That was the most instructive tutorial, from a professed non-tutorial, I have ever experienced ! THX

I'm a sporty rider too! Love it . Light and quick. The 1200 EVO gets the 69 yr old man down the road!

Another gem by the Tramp! A walking encyclopedia of repair ! Nice job dude 😎

Well done my friend, long live the Ironhead 😎

Been watching you working on this bike and is encouraging me begin working on my '83 Ironhead again. It has been a learning experience so far.

You just saved some rider/wrenches a bunch of headaches. Thanks!

I am doing the same thing right now with my '76 FLH... thanx for the refresher course!!! GOOD STUFF!

I've been there but not on a Harley mine was on a Suzuki GS 400 back in 1978 it drove me nuts. Now I have a Harley Davidson 48 and love it. But now my health has gone to the dump as it's turning out they think I have prostate cancer and I now have COPD so my riding days may not be with me much longer. I'm going to be 64 this year. My wife was only 59 when she passed away I miss her so much. She went on 1-19-2014. I enjoy watching your videos a lot.

Good to see you show the video with the honest struggles of wrenching.

I've got a 75 1200, was a Super Glide once, nothing sounds like them, you can even pick the sound out in a group, love the videos, keep'em coming!

Nothing like hands on training. GREAT videos!

Will be firing up my ironhead soon, cool to see you going through the process thanks

I had total confidence in you, have a blessed week my friend.

Major difference when you found the sweet spot. I am running a 1980 ironhead sportster . i enjoy your videos as not just fun but i am learning alot as well. Thank you for posting. P.S. love the shirt.

So awesome you found that misaligned cam lobe on the points unit, I would have gone bonkers bro!

I always liked working on my old bikes with points. Enjoyed the video!

Discovering the wrong cam? Now that's some excellent troubleshooting, right there! And gotta love how fast and easy she fired off once corrected, eh? I'm just a one-bike owner and can barely make time for riding and maintenance as it is. I admire your ambition. Excellent work and another good video. P.S. man I love your choice of blues music for this one!

Thanks for posting this video man! I ran point for years on my 80 XLH after the factoty ignition failed. I switched out to the Accel points with the blue chip resistor and ran it for years, when the contacts wore out i switched out out to some off brand electronic brand singe fire.. Then I put the Ultima 53-50 single fire in it because it used the mechanical advance still, dynatek knock off i believe. After a few months, far away from home...The rear cyl quit firing.ugh.. I one lunged it home until the front cyl died a couple of miles from the house... Anywho... I went Back to points (DS), aaaaand... This is my problem..I have 2 of those wrong contact breakers...I drilled the backing plate to compensate for the adjustment until i can find the correct contact breaker. Nice Solution. Thanks again man. Ride on!

I will never understand why everyone goes to electronic ignition and does away with points. Points are very reliable and so simple in operation . I've never switched to electronic anything myself as I'm old school in everything I do. Points work great and last a long time plus the fact of an easy fix on the side of the road if needed. I've never broken down on the side of the road at all . I keep my motors tuned and always check all settings on a regular basis. A little maintenance goes a long ways. That's what I always said about a little grease as well. Parts need lube as well as your points cam . Hope you put a little lube behind your rubbing block to keep it from wearing down too fast. The static timing works well that's how I set mine and it's running sweet. The full advance setting as you did works well. I know younger guys who don't know how points even work. They swap everything that has points out to electronic ignition. Hell some don't even know what a carburetor is... How times have changed. As lazy as a lot have gotten the art of fixing things will be lost one day as us old timers die out. Today's disposable products and imported Chinese junk is just a toss it and put a new one in. No more adjusting or fixing things just replace it with a new one... I miss the old days and old ways but I'm stuck in the seventies myself... Good to see old bikes being saved and ridden... Be safe on the road lots of idiots out there...

One word , MAGNETO.

You have saved me a lot of time! Couldn't get my timing set on my ironhead pulled my cam cover all was well checked my cams and you were correct ! Top notch thank you.

Patience is a virtue! Great job!

Used to borrow my father-in-laws timing light to time my 76 Ironhead. He didn't like me returning it with oil all over it (didn't have an inspection hole clear plug) lol! He stopped letting me use it so I got a 12v bulb out of my old train set and used it to set the point plate by attaching wires from the light and getting the TDC mark in the inspection hole and then turning the point plate till the light would go out or on (can't remember which... been a while since did it). Ran great after I did that!

