DIY: The pride of putting life back into a machine

Last night was a milestone for me.  I finally finished “restoring” a 1998 Harley Davidson Dyna Convertible Wide Glide conversion (a Franken Harley).  A few months ago I went to buy this bike from a guy selling it with a clear title and 21K miles on the bike.  I had been looking for an EVO Dyna for a few months, had seen several Wide Glides ranging in price from $11K to this one for $5,800.  Naturally, being the cheapskate that I am reputed to be, I went for the lowball in the full knowledge that it had a couple of maintenance issues. 

The bikes original owner took a lot of pride in it which is indicated in that it has every chrome OEM Harley Davidson bolt on piece in the catalog for that year, to include the gold flames on a chrome backing on the handlebar risers, air cleaner cover and timing cover.  It certainly is not my style but I’m glad that this person thought enough of the bike when it was new to do this.  This tells me that this guy also almost certainly made sure the bike was broken in correctly and according to Harley specs (which is critical for life longevity of the bike).  At some point the original owner went from the narrow glide front end to the Wide Glide front end complete with rake.  My favorite Harley Davidson front end is the Wide Glide or the Springer, so in my book this is a winner.  It’s a double win for me because I do not care for the duck tail (Fatbob) rear fender of a true Wide Glide and much prefer the graceful curves of a Superglide, etc.  Since this was a conversion it has the front end and the rear end I like best.

When the second owner purchased the bike he already owned a Shovel bobber.  His intention was to bob this bike, strip the chrome off, add ape hangers and pretty much turn it into an EVO version of a Streetbob.  This would have been a shame since the tins kind of remind me of a late 1960’s to mid 1970’s throwback with the vintage, big script, western font looking letters on the tank decal.  The gold lettering with red outline on a black background on makes it look all the more vintage, but I digress.  The second owner had been putting so much time and money into his shovel he basically let it sit with Stabil fuel stabilizer in the tank, for at least a year.  The fact that he had to buy a new batter just to sell it and the condition of some of the hoses when I got it lead me to believe it was probably sitting for longer.

Upon picking up the bike after purchase I cranked her up and had to wait a while for it to warm up enough that it wouldn’t stall and die at idle.  It spit black smoke (not a lot but enough to know that it was burning additives) and it smelled very, very rich.  I began to limp the bike home when about a mile down the road it died on me in an intersection…it was completely out of gas.  The A-hole rode all the gas out of it before I could pick it up but somehow let it sit with bad gas for over a year…what a putz.  Anyhow I pushed it to the gas station, filled her up and away we went.

I finally got the bike home, pulled the plugs and they were fouled beyond belief.  After a complete tune up, changing plugs, wires, fluids, rebuilding the carburetor, etcetera I finally got the bike ready to put on the road when suddenly I back a bolt out of the primary and noticed that it stripped all the thread off of the primary (as opposed to the bolt).  “DANG IT”…I was furious.  I cursed my luck, kicked empty oil bottles around, wiped up the oil from a half full jug I just kicked and went inside the house to lick my wounds.  I did some research and found out that it was a simple fix involving a Helicoil kit, a drill and a steady hand but even still I’m so pressed for time and have already spent so much of it on this bike, I was discouraged. 

Last night was it, last night I finally got the Helicoil installed, redid some of the fluids and put the bike back onto the road.  I took her for a test spin, all covered in grease, grime and oil and pulled into a gas station.  Suddenly my bike was the center of attention with one biker even trying to guess its age (the Wide Glide front end threw him off or so he said).  I explained that the bike wasn’t vintage, just old and that I had just finished “restoring it” so to speak and this was the first time I had it on the road all summer.  The guy looked at me appreciatively and asked me if it rides better now that I know how to fix it…I thought about that for a second and you know what?  He’s right…it does ride better knowing that I know how to fix it.  Granted I didn’t tear the engine down, pull the jugs or tranny and I certainly didn’t have issues with the frame requiring a blowtorch and a ton of skill, but even still, the hours I spent in my cluttered garage, in 100+ degree heat with my humble collection of tools were hours that I invested emotionally, financially and physically into this machine.  It makes it special, it makes it mine.  Guys who wrench their own machines know the feeling of accomplishment and connection that I’m talking about.  Well that’s how I feel today. 

I rode this bike into work today and probably had a grin on my face all the way from Fort Worth to Dallas.  I’ve been sitting at work dreaming of leaving and looking forward to the commute home.  I can’t remember last time I looked forward to commuting anywhere.  So I guess you can say that the bike an owner can feel the most pride in is the one he put life into as opposed to just money.  The guys out there with oily jeans, busted knuckles and dirty fingernails…well…they know what’s up.

