Digression

It's been a while since my last post, but late summer is my busy season at work (I did warn you this would be a longer project). I also haven't found anyone local to rebuild my crank. I've taken it to a few local shops, but lets say none have instilled any confidence, whatsoever. So.....I'm going to send it off to Syd's Cycles in St. Pete, FL. I just need to call them. Hopefully I'll get it off next week.

In the meantime, I've decided to completely digress from the intended topic of this blog - narrowcase Ducatis - and highlight another project I've started: I've owned the same '72 shovelhead Harley for 15 years. I've ridden this bike from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and I vowed that I would never sell it. Over the last two summers, however, I haven't even burned a full tank of gas through it. I even began contemplating selling it to buy a different Harley project - my stock FLH was simply too nice to chop out, I thought.

My shovelhead on her last road trip in 2006. I finally completed the Pacific-to-Atlantic tour I started in 1994. I've now ridden this bike through nearly every state north of the Mason-Dixon.







Well, I figured why not turn my nice ol' Electraglide into something that peaked my interest a bit more. The only rules I set for myself was not to cut or sell any of the original parts. That way, 10-20 years down the road I could restore the bike to original condition and have a nice old Harley without breaking the bank or having to scour the world for parts.








And with those rules I began looking for parts. A few weeks ago I found what I considered the ideal front end - an old girder straight out of the 1970s. I then got a 21" wheel off a 2005 Sportster with a disk brake rotor - stopping is more important to me than looking cool! The only problem is the front end is about 14 inches too long. Nothing a hacksaw and a welder can't take care of, though. You can see the Ducati as a towel rack on the back wall!

Last night I got the ol' FLH stripped down and began fitting the new front end. I'm really liking the looks of this. Hopefully I'll have some time to keep working on it over the next few weeks.