Article By: Randall Noldge Photos By: Shortsters
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hat began as an unknown inherited bike, turned into an educational, friendship building divorce! In the summer of 2020, a goosenecked Ironhead came into my possession and a call to Woody from Shortsters in Hartington, NE set the wheels of the new build into motion. The notorious weak link in the Sportster platform is the clutch and transmission. Given their propensity to self-destruct under heavy power, separating or Divorcing the engine from the transmission has become an acceptable way to keep the proven power plant of the sporty platform viable. Woody has been separating Ironhead motors from their transmissions for a few years. So much so, that they’ve developed a kit and machined the parts necessary so that you can do it yourself in a weekend. Woody offers whole rear hardtail frame sections
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OOctober ctober - November ‘21 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
and a new pro frame kit which allows you to design your own tail
section around the divorced engine and big twin transmission combo. If you’re looking for a budget minded chopper build or want to stand out in a crowd, you can’t beat this
conversion. In this article we’re just going to touch on the basics. The full step by step manual is available for free download at shortsters. com. Depending on the year of your Ironhead, there are some variables in the divorce process, the manual points out these differences. This application can also be performed on K-model and Evo-Sportster models up until 1990. For more information on these conversions, contact Shortsters directly through shortsters.com. Follow along with project “Divorster” as we separate the weak link from the Sportster platform and build a beast. Woody with the donor bike and the tail section for the “divorce pending” engine. This divorce process is being done on a complete running engine, therefore once the removal of clutch