The Humble Sportster: Heritage, first true loves and some tips on buying one…

I had been married for a couple of years and my wife and I were about to sell our little townhome and move into an actual house.  We needed cash so I sold my Kawasaki Ninja EX500R.  I really enjoyed that bike on so many levels but the truth was a 500cc scooter just wasn’t enough to haul my 5’11, 230lb butt around anymore.  A few months went by and gradually the urge to ride kept coming up until eventually I just gawked at every motorcycle that crossed my path to the point that I think my wife started to become concerned and maybe a bit jealous all at the same time.  Seriously, if Jessica Alba decided to streak my neighborhood by riding around on a Ducati Monster 900 I’d have every bolt on that bike committed to memory before I’d even notice a woman sitting on top of it.  In short I had a problem, I knew it was time to get another bike.

My friends at work kept egging me on “just get one; you know you will eventually anyway”. They were right, I was going down to the employee parking garage and just fondling their bikes until they would give me that concerned “quit touching my bike” look while gradually leaning it away from me and say “dude, when are you just going to get a bike already?”  I had enough, I started shopping everywhere, newspapers, Craigslist, even those stupid ad magazines that make you pay to get it and the owner of the bike pay to list it.  The clock was ticking now, it was only a matter of when.

Given that my first bike was a Ninja I naturally started looking at the sport bikes.  My buddy would beg me not to get one and kept trying to get me to buy a Harley instead, even my father in law kept trying to convince me to buy a Harley.  I still wanted the performance of a sport bike though, finally when I asked my wife for her opinion she said, “guys your size don’t usually ride sport bikes” implying that my fat butt looked like a gorilla humping a bicycle when I rode my Ninja.  “Dang” I thought…”am I really that fat?”

I’ll admit it; Harley Davidson motorcycles held very little appeal for me, they were for the old guys.  I just didn’t see myself rolling up to a night club on a loud, oil spewing, unreliable, underperforming and overweight Harley Davidson.  I hated the idea, but I hated the idea of looking stupid even more and besides that I asked myself “how often do I go to nightclubs these days anyway?”  The answer?  Never, so that was that. 

I finally found two Harleys in my price range.  Both were Sportsters, both were XL883Cs and both were black (which was important to me at the time).  I finally chose a 2005 Sportster Custom (883 of course) and grew to hate the performance.  The former owner drilled out the baffles on the mufflers but did not rejet the bike or add a high flow air filter.  First order of business was getting that fixed.  I added what I could afford, a simple jet kit that I had a guy install for $50 and a pair of Taiwan made V-Twin Mfg baloney cut slip ons.  They were baffled so when I brought the bike by the same guy who jetted it for service he exclaimed “that doesn’t sound right” and looked in the ends of them.  He saw the baffles and recommended I remove them and either unwrap the fiberglass, cut them in half or just replace them altogether.  I got home, yanked the baffles out and out of curiosity cranked the bike up.  It was as if a monster came to life in my garage and roared it’s indignation of the weak hearted to the rest of the world.  I was ecstatic at the sound.  I jumped on it and ran it up and down the street and noticed a considerable boost in the low end torque.  This sucker felt like it could shoot off the line and sound like the wrath of God was coming while doing it.  Needless to say, I never did replace the baffles.

 

I learned a lot about riding a motorcycle on the back of that Sportster.  First is that there is no substitute for a well made seat that fits your backside.  For me the Mustang Vintage Wide Solos are the only way to go.  Second, I learned the value and satisfaction that comes with wrenching on your own bike.  Third, that overall Harley Davidson dealerships suck but the factory turns out a pretty darned good bike.  Before I sold the bike I kept trying to think of ways to make a good bike “gooder” but eventually economic conditions prevailed and I had to let my old friend go.  It actually broke my heart for a couple of days and I immediately regretted that decision.  Maybe one day I’ll have another but at least I owned that bike long enough to gain a healthy respect for the HD Sporster line.  Anyone who calls these things “skirtsters” or a “mini-Harley” or otherwise implies that these bikes are 2^nd rate Harleys is missing the point of these bikes entirely.  They are not “beginners” bikes even if they are often sold using that tag line, nor are they for girls.  The Sportster has a long, well documented history of being a purpose built race bike.  I guess you could say the Sportsters are the great granddaddy of all modern sportbikes.  They posses a rich heritage born on the side of a dirt racetrack and buying one of these today is as close as you can come to walking into a showroom and buying something like a ’57 Chevy brand new off the floor.

If you own or are considering owning a Sportster, let me share some of what I learned.

