1988 tour glide classic

[Mavagrand]

Friend just bought a 1988 tour glide classic. He already owns a 2008 Goldwing but bought this Harley because he was looking for a "fixer upper" and got this one for 2500.00. It is complete, a little rough cosmetically but runs good. I went over to look at it and have some questions....
It has a fairing like the RoadGlide but has a tank console that says.."King of the Highway"...I thought that was on Road Kings. whats up?

Also when he bought it they gave him extra parts, one of which is a complete headlight and headlight nacelle. They told him he could remove the fairing and install this single headlight if he wanted. This looks like the headlight nacell off a RoadKing. Was there a model that you could remove the fairing and put on a headlight/nacelle?

It looks like a complete bike as the fairing, saddle bags, tour pak, tank and side panels are all painted the same. The tourpak has "tour glide classic" written on it and appears factory

Is this some kind of weird hybrid I've never heard of?

Also is there anyplace he can downlload a manual for it?

thanx

 

[Jack Klarich]

The Fl series were called the King Of The Hiway, they had little competition until The Gold Wing exploded on the scene

 

[Mavagrand]

Smitty/Jack, thanx for your help, good info. How about the extra headlight/nacelle...were the tour glides designed so you could remove the fairing and install a single headlight?? thats what the guy told John when he bought the bike. headlight and nacelle look like a roadking.

 

[blademan]

The Fl series were called the King Of The Hiway, they had little competition until The Gold Wing exploded on the scene

Jacks right, advertisements clear back into the 50's used the phrase "KING OF THE HIGHWAY"

 

[Gezzer Glide]

Smitty/Jack, thanx for your help, good info. How about the extra headlight/nacelle...were the tour glides designed so you could remove the fairing and install a single headlight?? thats what the guy told John when he bought the bike. headlight and nacelle look like a roadking.

I think your right. I had a '86 Tour Glide and I was told I could convert it to a Road King style bike if I had the right parts.

 

[Fossil]

I own a 1988 Tour Glide and the markings you say are on it are not on mine. On top of the gas tank there is a naugahyde plate that has 'Tour Glide' on it. The front fender has 'Classic' on the front on both sides. My Tour Pak does not have any thing but pinstriping on it. I converted mine to an Electra Glide Sport(Road King) a couple of years ago. All you need for the conversion is the plastic nacele that houses the big single headlight. This fits underneath the instrument panel and between the black wrinkle lower outside backing plates. I have an extra and I beleive there are still many Harley dealers out there that may still have the silver or even the chrome plastic shourds. You should have an Evolution engine in it. The first FLT was in 1981 the same year Honda started putting fairings and saddlebags on their GL1000 Gold Wings.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Nice looking bike, always liked the idea of frame mounted fairings resulting in a lighter-sporty handling motorcycle.

 

[Fossil]

Is the engine a black wrinkle with chrome valve covers or plain aluminum? The back and chrome were called FLTC which was the top of the line then. You didn't say how many miles the bike has on it. Just the same block the rear of the bike up and carefully look at the belt drive. Look for missing teeth or teeth that have cracks at the bottom nect to the belt. If the exhaust system is stock or just has slip on mufflers then doing any thing on the lower right of the engine or tranny will require taking the entire exhaust system off. Get him to always try to buy Harley parts, batteries, gaskets, etc. They are much better than aftermarket. The primary on the left runs 1 1/2 quarts of primary oil and not just one quart like the 1989 forward do. It does make a difference. Get a Harley shop manuel and parts book if possible. If you wish to see a break down on assemble like a parts book would have then go to BikeBandit.com. Register the bike and you can use their copies of the parts book with availability and price. If you need an unavailable part then go to your Harley dealer parts and get them to look up the part and they can tell you what dealer still has it avaiable. Good luck.

 

[Mavagrand]

Nice looking bike, always liked the idea of frame mounted fairings resulting in a lighter-sporty handling motorcycle.

New, this picture is exactly what his bike looks like minus the lowers. Same color. Of course his isn't in as good a shape (yet).

Is the engine a black wrinkle with chrome valve covers or plain aluminum? The back and chrome were called FLTC which was the top of the line then. You didn't say how many miles the bike has on it. Just the same block the rear of the bike up and carefully look at the belt drive. Look for missing teeth or teeth that have cracks at the bottom nect to the belt. If the exhaust system is stock or just has slip on mufflers then doing any thing on the lower right of the engine or tranny will require taking the entire exhaust system off. Get him to always try to buy Harley parts, batteries, gaskets, etc. They are much better than aftermarket. The primary on the left runs 1 1/2 quarts of primary oil and not just one quart like the 1989 forward do. It does make a difference. Get a Harley shop manuel and parts book if possible. If you wish to see a break down on assemble like a parts book would have then go to BikeBandit.com. Register the bike and you can use their copies of the parts book with availability and price. If you need an unavailable part then go to your Harley dealer parts and get them to look up the part and they can tell you what dealer still has it avaiable. Good luck.

Fossil, it is the black wrinkle. I'm certain the markings I mentioned in an earlier post are there. He and I looked at the belt yesterday..it looks almost new as does other parts of the bike. The exhaust has slip on but they're really narrow..bike starts at a touch of the button, no smoke, no missing, she runs great. His front forks are leaking though. He is definately looking for a manual. He's getting the VIN and calling the local dealer hoping they have worked on it in the past. I'll keep you guys posted.

Bike has 67k on it.