By Chris Oathout

So, here’s my story and my bike…it is a 1982 FXE Super Glide. My friend Rocky from Statesboro, Georgia called me in April to say he was looking at a bike that might be a Shovel. He knew I wanted to build a Shovelhead. Rocky calls and tells me it is a running Shovelhead with a title for only $800. I told him to check the numbers, everything matched up and that is how I ended up with this bike. It ran but was in rough shape. The starting solenoid was held on with zip ties, the enrichener had a vise grip on it as a lever and it was blowing a bunch of smoke. After taking it for a quick ride I decided to rip it all apart and rebuild it. I really didn’t know anything about rebuilding a shovel, but I have always worked with my hands and love to take things apart. First thing I did was get a Harley service manual. I took a lot of pictures and labeled everything as I disassembled the bike. I had to purchase a welder and teach myself how to weld. I watched a lot of videos on YouTube. I am smart enough not to trust my welding ability on anything structural just take mounts, seat posts, sissy bar, etc. etc. I used Instagram to gain knowledge and that is one thing about this community that is awesome. Brent from Chopperpartsfor you and Chickenfriedchoppers were very helpful and I can’t thank them enough. I even found the guys that painted my tins on Instagram. Pelican Studios out of Buffalo, New York. I have never met these guys, but they were awesome to deal with. Mark from Black Gold Cycles was generous with his vast knowledge of older bikes and MRD Machine in Bunnell helped me rebuild my motor. The entire process took about 7 months. The Russ and Bob show was my first, and I thank everybody that voted for my bike.