1.) Get an 883 if you can.  Seriously, now hear me out.  Even if you ride it straight to the shop and have it “upgraded” to a 1200 the 883 has several factors working in its favor.  First is that all things being equal, an 883 punched out to a 1200 will smoke a 1200 off the line because of the way the bike is geared.  Second is that you don’t have to settle for 1200ccs when punching one of these out, several manufacturers make 1200, 12010, 1250 or even 1340cc kits for these.  I don’t mind telling you a 1250 kit with Buell Lightening headers installed on a Sportster running drag pipes is a thing to behold on the drag strip.  That thing will have enough low end torque and speed to peel the grin right off the face of the guy in the lane next to you.

2.) If you buy a Sportster learn to maintain it yourself.  There is no easier Harley Davidson made to work on than a Sporty.  They are a simple, reliable and effective design.  It is a great way to discovering a whole new dimension to your ride.

3.) I you buy a Sportster, for God’s sake change out that stock seat.  Here’s a hint, if you’re wondering if a seat is comfy or not for riding and it has an HD logo on it, pass.  Although I’m sure HD hires a subcontractor to make comfortable seats, manufacturers like Mustang or Corbin do this as their core business.  They have it down to a science and for the money you’d be very hard pressed to do better.  A new seat will change everything about your bike, the ride, the feel even perceive the bike’s handling. 

4.) Buy a shop service manual.  Yeah I know, it’s like $70 for a book but it’s worth it, trust me.  If nothing else the videos for sale on www.fixmyhog.com are well worth the time and effort and about the same price as the manual. 

5.) Last but not least, don’t use cheap gas.  93 Octane or better, always.  A lot of guys think of a Sportster as a “cheap” bike or otherwise some kind of entry level animal and do not give it the respect it deserves.  If you buy a used one, be prepared to rebuild the carburetor (which isn’t hard so don’t freak out).  If nothing else run a can of B12 Chemtool Carburetor Cleaner through it doing the following.  Pour a half can of B12 into the gas tank for a Custom 4 gallon tank or 1/3 of a can into a peanut or 3.3 gallon tank, fill the rest with 93 octane gas.  Ride the bike all day until the tank is empty and you have to fill up again.  Repeat this process every week or so until the contents of the can are dry.  Do not, I repeat, DO NOT allow the B12 to sit in your tank overnight, you need to ride it through your system the same day you add it.  This shouldn’t be hard since Sportsters generally do not hold a lot of gas and are fun to ride anyway.

Note: there are differences between model of year Sportsters and “newer” isn’t always necessarily better.

1.) The Sportsters 1986 to 2003 are Evolution engines mounted directly to the frame of the bike.  This is good for bobbing and this particular frame lends itself to all types of aftermarket goodies like springer front ends, etc.  The bad is that the engine mounted to the frame can cause irritating vibration.

2.) 2004-2006 are Evolution engines, rubber mounted to the frame.  This got rid of the nasty vibration but for some reason the forward controls are ever so slightly shorter in reach and there are not as many after market goodies.  Sure you could add a Nightster rear fender and a Paughco Springer front end, but add about $2,000 to the price tag to do it…ouch!  Anyhow 2006 is the last year of the Sporsters using CV carburetors.  That means you cannot buy one later than 2006 that you can tune without the use of a computer which in my book, is something of a big deal since I like engines that I upgrade with sockets, not keyboards.  Even still there are plenty of goodies out there for this bike to become a bad assed bobber or even a mean, lean street fighting café racer.

3.) 2006 to date is fuel injected. There are a few things to be aware of here.  First is that the fuel pump is in the gas tank, so switching out tins is tough.  Second is that your rear fender will have a giant hole cut in it under the seat for the computer housing, so switching the tins is tough.  Third is that remapping a bike for drag pipes and high flow air cleaners is a heck of a lot more expensive than rejetting a carburetor.  As for springer front ends and aftermarket goodies, kind of like the 2004-2006 models but with less availability. 

Removing a Harley Davidson Carburetor: A Step by Step Picture Guide

1.) Remove the air cleaner cover.

2.) Now remove the air cleaner.  Note there will be a gasket behind the air cleaner that fits on between it and the carburetor, you need to either hang onto this or if you can, replace it.

3.) Remove the two screws at the top of the air cleaner and the three breather bolts you see protruding above. 

4.) Now you should be able to see the carburetor and will likely have a hose between the air cleaner backing plate and the bolts attached to the jugs.  You can let the cleaner backing plate dangle while you remove that upper bracket.  I like to keep things as assembled as possible to keep track of parts and ease of reassembly.



5.) Now remove the bracket.  Be careful, there are likely a couple of washers for each bolt and you'll not want to lose these.

6.) Once off, losen the throttle cables before you remove the carburetor.  This step will make your life way easier.  If you're not sure which way to turn them to tighten or loosen them, a good trick is to just look at the where the cables are connected to the carburetor, feel the tension with your finger as you adjust it with your other hand and ask yourself "is this getting looser or tighter?"  No rocket surgery here...