Great stuff!! Your good to go as long as you have TDC. Great video!!

Wow....youre 100 x's the mechanic i am....im going to watch more of your vids cause i know i'll learn alot. I just purchased a 1998 fxstc after selling my 84 flh shovelhead 25 yrs ago. I would like to tinker more and it looks like youre the guy to watch lol

I'm also in total agreement with the COMPU-FIRE DUAL FIRE, for anyone wanting to ditch the points. For about $20 more, the DAYTONA TWIN TEC does the same with the added bonus of a adjustable rev limiter, and the guys at TWIN TEC are excellent. You don't have to replace the coil with either unit, as your original coil should be the 3-5 ohms needed. Be BLESSED

That was great troubleshooting to find the difference in the cams. You get a stronger spark from the electronic ignition setups but (as pointed out by Kevin Cameron from Cycle World) the spark duration is much shorter and can cause problems. The points cam plate can be iffy. Always check both F&R points gap, but I don't like knocking that long screw around. I usually take the screw out and tapping the points cam plate down onto the #2 cam till I get an equal points gap. I had an advance spring come off and wedge under the points cam carrier and spin the points cam 180. The bike would almost run, but not quite. It took awhile to figure out on the side of the road, on a Sunday, miles from home. The threads had been striped from that long screw. I had to grind down the points cam & carrier to catch some threads. Be careful with that long screw. You can't buy one at the hardware store. I always carry one. I don't usually change things till they look like they are done for just because I am buying replacement parts from a chinese maker or parts from an ebay sale. Usually the original parts are better. My Ironhead is the most reliable thing I own. After putting a Liion battery into it I just fill it up and run it. Third kick every time. The key is to get the bike right to start with and that's a genuine challenge. The harley places don't want your bike in their shop and they don't sell parts for you. I had an internet harley machine shop screw up my flywheels but found a local guy that was old enough to know everything and cared enough to do it right.

I got one of those shirts! Says, “Brown’s Cycle Garage. It’s Sunday morning and I sitting here watching video after video of yours. I’m addicted, but gotta put my phone down and get out there and greet the day on two wheels.

You make great videos keeping neat machines on the road. Also, I don't know what it is, but your latest videos seem really well shot. You,re older videos are good, but I like how you are shooting the new ones as well.

Thanks for the video. I worked on evo Sportsters and did cams on a twin cam Dyna but i never messed with an Ironhead or bike points. Very interesting.

Happy Independence Day, brother! Congrats on getting your Ironhead running.

That's one gratifying moment right there.

Oh, thats hot set. On the road. Sittin there about 20 maybe 25 minutes before you check the points. Gas, carburator and charging gonna take up the first 15 maybe 20 minutes. You did good. Great video.

Just got myself a 1976 ironhead so been watching u with your blue one. Massive help brother ....

Good job on figuring that out, gotta love the iron head sporty's !! Me being a boomer , that's what I grew up with. Cheers. G.S.

Good information for an Ironhead rider. One or three things,,,,, 1)Get a V-twin static timing tool from J P cycles. Locks down the advance cam, to be able to concentrate on the actual "timing". 2)Since you changed the timing cam, that bolt has been moved and the cam may be off center. Check the lobes and points contact to be sure that they are equal or very close to equal. Adjust the cam by loosening that long bolt, adjusting cam and lock down bolt with some locktite on threads.. 3)Also, when setting the *gap* on the points, use a cellophane piece from a pack of smokes in between the points and lightly tug on it while slowly opening the points. We race 'em with this simple setup. Sure do miss my Ironheads that I used to have in my stable. :-)

That was a good catch finding that difference

Great video man, parabéns! Esperando o próximo!

Love ol ironheads n shovels. Got a 71 FLH shovel I'm in process of restoring as I have extra $ so it's been slow lol. Also a 2017 iron sportster that's my daily...rain or shine. I've put 17000 on it in a year and half. I love the sportster man. I dnt care what anyone says either. I'm sure u kno how some are bout them. Great video. Hope ur channel grows brother.

