I JUST BOUGHT A OLD 58 HARLEY DAVIDSON IRONHEAD SPORTSTER 900 XLH. THE MOTOR WAS PUT TOGETHER  BUT THE PUSH RODS, MEGNETO AND CARB WAS OFF, I BOUGHT THE BIKE FROM A FRIEND. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING LOOKED ALL OVER THE INTERNET AND I CAN NOT FIND OUT HOW TO SET THE TIMING ON THIS BIKE. CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME. TELL ME HOW TO SET THE TIMING OR A WEBSITE THAT COULD HELP ME ANYTHING THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY, ITS MY FIRST HARLEY AND I HAVE NEVER WORKED ON ONE BEFORE.

THIS IS THE THIRD SITE I HAVE ASKED THIS QUESTION. AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS EVER TRIED TO SET THE TIMING ON A HARLEY NONE OF YOU REALLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT SETTING THE TIMNG ?

hey Dusty I have a 69 XLCH with a magneto the very best place for info is XLforum.net but please read through the info before you ask any questions there. the old timers can get very snarky and the first thing they will tell you to do is get a factory service manual and i also think it would be well worth the money if your going to keep this great bike on the road. They did change the marks on the fly wheel but on mine there is a dot and a vertical line. The line is top dead center. I set mine so the points just break when the mag is advanced and the vertical line is in the center of the hole. Ill leave you a pm with my number I do have one book that does cover some of your bike

Search long enough and you can find a downloadable PDF shop manual for free most likely.

As bullmoose sys a factory manual is worth its weight in gold and he is spot on in his explanation of how to do it.

Indeed, thats an awesome site well worth taking a minute to join.
xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php

anyone with an ironhead or sportster can learn a lot from that site( XLFORUM.net ) just about anything you need is there ya just have to look for it, and i do advise you look first before posting any questions caus some of them old gray beards can get a bit snarky and i dont blame them they put a lot of time and knowledge into it.

Thanks I will check into what you tols me and if it don't work I'll give you a call.   i have found something on the XLforum but have not had the time to really read I will let you know how it goes, and Thanks again.

keep us posted and any questions just ask. i kind of got a thing for the old ironheads. right now about the only other bike i would have is a pan