7.) Now pull the carburetor out of the intake.  It's only being held in there by a rubber gasket and some hoses so pull gently but firmly and it should wiggle free.  Now you can disconnect your vacuum hose on the top of the carburetor and your fuel hose (pictured below).  You will also need to walk around to the other side of the bike and remove the choke or enricher cable from the bracket so you can pull it out through the carburetor side of the bike.

8.) You can do step 8 before 7 if you want but the vacuum hose is sometimes tight as is the choke/enricher cable so use your best judgement.  Remove the fuel hose and have a beer bottle or some other kind of container nearby as a little bit of gas may come out (not much but a little).  I know, I know, never put gasoline in a glass container and all that...so use your best judgement, it's probably better than mine anyway.

9.) Some fuel hoses are put on the carburetor with a disposable hose clamp.  Just cut those kind of clamps off and I strongly recommend using the little $1.50 adjustable hose clamps that use a screw tensioner in the future.  They're just easier to work with and God forbid you need to remove a hose on the side of a highway or something in an emergency.  If you have disposable clamps you're screwed. 

10.) Now turn the carburetor over and locate the throttle cables.  You did losen them right?  If not go back to step 6 and do that.  Before you remove these, make your life easier and take a pencil or pen and some masking tape and label them.  This helps you know where to put them back on when the time comes.  Once these suckers are off they will twist around and do their darndest to confuse you, so be smarter than your bike.

11.) If you labeled your cables it should look something like this.  you can't see my righting because I used a pencil and the camera in my phone sucks but you get the idea. 

12.) Now you should see your intake manifold.  You see to the right and the left of it?  If you ever need to replace your intake manifold gaskets because your bike is running weird, that's where they are.  Now, before you walk away, do you see that big hole?  Good, now stick a clean shop towl or rag in there before a bird decides to build a nest in it and ruins your engine the first time you crank up your bike after putting your carburetor back on.  Also, this will have a gasket that fits over the edge of the hole, this gasket will slip over the backside of your carburetor.  If you can replace this gasket when you reinstall the carburetor.

I hope this helps.  This picture "how to" was created using a 1998 Harley Davidson Dyna Convertible, your bike may have slight differences but this should still give you an idea of how this works.  It's a pretty simple job to get a carburetor on and off once you've done it so have no fear.  For those of you wondering how to get the carburetor back on, just follow steps 12 through 1 (do this list backwards). 

My Adventures in Rebuilding a 1998 Harley CV Carburetor: Lessons learned

I had just bought this (new to me) 1998 Dyna a few weeks ago and was so happy.  It was Dyna Convertible with all the chrome (though I’m not a chrome guy) and a Wide Glide front end which for me was perfect.  She had been ridden and showed a little road wear but at some point someone took very good care of her, but apparently not the guy I was buying it from.  2Kewl and Junior member Hardkore were with so 2Kewl could give the bike a closer, wiser inspection than I could and gave me the thumbs up.  I slapped the cash over, signed the title and bill of sale and started the bike down the road.  The bike was running rich; I could smell it and also blowing a little black smoke which I initially dismissed as a combination of sitting idle for over a year and the fuel stabilizer the previous owner added before putting her away.  Getting home was an adventure but that’s a story for another day.

The bike was sluggish, seemed to lack any power and the top end seemed irrationally low.  The smell of fuel just permeated the ride and I knew this sucker was running WAY too rich and I later discovered why.  So the first thing I did when I got her home was pull the spark plugs, just as I suspected they were black which is indicative of running too rich.  I also noticed the spark plug cables were the stock cables that came with the bike 13 years ago or so it appeared (not good).  So off to the dealership I went and swapped out the cables and plugs.  I fired the bike up and had a very, very slight improvement but still nowhere near where it needed to be.  The idle on the bike was set pretty high; she was running rich and had no performance.  It looked like the carburetor needed a complete overhaul, likely from sitting around gumming up for over 12 months and likely because it had never been rebuilt in its 13 years and 21K miles.

First things first, I weighed my options.  I could take the bike in to have the carb pulled and rebuilt, buy a new carburetor or just attempt it myself.  Given that I had no experience or “know how” in rebuilding a carburetor I did what any “logical biker” would do, I busted out my wrenches and started in on it myself.  I figured the worst that could happen is I screw up the rebuild and have to pay someone to rebuild it anyway (seemed logical at the time).  Now I had never removed an air cleaner all the way, nor had I disconnected the throttle on a motorcycle or removed a carburetor before.  This was an entirely new experience but I made sure to document the process as I went along so that I could put everything back with no “spare parts” left over when I was done. 

