Know Your Man's Motorcycle: Hardtailing your Softtail?

One of my most popular posts would have to be the 

Know Your Man's Motor...

It seemed to be something that was helpful to many. We recently bought a 1952 panhead and my mom used her skills from the post to identify the motor : ) 

Based on that I am going to do a monthly post for Know Your Man's Motorcycle -This month is it a Hardtail or Softail?

First off, knowing what this is even talking about will help. Hardtail and Softail are referring to rear suspension on the motorcycle.

-A HARDTAIL has NO REAR suspension, it is also known as rigid. The frame and rear section on this motorcycle are all one piece.

-A SOFTAIL has REAR suspension, it is also known as a swing-arm bike. The frame and rear section on this motorcycle is two pieces, that pivot to absorb shock from riding.

Notice tail section laying down near rear not connected  

 -SOFTTAIL SIDE NOTE-

**All SOFTAILS are SWING ARM BIKES...BUT not all SWING ARMS are SOFTTAIL**

-Softtails you CANNOT see the shocks, but you can see a pivot point (hinge) centered in-between the rear wheel and transmission -         

SOFTAIL - NO SHOCKS

No Shocks

See Pivot bolt - Left lower corner 

-Swing Arms you CAN see the shocks-

 Shocks

So can you explain what hardtailing a softtail is?

 It is when you take off the swing arm portion and weld on a hardtail section that will not pivot anymore. The bike will now be rigid.

Weld-On Hardtail

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