Hi y'all,

As some of you may know, I recently got a '73 XLCH Ironhead to go with my '52 K and '98 Evo. It's much like my old '73 I used to own many years ago. The bike came with a monsterous two up highway cruiser seat, highway pegs, sissy bar, saddle bags, etc. which is exactly the opposite of how I like 'em which is lean and mean.

So, anyway, this past weekend was the first time I'd really had with the '73 and I spent most of it strippin' stuff off, got a solo seat mounted and some flatter bars ordered and was just wonderin' if there's anything special about the tach drive? I don't want to run any gauges on this one, and I assume I can safely remove the cable and just plug the hole? I'm still waiting on a manual to be delivered and really didn't want to remove the timing cover to peak inside.

Thanks for the help!

T.

I just did the same with my 72 , the tach drive hole is a special shaped hole and needs a specific plug to replace the drive unit , but you can just remove the cable and housing from the drive unit and use the bike like that (a bit ugly but it works) I was fortunate enough to find a plug in a box of parts that a bro gave me , but I was running with the drive unit in the case for most of this year

or I don't see why you couldn't take the drive unit to a machinist and have a plug made using the drive as a pattern (stainless perhaps)

Flathead,

Thanks bro. Yeah, for now I'll probably just unplug the cable like you did, but, eventually it would be nice to have that capped off nicely. Do you have pictures of your '72? I'll check your profile. I didn't get around to snappin' any pics of the '73 this weekend, but I'm still plannin' on it.

Thanks for the response.

T

I got two pics in the gallery , a close up of the motor shows it with the tach drive in (i don't have on without yet) and one of the bike right after I got the tank back from the painter

Home Depot, plumbing shops, Fastener Shops have round chrome caps with a bunch of little teeth around the outside edge. Come in many sizes. Remove the speedo drive [nothing will go wrong] and cap the hole.

Chrome Tachometer Drive Block Off Plug For Sportsters fits 1957-80 XL
Part# 730-068 $13.99 in the J&P Cycle Catalog....Go to their website @ www.jpcycles.com Its a nice chrome plug, check it out! :smoke Hrdly