After removing the carburetor I ordered a rebuild kit from www.Harley-Performance.com since not only do they sell a complete kit, they also have the EZ-Just adjustable mixture screw and have several articles related to rejetting and tuning a CV carburetor on a Harley Davidson motorcycle.  Now I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to adjust a Harley’s mixture before on the fly, but let me tell you something, it’s a three handed, upside down operation involving a tiny screwdriver, red hot exhaust pipes, slightly less than red hot cylinder jugs and an itty bitty screw hanging upside down in a tiny little tunnel at an angle that almost makes it seem like some engineer at Harley Davidson gets his kicks in knowing that you are going to burn the poon-doggy out of your knuckles trying to get to it.  The EZ-Just sticks out just far enough that you can get your fingers back there and turn it manually or use a screwdriver that keeps your knuckles a healthy distance away from those jugs.  For the money it was worth it and that’s saying a lot because I’m cheaper than Bill Clinton on a “date night” with Hillary.

The kit came in just a few days and I immediately tore into it.  To my utter dismay there were no instructions on how to rebuild a carburetor…dang it!  So I did what any red blooded American male would do, I did it without the instructions.  I took the carburetor apart, noting where everything came from, matched the gaskets up and sprayed the carburetor with enough carb cleaner that the EPA started checking the local neighborhood water supply for contamination.  To say this thing was filthy would be doing an injustice to the word “filthy”; this thing had potatoes growing in it.  I rejetted the carburetor to one size larger than the jets that were in it since the bike already had a high flow air cleaner.  Time will tell if this was a good move or not but I plan on running Thunder City Monster Baffles in the Screaming Eagle slip on pipes soon so the exhaust will be very free flowing, which works best with big jets but I digress.  I took the new gaskets that most resembled the old gaskets and replaced the old ones, one at a time.  It didn’t take long, maybe a couple of hours because I was being very, very careful and in the process I stripped some of the soft brass screws that were on the carburetor trying to get them off.  A pair of mini-vise grips helped me out there and a quick trip to the dealership replaced those nasty, gnarled up screws with brand new, shiny ones.  The carburetor looked almost new when I went to reinstall it.  I cleaned the K&N high flow filter (which I will provide details about another post) and again, that thing was incredibly nasty.  I mean that thing was so dirty I think I found a Congressman in it (rim shot)...Thank yewwww!  Not funny?  Okay moving on…

I finally reinstalled everything, cleaned up and had it looking good (I was so excited).  I went to start the bike and it wouldn’t kick over but it sounded like it wanted to.  “Whrrrrwhrrrrwhrrrrwhrrrrr!”  What the heck could it be?  Did I forget to put a screw somewhere?  What the heck?  I checked the petcock and sure enough, the fuel wasn’t on.  Okay, chalk that one up to excitement.  I try again “Whrrrwhrrrwhrrrrrwhrrrr!”  Still not starting, it’s 10PM, its 90 degrees in my garage, I have a severe cold (did I mention I had a cold?) so I went to bed. 

Rule #1 of working on your own scoot; never do anything when you’re frustrated!!!

The next morning I jump on a Harley Davidson tech forum and asked for help.  Someone asked if I hooked up the fuel line.  Duh, yes…next question please.  Someone else asked if I checked the petcock.  I didn’t own up to the fact that I did indeed leave it shut off earlier, I just assured them that I did check it.  Lastly someone asked if I hooked up the vacuum line.  I immediately thought “Vacuum line?  There was a vacuum line?” and Googled it.  Sure enough there it was I can’t believe I forgot such a major detail.  I thanked everyone and reassured them that I had things in hand now. 

I went home, plugged up the vacuum line and the bike immediately fired up.  “Victory!” I thought to myself as I triumphantly goosed the throttle over and over again.  Soon I started smelling gas, a lot of gas.  I stuck my hand near the carburetor under the air cleaner while revving the engine and felt a mist hit me.  I looked and saw my hand was damp with gasoline.  I quickly shut the bike off, shut the fuel off and looked to try and pinpoint exactly where the carburetor was leaking.  There was gas everywhere so I quickly removed the air cleaner and carburetor (which I was getting pretty good at by now) and dumped the remaining fuel it had in it in my front yard just outside of my garage.  The EPA was really getting angry by now.  I cursed my luck and noted that it looked like fuel was coming out of the accelerator pump on the bottom of the carburetor.  “Now what?” I thought to myself.  I was pissed and frustrated so I wiped all the gasoline up and went to bed for the night.

