Shovelheads are getting a bad rap these days, mainly from fellas who either don’t know what they’re talking about or experienced long time Shovelhead riders who are maintenance-challenged. Sure, the pre-Evo Harley-Davidson Big-Twin has it’s share of problems, but only it’s share. Regular, and enthusiastic preventive maintenance keeps most common problems to a bare minimum, and many true-blue Shovelhead Nazi’s get more dependable mileage out of their pre-84 Harley-Davidson Big-Twins than most of the new-rider Evolution owners. If ya keep ALL the nuts & bolts tight, change the oil regularly, keep-her tuned, and don’t flog the thang too awful hard, it’ll get ya where ya want to go every single time, no shit! Dan Mergell is a Harley-Davidson mechanic slash builder slash rider, slash biker and knows how to keep the Harley-Davidson Shovelhead in better than tip-top running condition. Almost all the motorcycles he builds (in his garage) seem to have the same basic “chopper” profile that was popular during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s (and still popular with Dan obviously). Narrow & short Z bars are in place for steering & lane splitting (legal in the long state on the left coast).

The Harley-Davidson Springer (old-style) is still as comfortable as ever (with proper maintenance) here shown with the friction damper for no-pogo riding.