BUILDING A CRAZY CHEAP HARLEY BIG TWIN CHOPPER OUT OF A 1997 HERITAGE SOFTAIL
Matt Wuerdeman of Gremlin Wiring thought it would be a fun idea to find a literal POS on the good old "Marketplace" and bring it back to life. The POS Matt found was a 1997 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail for insanely cheap, that didn't have a battery or a seat. The guy he bought it from gave him the famous line "ran when parked".
The bike looked pretty rough with a bunch of dirt, corrosion, and dents all over the gas tank. But one saving grace on the bike is it had a kicker kit on it and Matt was able to check for compression before purchasing it, which it had.
Watch along as Matt takes you on a journey to not only revive this mistreated Harley Softail, but also customize it and make it a really rad bike thanks to parts from Lowbrow Customs!
WHAT PARTS WERE USED FOR BUILDING THIS BIKE?
Matt turned his dirt-cheap 1997 Big Twin Harley into a reliable and very affordable Harley Softail chopper using a bunch of bolt-on parts from Lowbrow Customs. Click here for the parts being used to build the Gremlin Wiring 'Ran When Parked' Harley Softail Chopper.
WATCH THE GREMLIN WIRING '97 HARLEY SOFTAIL CHOPPER BUILD VIDEO SERIES
EPISODE 1: GETTING THE 'RAN WHEN PARKED' HARLEY SOFTAIL RUNNING & RIDING
In this episode Matt walks you through his "Marketplace" find, a 1997 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail. You can see first hand how in rough shape this bike is but Matt talks about what he has in store for this bike.
He then goes through the few things you need to get a bike running and tries to get this really haggard motorcycle riding down the street. Watch along and see in real-time if he can bring this poorly taken care of motorcycle back to life!
EPISODE 2: TUNING UP THE SOFTAIL WITH A CV CARB REBUILD & DYNA IGNITION
In this episode Matt investigates why his 'ran when parked' Harley Softail find is running so horribly. Because this bike sat for so long, Matt needs to use a CV carburetor rebuild kit to get the CV back to good-running condition.
Once the carb gets some love, Matt turns his attention to the ignition system only to find a gooey mess. With the ignition needing replaced Matt shows you how to install a Dynatek 2000i ignition system with ease.
Will those two fixes do the trick?? You've got to watch to find out!
EPISODE 3: INSTALLING A 6" OVER 39MM NARROWGLIDE FRONT END ON A SOFTAIL
Lets get your hands dirty with Matt as he takes apart the 1997 Harley Softail in preparation to customize it with some killer new parts. In this episode Matt puts together a new Harley narrowglide front end with 6" over 39mm fork tubes and shows you step by step how to rebuild the fork legs.
He then strips the bike down and gets rid of that bulky Heritage front end. Putting the 39mm front end all together he puts a cherry on top with a Lowbrow Customs 21" Ribbed Spool hub wheel.
The bike then gets a necessary bath outside with the pressure washer. Getting rid of years of dust, dirt, and grime. Just seeing the difference the front end makes is a night and day drastic change.
EPISODE 4: MOCK UP - WX GAS TANKS & REAR FENDER INSTALL
In this episode Matt mocks up the bike to get it ready for paint and wiring. He first starts off setting up the handlebars and mounting the Prism Supply Co. 4-1/2 LED round Headlight on a Marion Metalworks Headlight mount. Moving right along he installs the carburetor with some Lowbrow Customs Breather Bolts and tops it off with a Gasbox Dogdish Air Cleaner.
To slim the bike up a ton, Matt goes with a set of Lowbrow Customs WX Split Gas Tanks. Normally these tanks only fit 36-84 Big Twins, but now with the WX Adapter Kit you can install these bad bois on 85-99 Softails as well. He then shows you how easy it is to use the new adapter kit to mount the tanks. After that Matt figures out a new way to mount a new fuse box hes been working on and installs a Bobbed Softail fender.
The bike is ever closer to getting back on the road.
EPISODE 5: WIRING IT UP!
In this episode Matt walks you through the daunting task of wiring up the softail chopper project. This is his specialty and he makes it look really easy with a simple wiring diagram to follow and he walks you through each step of his process.
Matt utilizes the Lowbrow Customs Weather Proof Crank Start Key Switch with a Gasbox Strong Arm Top Motor Mount with Crank Start Switch for 84-99 Big Twins. Following along with the diagram and mounting each wire to his new fuse box this wiring goes off with out a hitch.
Next episode, the paint should be back and the we should be able to get this bike on the road!
EPISODE 6: THE FINALE!
That's a wrap on this bad Mofo! All thats left to do is put the painted tins on and wire up the tail light... Watch Matt wrap it up, and get her rolling through his home town!
From stud to dud in just a couple days. You too can turn a decrepit non running softail and make it into something pretty dang cool.
Related Products