The next weekend I was feeling better, optimistic and somewhat resigned to possibly having to have a professional take a look at my carburetor.  I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have just one more look at everything though and I took the carburetor apart again.  I made sure the float in the float bowl moved freely, checked that all the gaskets were aligned and double checked the accelerator pump gaskets.  There is a tiny, itty, bitty little gasket in the accelerator pump that lines up with a pinhole and sits in a recess in the carburetor.  I was 90% sure it was the right gasket but truthfully, when they get that small it’s hard to tell.  I decided to just go up to the dealership and pay the $1.80 it took to buy a new one just to be sure.  I replaced it, tightened the bejeebers out of each and every screw, and carefully rebuilt the carburetor (this time without the influence of cold medicine).  I reinstalled it and went to bed without trying to start the bike; I was tired and didn’t have the emotional capacity to face another failure at that moment.

The next day I come home from work, change clothes and walk out to the garage to start up the bike in full anticipation that I’m about to have to clean up yet another gasoline spill.  I rechecked all my connections on the carburetor (including the vacuum line) and fired it up. The bike backfired and started right up.  I adjusted the mixture screw and idle speed until I could let go of the throttle and it wouldn’t die on me with the enricher still pulled out.  After the bike warmed up it idled without the enricher and I continuously looked for any sign of a leak seeing nothing.  I backed the bike down the driveway halfway expecting it to stutter and die or start blowing gas but it just idled as happily as could be.  I kicked it into gear and raced it up and down my street a few times, no issues.  I decide to go around the block a couple of times (but not further than I could push it), still no issues.  Now I was starting to grin like an idiot on Christmas.  I decided to take her on the freeway, unmercifully gunning the bike in every gear, even redlining it a couple of times to try and find a “dead spot” in the carburetor or experience the dreaded “carb fart” that comes with a misadjusted carburetor.  It performed flawlessly and was running like a new bike.

I came home happy, kissed the wife, hugged the kids and kicked the cat.  I was on top of the world.  I couldn’t believe I rebuilt a carburetor all by my lonesome, plus I learned a lot about my bike (which is the point right?).  I had a new level of confidence and felt the satisfaction that only hard work and trial and error gives.  A few things I learned:

1.) Rule number 1 is always going to be, never work on your bike when you’re frustrated or angry.

2.) Document everything as you remove it and/or take it apart either with pen and pad, digital camera, etc.  Keep your screws in the original order and if at all possible, keep the parts as fully assembled as possible until you are ready to work on them at that moment.  If you’re going to walk away for a while, reassemble as much as practical since it only takes a minute to undo later but a lifetime to find that stupid tiny screw you lost (which is inevitable if you leave them lying around).   

3.) Be prepared for failure and ready to address it if and when it comes.  Don’t jump up and down cursing your luck and asking God why he hates you, if you work on your own scooter not everything will go your way all the time.  Just be ready for it and refer to rule number 1 when it happens.

4.) Those little parts diagrams at the dealership that show every screw and washer to a given part are an excellent reference to make sure you have everything where it belongs when rebuilding a part.  Plus they will give them to you free.

5.) It is better to have a service manual than to not have one, it will save you time and it will save you frustration.  If you have to ask a friend to borrow theirs, if they’re smart they’ll say “no” but maybe loan you the money to buy your own instead.

6.) Know when to stop and ask for help.  Don’t make any permanent changes to your bike or parts without consulting expert or experienced advice.  This involves anything having to do with a drill, angle grinder, saw, etc.  In fact, try to avoid power tools altogether if you can.

7.) Nothing on your bike is as hard to fix as you first suppose it to be.  It’s the stuff you think is “easy” that will hose you up.  In this case it was a tiny $1.80 gasket/o-ring.

8.) Don’t rush the job.  If you don’t have a few days in a row to work on your bike and can afford to let it wait, then let it wait until you have the time.  A good indicator of whether or not you can let it wait is to ask yourself “am I sitting on the side of a freeway right now?”  If the answer is "no", it most likely can wait. 

9.) Some things in life are worth the extra $10.00 to $20.00.  The EZ-Just screw is one of them.

10.) Last but not least the best trainer in the world is experience.  You learn by doing.

Coming soon...how to remove your Harley Davidson carburetor (a picture tutorial).

Rusted Bolt or Stud? How to get that bastard out!!!

Owning an older bike can be a uniquely satisfying experience.  An older ride is generally going to be something more customized to the rider, something you can’t find on a showroom floor, it means you likely have a unique bond with your bike that can only come with thousands of miles spent together.  Older rides are authentic “old school” and timeless unlike much of the shtick “new old school” style Harley and others are marketing so heavily today.  Owning an older ride says something about the rider too, like maybe you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty and who knows a thing or two about fixing and maintaining a bike.  But with owning an older bike come the complications to an otherwise routine fixes that are as unique as your bike and that’s not a good thing in most cases.

