Ironhead First XL - XLCH or XLS?

[rokytnji]

Well I see you picked the 1980. I like mine. Good luck. Here is low budget restore I did on mine. Sat outside in Nebraska for a bit.

http://xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2067738

The fun I had later
http://xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2069635

Like I said. Low budget restore.

[ryder rick]

Originally Posted by NorseBiker

I have heard about that, but never found out if they are really to b avoided, or if the stories are mostly from the same kind of hardcore purists who also think the world ended when the EVO hit the market.

79 is the real problem child as the rear master cylinder location sucks.
It's easily updated.
I own 2 79's a curb jumper and a high bar bike, neither has the 79 rear brake nonsense. both updated to later.
The L84 up are the ones with the alternator behind the clutch. Eeewwww.

[NorseBiker]

Well... Back to square one.

I decided to go with the XLS. Was supposed to take delivery of it yeaterday. But the world had other plans.

A few hours before planned pick up time, the seller calls me with bad news.
Seems that over the weekend, while they were away, there was a break-in, in there garage. Among the missing items was the bike.

Sadly, it is a pretty common thing this time of year. Gangs of [mostly] Polish bastards hit houses, often along a whole street. Never break into the actual house, but many unsecured garages, sheds stc. are easy prey. They grab anything of value that will fit in their van and are halfway across the border before anyone even notices.

In any case. Seems I got to keep looking. Have a couple interesting ones in my sights, that I will hopefully get a chance to peek at this week.

But not all bad news. I did still find something "new" for the garage. Spotted a tasty 1936 Nimbus, put a offer on it sight unseen and just got a message from the seller, accepting my offer
Not a Harley, but I'm sure many on here will still appreciate a bike like that. IMO, the most interesting bike ever made and on my top 3 most beautiful bike of all time list.

[Steve9]

That's a nice turn cake into frosting!

Just looked-up Nimbus.

That will be something

[joe s]

Better his garage than yours Good luck in your search. There are a lot of cool details on those Numbuses. Local museum has two.

[NorseBiker]

Originally Posted by joe s

Better his garage than yours Good luck in your search. There are a lot of cool details on those Numbuses. Local museum has two.

True.. I pity the fool who tries to break in to my garage or house. Strong doors, sensitive alarms and a grumpy and very well armed owner. And I live in the countryside. Around here, no one will be asking too many questions about a few gunshots and a fresh hole in the back yard ;P

And yes, The Nimbus is seriously cool. Considering it come out in 1934, it is nothing short of a mechanical masterpiece. 4-cylinder, overhead valve, overhead cam, shaft drive, telescopic fork. Tank sitting in the frame like modern sport bikes.
And the insane part is that even though it hasn't been in production for 64 years, 35-40% of the total number produced are still registered for road use in Denmark alone. And almost every part is still easily available, most still being produced.

I have wanted one for years.