Nice work. Glad you didn't just pitch the old parts before making sure the new parts were good. Been there before. Digging in the bin for the old parts lol 😂

Mr tramp, I'm truckin' hairball. I've been riding bikes since 1978 and we would use automotive parts in replacement of Harley parts became they were a lot less money, and worked the same, then the Harley parts. But that was old school. We where so poor back in those days. Tramp, we where living the dream!!! You remind me so much of my brother "Smiley" ! You all could be twins...

Some killer projects man.

When the bike just fired up after all that adjustment sounded sweet. I hate when you try and fix something and it is problem after problem. Until it works then it's like the best feeling ever.

great tutorial on static timing

My first (street) bike was a ‘72 Iron head. I worked on it more than I rode it. I replaced the points several times and a couple times on the side of the road. My first and last AMF bike.

Greetings from WV. Good save! You should mention that the bolt that holds it together is VERY thin (shaft wise) compared to the head of it! I've seen LOTS of bikes come in the shop that have had that bolt snapped off because somebody tightened it TOO much! When you were turning the cam to set the timing, you could've held it in that spot and checked it with your feeler gauge to verify that the points gap was not only with in range but EXACTLY what they're set to. Just a couple suggestions. Good video, I know I would've been cussing when I figured out the faulty part! Lol

I put a Dyna ignition in my 73 XLCH what a difference night and day!! Single handly the best upgrade I've done to the old girl.

just a suggestion. Lube the weights on the points advance as this is how they wear out. The way to check the weights is to see how sloppy the weights are on the pins they ride on, like try to rock them. I've seen them sloppy enough to hit the inside of the points cavity. I was on a run once where a guys advance weights were so worn they actually gave up at on the highway, that took a while on the side of the road to figure out. Also dielectric grease should be used on the points cam itself as running it dry will wear the fiber block that rides on the points cam causing your point gap to close up. I imagine you can find dielectric grease at the auto parts store or HD sells it in a small tube.

Awesome learning vid💯

Awsome video and work done right there , thumb up

Always prefer points for fix-ability. Calibrated eyeballs will work without a feeler gauge. That was great observation on your part to catch that lobe offset. Good job.

Now that sounds better !

Sounds good!

Very interesting, thank for sharing.

A man livin da dream.... Dig the T-shirt 🍻

Reminds me of my old '74 XLCH, kick start and points. It was always a pain in the butt. I eventually had it switched to electronic ignition and a few years later got an electric start. It was a lot better motorcycle after that. When I got my new Heritage there was a new learning curve getting used to the brake & gear shifter being on opposite sides of the bike. But that was a long time ago.

I own a 1978 and have owned Iron Heads. When set up correctly, just a touch of the starter button and fires right up. Idle is smooth, classic Harley sound. Throttle response is great. I agree with sticking to points. YES, Electronic ignition works well on the bikes. Moral, If one only drives locally, go with electronic. If one travels as I have, points are the way to go. I have a spare set I carry. Once the bike shut down while driving, I found the wire connecting the points to the coil had enough tarnish on the spade connector to fail. Emery paper the connections (I carry emery) and like new. BE AWARE OWNING THESE AWESOME ENGINES. One MUST know how to fix'm. When set up properly, and it isn't hard, just research it, the reward is worth it. Fun bikes. I call them Meat and Potatoes bikes. Raw.

cool stuff ...love that music ..

I have a 1984 Evo Softail that was converted from early electronic to breaker points ignition by it's previous owner. I've had a devil of a time setting the static timing - the timing plate must be rotated fully clockwise for the bike to start and idle. Now I know why! I've started looking for a new (old) ignition timing cam to replace my bike's improperly machined timing cam. Thanks for posting this video! Without seeing it I would never have diagnosed the cause of my old Evo's ignition timing problem on my own.

I personally real like points man. Ive run expensive electronic ignitions and points on my 79 shovelhead. With points not only can you fix it on the side of the road, you can adjust it to your liking. Love the videos man.

Wow that was a great video...thank you

Howdy back at you....man wish I had that problem...having to move bikes to get to other bikes...lol Just joking....it's great to see someone with the passion for motorcycles to include working on them... and wanting or getting another one.... especially if it's a classic. As for your content it's always interesting & informational.