Picture this, it’s about 9pm at night on a weeknight, I’m sitting in my garage sweating my butt off in the 90 degree Texas evening, removing an exhaust pipe from my 2002 Harley Davidson Softail.  The mission…to install a simple set of torque cones and Screaming Eagle exhaust gaskets.  To a skilled mechanic, this is a 15 to 20 minute job tops, and that’s if you stop periodically to take a swig of beer.  I remove the front pipe, no trouble.  The nuts holding the exhaust gaskets on the rear cylinder are a bit different, they are slightly rusted.  No worries, I throw in a little muscle and one nut rolls off smooth as you please.  I start to remove the second nut and notice as it comes off it’s taking the dang post/bolt thread with it.  It would seem the previous owner cross thread that sucker on there.  Great, now I’m going to have to grab the trust old vice grips and try and pull that bolt the old fashioned (i.e. stupid and slow) way. 

(The cursed bolt)

A half our later I’m covered in sweat, cursing out loud, kicking my wrenches and speaking in tongues.  I’m pissed, hot, frustrated and worried.  The bolt is thoroughly mangled and what’s more, it’s rusted solidly in place.  I decide to call it a night, grab a shower and go to bed.  I have nightmares involving tearing my engine apart, machine shops, drills, heli-coils and all manner of nastiness.  I wake up and say a prayer requesting mercy and guidance (prayer never hurts a stuck bolt, trust me).  I look into all types of stud pullers, Snap-on sold a kit for $160 give or take, there was a Northern Tool kit that looked suspect, there were a couple of Craftsman options with one involving a hammer and a prayer and the other that looked like it was supposed to have a wheel that tightened on the bolt as you rotated counter clockwise.  The problem with the Craftsman wheel type was that the indents designed to “bite” into the bolt were shallower than Paris Hilton’s last relationship.  I ran across an interesting “universal stud puller” made by Titan Tools which is available at Northern Tool.  Now I’ll admit that anytime I see the word “universal” on any kind of tool I generally understand it to mean that it will “universally” not fit anything well.  But it was $30 and I was desperate so I bought it anyway.

(PB Blaster, no garage should be without this)

Now pulling a stuck/rusted bolt/stud is not about a tool, it’s about a process but having the right tool is essential.  There is all kinds of advice and voodoo available online from blow torches to impact wrenches and some of the advice is good whereas some…well, not so much.  I decided the slowest, least invasive and least permanent solution would be best.  Anything you have to drill into or use to cut into the bolt is a commitment you’re stuck with for better or worse, I wanted options.  I grabbed a $5.00 can of PB Blaster and soaked the sucker down, I mean soaked it like my name was Bernie Madoff.  I gave it a couple of good, centered whacks with a hammer and went to bed.  I recommend hitting the bolt with the hammer like you would in starting a nail into a board (meaning “lightly” tap for those readers who might be from Oklahoma).  The next morning I soaked the silly thing again and again a couple of solid (but remember not hard) whacks with a hammer.  The next day I repeated the process and I did so until the can was almost empty.  Finally I busted out my Titan and with baited breath use a pipe wrench and combo wrench to tighten the tool onto the bolt.  I was surprised that the tool came with no instructions but truth be told, it was so easy even a traffic cop could figure it out.

(The Titan Universal Stud Puller)

Now came the moment of truth, I applied a long handled 3/8 ratchet onto the Titan and took a hammer and tapped the ratchet.  The tapping wasn’t intended to get the bolt to move but instead to allow the PB Blaster to penetrate by shocking the bond between the rust on the bolt and the rust on the cylinder loose. Trust me, short quick bursts counter clockwise is much better than slow and steady.  Slow and steady equals broken stud which means crying, howling and cursing so don’t do it like that.  After tapping on it for a bit I started to kind of jerk on the ratchet slightly in kind of a bouncing motion.  At first the bolt didn’t budge but I could see the Titan tool clamping down harder as I turned.  That sucker was going to snap the bolt off before it would slip (which is a good thing since slippage means it won’t work) so I was careful.  Suddenly there was a loud satisfying crack and a squeak.  I knew that I had broken that rust bond and the stud came out pretty as you please. 

I did a victory dance, ran inside and high fived my confused wife, kissed the kids and said a brief prayer of thanks.  So if you find yourself in a similar situation do the following. 

--Take a break after you discover the problem, you’ll only make it worse if you try working on it when you’re pissed and frustrated. 

-- Research your options, my fix isn’t the only one out there though my opinion, it’s one of the less invasive/committal options if your bolt is stripped.  If it isn’t stripped a 2 nut method might work just as well if not better.

-- Learn from the mistakes of others.  If your first plan of action involves power tools you need to step away from the bike and go sit and have a “think”. 

-- Be aware that there is no one tool for every situation but every situation has a right tool for the job.  You should spend at least 10 minutes of planning and research for every one minute of actual work performed.

-- Screwing up is expensive…so don’t.  Take your time.

