 'Ironheads' to distinguish them from the
' newer' evo models they wanted to sell. It would have been mass confusion to keep calling them "Sportsters".
As much us us old people hated it AMF saved Harleys ass. Ronnie Reagun did also by putting big tarriff on jap bikes to help Harley compete.
My 74 xlch had a jamb screw that held the throttle stick like that or loosen it and the spring return worked normally, yours is messed up or just needs to be loosened
Buckhorn Bars.
I have the exact same bike right shift gear, left foot brake it's called a machismo 350 royal enfield for some strange reason 2002 model
I have a 1974 XLH BONE STOCK.
The choke should be on if its cold.
You know I might visit ye shop whenever I come down to the Buddhist Temple. Didn't know you guys were across the stadium. Did you guy recently open shop a few years ago like 3yrs?
We just opened our shop in July 2020. We just thought it would be a good idea to start a business in a pandemic.
@@throttlecompany the worm will turn, hang in there
Hey Dylan, I wanna grab some t-shirts from your website but I can't decide between large or medium. Would you say they run big or small or neither?
They run a bit small. If you are in between sizes I would definitely try to go up a size.Thanks for the support!
easy one or two kick if you are use to the bike....
Handlebars are tweaked.
Also the tail light should be metal on a73 not plastic!
It's called a dead mans throttle. If you're used to it, it becomes second nature -- even to the point where riding a bike with a spring return throttle is annoying.
My 73 has both electric and kick. So not sure about them being one or the other, only.
What model do you have? XLH is electric start only and XLCH is kick only. You can add kick to XLH but it didn’t come that way.
It was converted to electric then
.1967 was the only year they came from the factory that way. I was a dealership wrench 69-86 I took 73's out of the crate new it was either or as he stated in the beginning, We installed a lot of kicker kits on the XLH's for customers who didn't trust the E start.
@@tinman7130Correctamundo. ‘67 was the first year for XL electric start, and the only year that the XL featured both kick and electric start.
Rocker box'es have nothing to do with calling them iron heads the heads were made of cast iron still have my 77 xlch bought new for 2800 bucks
Yep, no one said that.
🙄🙄🙄
I had a 73 TX 125 bought new. rode a brand new 73 XLH sportster when I was 16 and rode that TX on street and Trail.at the time. Few years later ran across a 73 superglide had to have it. I still have a Sprint. Noŵ have several HD's I regret selling them bikes though was stupid of me.
So XLH / XLCN..The difference is the start method, Do you kn ow which methos indicates which designation?
XLH is electric start and XLCH is kick start. On stock bikes just look at the oil tank. Electric start gets the kidney bean shape and the kicker gets the smaller rectangular box shape.