Honestly, I don’t know where to start this story. I finalized the restoration of my 45er Flathead recently in May 2014. The restoration task took nearby 18 months – for sure, a long time, but a period full of new experiences and also joy. Don’t want to miss it.

I could claim, that I’m now infected by the famous ‘restoration virus’ and never will do anything else beside restoring old motorbikes. Sounds nice, but that wouldn’t be the truth. Restroring this old bike made a lot fun, but wife and family are still on the top of my priority list.

But in spite of this, there is this strange instinct that something is missing…

Looking at my 1997 Sportster, looking to a slim but powerful bike. I love it! The 45 Flathead isn’t that powerful of course, but you’re driving the bike with all your sense – its shaky, noisy and keeps you busy all the time.

So what’s missing? Definitely not a modern bike. I do have a lot of computers in the house; I don’t need one with two wheels. There would also no benefit of having a bike older as my 1944er Flathead. I don’t like other makes. It has to be something in between the Flathead and Sportster. A bike from 1966 – the same year as myself.

Looking to the prices for a 1966 Big Twin – compare them with your actual account balance – this endeavor might end, even before started. Surely, you can spend 15k EUR for such a bike – as a starting point for your project – but not if there is a lovable wife at your side, two adorable boys and talking about a third bike in the garage!

Going down this road, your coming to the more cheaper version, a Sportster. Searching months for a XLCH Sportster from 1966 – definitely a beautiful bike. If you’re a lucky one, you could get those bikes for about 6k EUR, investing further 4k EUR in addition. You will end up in the same condition, as a lot of other dudes, which tries to sell their totally overinvested Sportsters on the Internet. The prices for such restored Sportsters are insane.

Another issue, my size doesn’t fit to such bikes. Even my 1997 Sportster isn’t a perfect match. Old Sportsters are even smaller. Riding such a bike would look like a Gorilla is riding a coconut. There should be a bike, slim as a Sportster, big as a Big Twin, easily convertible to a 1966 XLCH look but not overpriced!

At this point in time – June 2015 – I closed the file. At least for 2015. Maybe in 2016 I will start to reconsider such a project. A major issue is, I just don’t know what I’m looking for!

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Best regards! - Uwe