Good trouble shooting ! Thanks

I put new points in my Ironhead about 4 years ago and I have not had any troubles with the static timing (Knock on wood) I have gone in and checked the gap and cleaned the tips of the points. My 73 XLCH (converted to electric knee) will usually start in the morning after 2 ingnition off prime kicks and will hit on the first ignition on kick with the S&S E. Shorty, enricher on. Once I ride it to work, 3 miles I don't use the enricher the rest of the day, unless it's cold and she usually kicks 1 or 2 kicks throughout the day. Sometimes she floods then I have to kick her hard or hit her with the electric knee. (Alsways starts with the electric knee) I like to kick her because if I use the E Knee too much I drain the battery low and the Generator sometimes can't catch up on the charge. ( I do have a brand new NOS mechanical regulator I'm about to put on her)

I used a S&S Hi Fire ignition on my 02 1200 set to single fire, works good but it was a little pricey.

I was space traveling to that groovy tune at 13:07.

U should have set the static timing after the install. You can use a light bulb and battery voltage.

When your points open they are firing, the engine does not fire at TDC. It fires before TDC there must be a mark earlier on for firing. Maybe I'm wrong for sportster, but I doubt it

Great video brother

Sounds like the gap setting ,I used to take a match book cover, sand the corrosion on the point surface with the striker, set the gap with the cover , worked like a charm .

my 99 big twin i set at .16 been running points for couple years now due to single fire leaving me broke down. also if you install a kick start points way to go. don't mind setting points i enjoy working on my bike so

Lots of good and accurate info in the comments section S.T. My little tidbits are to use the BLUE STREAK or STANDARD brand of points and condenser. Remember NASCAR used Blue Streak points for decades, before electronics. Always replace the condenser with the points. Get yourself a tube of ACTUAL point rubbing block lube. Yes, there's a special lube for that. Also remember a new set of points often wears fast INITIALLY, so check everything about 100 miles down the road. Always set the dwell or point gap first, to the larger spec on the gap setting, then ignition timing. And I agree with the possibility of a intake leak, as far as not idling as the engine warms up. Oh and the point lube works great on the advance unit. Turn the cam slightly and lift the cam off the advance unit. A little lube on the shaft and the 2 tabs that fit into the weights. And where the cam BOTTOM or INSIDE rides on the base plate. You might find that Drag, just installed the cam 180 out. You can try to replace it in the same configuration as the old one. BULLDOG 🇺🇸🏍🇺🇸🏍🇺🇸

Thanks, helped a bunch

I guess if you use any companies products enough, they’ll eventually have a fail. Great video!

Had the same issue on my 71. Check before you change it Drag Specialties need to fix this.

Nice video brotha good music nice info good work man

Dude great vids and content ride safe brother

Also put a Dyna electronic ignition on my '79 sportster still had the same problem ended up to be the coil was bad runs like a champ now.

I never liked that set up. I went with a magneto on my ‘77 sporty. Never had another problem.

That is a really great Blues guitar piece on the music bed. Please tell me who/what it is.

a 12 mm end wrench fits the lobe nicely

Hey Saddle Tramp, I was on the road a few weeks ago, on a short trip just across four counties, saw a young man on a Sporty sitting along side of the road, stop to make sure he was Ok and he was. but while I was there looking over his Bike, I notice something a little difference about his Battery Hold Down, he had put a Dog Collar (end to end, not side to side ) around it and from the looks of it, It wasn't going anywhere. Not real sure, but that just might work for your Bike too. Ride'um Safe Bro.

When the electronic module went bad in My 84 Iron Head, I replaced it with points ignition. You do have to change the coil. It ran much better. Gas mileage went down, but the motor ran great. The thing is, you can fix it. I use to carry an extra set of points and condenser, but never needed them. Did we shoot ourselves in the foot?

Get this I brought a new set of aftermarket points for my 78xl only to find cam lobes machined 180 degrees out and a dodgy condenser .Figured it out in the end .

Did struggle with a 1985 FXSB Evo... Had to set point in the end as the ignition system was not working... Painful....!

Great video Mr Tramp.. Loved the shirt. Are you going to offer them for sale? My first Harley was an iron head that I took apart and put together many times.. I road it all over the south land.. 🤙 Points aren’t a mistake. They can always be fixed. Loved the music.

I used to carry a set of points plate and the fixings with me when I switched to electronic, on my 80 shovel...just in case.

