WTF is this?

[English Bob]

and what is it supposed to do?

I mean, it looks ok, but does it really provide any benefit?

 

[softail898]

Is it some sort of Air Scoop to keep the rear cylinder temperature down? I’ve never seen one before. Don’t bin it, it may be worth a fortune.

 

[English Bob]

I do think you are correct - it sort of serves as a cable tidy but does provide some crude form of targeted air ingress for the left side of the rear cylinder. Looks a bit period to me, maybe a 70's bit of aftermarket kit?

 

[softail898]

I do think you are correct - it sort of serves as a cable tidy but does provide some crude form of targeted air ingress for the left side of the rear cylinder. Looks a bit period to me, maybe a 70's bit of aftermarket kit?

I am sure someone will tell us exactly what it is.

 

[English Bob]

i f*king hope so

 

[kiwidave]

The guesses are correct. Rear cylinder airflow scoop. Part 29092-77
Never fitted to bikes as standard, but an option available from parts counter, as with so many chrome bits for 1970s FLHs.
If it is original, it's valuable to a rivet counter.
But be aware, V-Twin offers a Taiwanese version.......

 

[devon.john]

Got one somewhere ,it was on the shovel when i bought it ,,

 

[Dave SRod]

Looks ok, EB?
Just about the tattiest looking after market part I've ever seen - even if it does work!
One of our ex-members had a homemade fan, made from a stainless cooking pot - but what a neat job he made of it.

HD offered an exhaust pipe guard for the Rod's, as a 'recall' - probably to stop claims from yank riders who burnt their leg!
It looked really crappy - line drawing only - HD too embarrassed, no doubt, to show a picture of it.
And I've never seen one fitted!

 

[topper]

Would be good to keep your Kebab warm

 

[Ron]

One of our ex-members had a homemade fan, made from a stainless cooking pot - but what a neat job he made of it.

I saw that bike at some of the vintage rallies. He used a electric fan mounted in the Vee, like the horn mounting on a Ironhead, which he used to turn on in traffic. As Dave said it was a really neat job.

That rear cylinder air scoop must have been designed by somebody who had never spoken to a Harley engineer because it's the front cylinder that runs the hottest. The rear cylinder is cooled by the oil thrown off the spinning crank, not much of which reaches all the way round to the front cylinder.

In the past riders often ran with different grade plugs front and back, with the front being the colder plug, says my Electra glide manual 1959-1969, part number 99482-69. On page 5H-1.

 

[Skip]

When you consider how much fuel-turned-into-heat it takes in order to go fast enough to make the accessory of practical use, you'll unnerstan why the engineer who designed it was prosecuted under the Law of Diminishing Returns.

 

[English Bob]

I removed it - it looks like it's been on the bike for ages, so I think it is original - the welds on it are shockingly bad, and it weighs about a pound. It's held on by 2 tabs that are held on by the cylinder head bolts so those are gonna stay until I have a reason to pull the heads. Or, I might just cut them off (the tabs, not the head bolts).

About the only thing it does do is sort of balance the look of the bike in terms of the rather large chrome FLH air filter cover on one side, and the chrome 'kebab holder' on the other side.