IH: Specific Troubleshooting

Please note that a well tuned IronHead does not make any noise. Rather it is a symphony of sounds and, when well set up, you can hear all of them - the valve train, the intake, the exhaust. ¹⁾

A few decades back, I rode with a bunch of established riders that gathered at an indy shop on Sunday mornings. One day a young longhair showed up on an XL Roadster and asked if he could tag along. I was usually up front as the “ Road Captain ” and he was catching dust in the back. He gathered respect soon enough and I paid some more attention to him and his lovely wife. I noticed how long he had to crank the starter before it would run and then sometimes pop, spit and stall. I had my '76 CH with an extensively modified Super B, 10.5 Wiseco's, Morris Mag and 2>1 Jardine header. We would all wait for him to get running and then start ours. Mine would lite right up and do the symphony. His would shake, rattle and roll. It was that way for most of that season and he seemed to think that's how it was supposed to be. I finally felt comfortable enough with this person to ask if I could tune up his bike and he agreed. We did a top to bottom adjustment/tune up while I instructed him on how to keep it running right. It ran smooth, started easily and did the potato potato. He called me as soon as he got home and couldn't believe the new power and how much better it sounded at stop lights. He had the symphony. ²⁾

The next Sunday I was on route to the shop/ride, rounding a curve on a highway and saw 2 riders on the shoulder. One in a full out leather suit with a sport bike and the other my longhair pal. He was accelerating off a ramp, digging on the power and the symphony as never before. He hit third and his big end rod bearings grenaded. His motor had run so bad for so long it just could no longer take the power it was actually designed to produce. The sport bike rider had stopped to help. For all you guys that are new to the righteous world of Ironheads and their various peculiarities… Noises, as unpleasant as they may be , need to be diagnosed and addressed as soon as possible. Damage is being done anytime a motor isn't running correctly. Don't just assume it's an old design and supposed to be noisy. If you don't have the symphony, find someone who can help you get it. ³⁾