Dig'n your vids Sir . Like the calm atmosphere around You. Definitely going to start passing your channel to people. DO YOU HAVE A WAY I CAN SHEARE MY 92 SPORTSTER WORK ?PEACE

Good job figuring that all out.not everyone can do that

I wonder if thats what my issue is on my build.... I've been thinking ut was carb issues, been through 2 different carbs multiple times and still wouldn't idle. Started in on timing last night and cant get my points to open on full advance, I even considered being a tooth or 2 off on my cams... I'm checking this tonight after work!!!!

Looks like the parts vender kicked out a lot of scrap in their machine shop. CNC machines mass produce and repeat tolerances very well.. but if the operator doesn’t do spot checks on the parts he’s kicking out... he makes a barrel full of scrap very quickly! I hope you got a refund! That being said, great observation skills on your part. Nothing wrong going with points because they seem to give you warning signs before they go out. But electronic ignitions just break without warning and leave you stranded. At least you can replace a set of points at the side of the road and be on your merry way for cheap!

You do realize there are TWO possibilities on the top-dead-center timing mark? One is COMPRESSION stroke, one is EXHAUST stroke. 360 degrees apart. You must time your motor on the COMPRESSION stroke! The points cam will be 180 degrees off if you don't. Also, the engine is timed at 35 degrees ADVANCE, not TDC! if you static time engine, the MUST manually rotate the points cam FULLY counterclockwise and use your meter. Very difficult to do without the right tools. They make a little gizmo that holds the cam in the advance position while rotating the plate. You must use the 35degree timing mark on the front cylinder! Not TDC! ALWAYS check intake seals if you have an idling issue! Get yourself a cheap, basic Compu-Fire ignition, static-time with built-in LED timing light. Points are NO GOOD without a timing light, if you're going to do it right! Compu-Fire is about $125.00, and ignition problems SOLVED! Late-model (1980 to 85) intake rubber bands and clamps will fix intake leaks. Use FACTORY STYLE clamps!

You're a hopeless romantic ;) ;) ;) But I can't stop watching your videos and enjoy every one of them. Keep up the good work and the rubber side down! Electronics on an old bike get a bad rep because they are not properly implemented. (hell, even on new bikes, there can be improper implementation, sometimes even on purpose - look up "lightbulb conspiracy") The coils used for points-designed-ignition don't have the proper back-emf protection. This has to be done in/on the coils. Electronic ignitions have a limited protection against that phenomenon, but since there's some wire lenght between the module and the coil, this only works partially. In other words, it WILL fail, question is, after how many miles? If you get an electronic ignition kit, modules and coils from the same manufacturer, that set will last forever. All FI bikes have coils with some form of protection, so if you pick up coils from een FI bike on a swap meet, it can save you $$ both on purchase and on defective modules.

Went from points to electronic back to points after 2 of the electronic ignition setup left me out on the road without warning .with points about $ 15 its really convenient to pulll into an autozone if something goes wrong . plus you'll get a year out of a good set ...That's just me n my 74 " ol faithful." (aka ol' number 4 )

Hey Corey if your ever looking for parts and not having any luck maybe try old dude vintage parts in lilburn Ga they have all kinds of parts for old bikes and a cool harley museum of stuff.

BRUH.... Quality control not what it used to be. Rode the struggle bus with ya through the dilemma for solidarity. My Ironhead is still sitting on the shop floor.... Working up the nerve to run up and tackle that particular bear

I replaced points with Ultima ignition, works good. simple job

Like how you go through the process, I have own 63 and 77 iron head sporty and your bringing back old memories LMAO. Picked up a 72 xlh a week ago and just found your page. Looking to do a funky shifter crossover to make it shift on the left any thoughts?

I put my first Sportster together from a basket in 1976. It was a morphidite. 1970 primary side, 1957 gear case side. Magneto. Sometime in the early / middle "70's (?) AMF introduced the cone gear case. I thought that's when electronic ignition came in, but by this video, apparently not. It must not have been right away. The only points on a H.D. I've dealt with were in that mag. At my age, and with my anti - high tech attitude, and as a do it yourselfer, I'm getting sucked into the convenience of the high tech stuff.

I had the exact same problem from drag specialty cam