Thank you, I really appreciate your comment. I was very fortunate to work with a lot of highly skilled professionals and had the opportunity to learn from them when I was a young apprentice doing multiple skills like engine lathes, vertical mills, O.D grinding, welding, mechanical engineering, fabrication, rigging, installation of heavy equipment and field service with a lot of traveling and dealing with customers. It was a huge advantage not to be a one trick pony and get involved in so many different trades and skills as a young guy. Eventually, i began training and teaching new young apprentices which I loved doing the most! I love to see young people picking up the skilled trades no matter what they are.

Thank you very much! I had a vision of what I wanted this 1970 Iron head to look like before I began planning the project. I modeled it after the 1970 Harley Davidsons brochure that I seen in the magazines when this bike was launched back in the day. I always thought it was a very cool looking bike in pure stock form right down to the color scheme and Sportster tank graphic. The gold, jet black and aluminum wheels all complement each other. I wanted this channel to be about the machine and not me! I wanted the mechanicals to do the talking and hopefully inspire other people to save these iconic vintage Harley Davidson iron heads that have an incredible rich history in the motorcycle industry and culture.

Thank you Joe, yes I have been a machinist a long time along with working with the engineering department and doing a lot of traveling with our field service department as well. I simply used a lot of the skills to restore my vintage British sports cars and my Old Harleys as well while running a side business. As you know, this particular trade skill can be incredibly useful in other facets of life. Take care Joe.

Thank you, I really appreciate you watching. I have a video showing more of this paint job in the process on my video list. I definitely will get some riding videos out there as well featuring both my vintage sportsters. I hope you subscribe and follow along! Take care.

Thank you Joe, I have had some communication with Tatro machine in the past and his channel is worth watching for sure! I never heard of “Ironhead Cycles” before so I will definitely check him out as well. Yes, there definitely is a wealth of knowledge out there thanks to KZfaq and other sources as well. It’s been very busy on my end here and I hope to get some riding videos in for a change of pace. I’m looking for an action camera and a helmet mount soon!

Hi there, I'm kinda new to your channel, and yes, I try to school myself before I ask questions. Also, I have a factory manual for my 1969 XLCH. My question is, and I believe I already answered it, but I am looking for a second opinion. My XLCH is kick start only, and I have no battery, so when I disconnect wires from generator, how do you polarize without a battery?

@@glennbrooks9933 actually that is a great question because I never had to polarize the generator on my 1968 XLCH but do polarize my 1970 XLH many times. So here are my first thoughts, It makes sense to me to simply use jumpers from a remote 12 volt battery source. Take the ground from the battery and ground it to the frame or engine. Then take the positive jumper from the battery and simply touch the BATT terminal on the regulator just as you would on the XLH model. The generator on a XLCH model is only to run the head and tail lights, the magneto is totally independent for the sole purpose to fire the coil in the magneto housing to produce spark to the spark plugs. In my mind, the regulator works directly with the generator so the design of the regulator requires the generator to rotate in the proper direction or you will certainly fry both items and destroy them. If the regulator goes bad it will destroy the generator, if the generator goes bad it will destroy the regulator with it. I know this from experience! So, the bottom line is to polarize your generator using a remote battery with jumpers and do it by the official Harley Davidson manual, just touching the BATT terminal on your regulator for a fraction of a second as you see quick spark…and your done! If you have an official Harley Davidson manual double check my answer to your question to be on the safe side. In fact, I will check my manual as well. I definitely am glad you asked me this question. I hope my answer makes sense, but back it up with the official manual. Take care!

@Michael-st1hl there's the million dollar question, the official factory manual makes no mention of polarizing my style setup not to mention my regulator has 5 connections, ground, D+ that goes to A on generator, DF that goes to F on generator, then I have 2 other connections that only feed the headlight, brake light and tail light. The regulator that everyone with a battery uses plainly says bat terminal. My style regulator does not have that .I've never had a problem, NOT polarizing generator, but I just wanted to see if anyone ever had to polorize a system like mine. Ps.i am enjoying your channel, and keep up the good work.

@@glennbrooks9933 First thing this morning I checked my manual, like yours there is no mention at all pertaining to a XLCH model. Only the XLH. Like I said, I never had to polarize the generator on my XLCH, I never even thought about it to very honest. More than that, I never looked at my XLCH regulator terminals. I always assumed it was basically the same as my XLH. But no, it’s obviously not! I am still going to research this because I want to know for sure! I will get back to you IF I get the facts on this interesting question!

Thank you, I really appreciate you taking time to comment. Actually this was the first start this spring as seen on the video. I had a great time restoring this 1970 XLH. I hope you subscribe and check out my other videos when I was restoring this particular bike. Thanks for watching, take care!

Thank you very much, I hope you got something of value out of this video. It always nice to hear your thoughts and comments. I really enjoyed building this 1970 XLH but now it’s time to ride it! Hopefully I can do some riding videos this summer as well. Take care!

Thanks Big Ed, she runs like a Swiss watch, it was the first start up this year! I hope to get some riding videos in soon as I get an action camera.

Thank you very much! It was a lot of fun restoring this vintage 70 Sportster. I hope you follow along and subscribe and catch up with my other Iron head content with some riding videos coming soon as well. Take care!

@@mariolovisa2335 Thank you, I really appreciate it. I had a great time resorting this particular Sportster. It rides and runs like brand new! Thanks for watching! Take care.

Thank you, my 1968 XLCH runs great as well. Like you say, they are a little tricky to get started with the magneto. As long as it’s in tune, and you retard the magneto before attempting to start it you’re fine. BUT, if you forget to retard the magneto it will make you pay with a vicious kick back! The other trick if you have the stock tillotson carburetor, you have to prime in the accelerator pump first. I installed a tickler kit on my tillotson in one of my videos which really helps a lot. Just prime kicking the bike is not enough to draw fuel in a dry accelerator pump many times. Thanks for watching! I hope you subscribe and follow along with my vintage Sportsters. Take care!

@@terrymassey7619 Thank you for watching and your comment, I really appreciate it. The contour seat is a vintage seat from Italy, maker is Selli Giuliari. They still sell them on eBay new or if you can find them used if you take your time looking. Just make sure the foam is in good condition so it retains its shape. Also, they do have to be bent into shape to follow the contour of your frame 1959-1978 On my other video during the restoration you see my other contour seat made by Drag Specialty’s, it’s a basket weave pattern and the model is called “predator”. I actually have it for sale on eBay at this time. Item # 29660343547 I can sell off of eBay as well $25 cheaper. In any case, I really appreciate you watching and love to hear your thoughts and input.

@@Michael-st1hl Thanks a bunch for the info! I'll look into it!

Yes, so far so good. it seems to crank the motor without kicking out like the old starter and was advertised to put out a little more torque than the original. It had all good reviews from other customers as well. I bought it through J&P cycles For $149 with free shipping. Item # P995325 Its brand name is Protorque, Prestolite style type starter. They do offer the Prestolite brand as well for more money but they were out of stock… they are ALL made in China though, I’m happy so far.