-- Remember it’s not about the tools, it’s the process.  Don’t rush it, use good penetrating oil like PB Blaster or Kroil and don’t be stingy. 

-- If at all possible avoid options that use an EZ Out.  If one of those things breaks off in the stud you’re likely going to have to disassemble the bike and take the jug into a machine shop, like I said earlier, start with the least invasive/permanent option first.

A Harley Davidson Dyna for Touring? I think it would work…

A couple of months ago I was looking for a new bike that I could both commute on and take on long distance rides.  The bike had to get good gas mileage, have a good reputation for reliability, solid aftermarket support, a nice suspension, decent power and of course it had to look good.  At first I had an idea of what I wanted and the bikes that made the short list were a Honda Valkyrie, a Kawasaki Drifter 1500, a Harley Davidson Fatboy and finally a Harley Davidson Dyna.  After some initial research I eliminated the following bikes:

Kawasaki Drifter 1500, though a nice bike by any measure aftermarket support was lacking and when it comes to working on metric engines (all bikes need work especially when ridden hard) I thought that it might not be the best investment for me.  After all in 10 years who knows if it will be worth anything.

Second up was the Harley Davidson Fatboy.  This bike had style and comfort but there were two things working against it.  First was the Softail suspension.  Despite the “Softail” moniker this type of internal suspension is not nearly as forgiving as the external dual shock configuration of the Sportster, Dyna and Touring models (depending upon the shocks and setup of course).  A note, almost all stock Harley shocks suck but Harleys have excellent aftermarket options.  The second factor working against the Fatboy was the frame mounted engine.  Granted a big twin that is counterbalanced does not exactly vibrate like a Dyna would when at a stop, but once on the road that vibration could easily translate into the handlebars and ultimately the grips.  This leads to numb hands down the road and the greater the speed, the more intense the vibration.  Some people may disagree or not notice this phenomenon but after owning a softail already, I can tell you there’s more truth to it than not.  The Fatboy was out.

Third up was the Honda Valkyrie.  I got to ride a couple of different specimens and let me tell you, they had power to spare.  They were smooth, surprisingly nimble, incredibly powerful and notoriously reliable.  They have decent aftermarket support when compared to say a Kawasaki Drifter, hold their value well just like the Harley Davidsons and given that they have not been made in several years and have a loyal cult following.  I suspect that well cared for Valkyries will still draw top dollar in the used market later down the road.  The things that worked against the Valkyrie were the total cost of ownership and gas mileage.  One of the contributing factors to the legendary power on a Valkyrie are 6 individual carburetors, one for each cylinder.  That means 6 carburetors to service, keep clean and synch every 10,000 miles.  This synching can be $300-$400+ per interval.  Add to this the Valkyrie eats rear tires and gets downright horrid gas mileage and it’s a no brainer, keep looking. The Valkyrie would make an incredible hotrod, but they are not the best touring bikes despite their Goldwing origins. 

Lastly was the Harley Dyna.  I’m kind of a stickler about Harley Dynas.  I love the Street Bob and most of the Dyna series with a full rear fender or even the new style "bobber" chopped fender. What I don’t like are the narrow glide or mid glide front ends.  So I looked at the Wide Glides and love the front end and 21 inch front wheel, but that fat bob "bobbed" fender (not to be confused with a chopped bobber fender) on the rear looked…well, it’s just not my style.  After some consideration I figured I could change a rear fender easier than a front end and decided to look for a suitable Wide Glide. 

Another thing that was important to me was to find a 1998 Dyna because I wanted the Evo motor.  Why?  Well…first the Evo is the longest running Harley Davidson motor made, second is a fanatical and healthy aftermarket and third is that the Evo is the only engine designed with reliability being the #1 priority, it was the engine that saved the reputation of Harley Davidson after the infamous AMF years.  I know what some of you might be thinking right now, Dynas shake like crazy when started.  This is true, it’s an unbalanced big twin but it’s rubber mounted to the frame and surprisingly the engine really smoothes out under acceleration.  Add the rubber mounted engine to a dual external shock system and you’ve got a pretty smooth bike at cruising speed.  Lastly the Harley will hold its value after a given point of depreciation and who knows, maybe one day increase in value. 

So I began my search for a 1998 Dyna Wide Glide.  I found one in perfect show room condition with only 8,000 miles on it.  Now for those of you good at math it was readily apparent that this bike did not get ridden much which is not necessarily a good thing.  Leave a bike sitting long enough and the gaskets and whatnots (a technical term) start going bad and before long it’s leaking.  Add to that gummed up carburetor and…well you get the idea.  Either way I checked it over thoroughly and made the guy an offer.  Long story short the guy hemmed and hawed and played games until I just walked on the deal.  I kept looking and found something unique, a 1998 Dyna Convertible with a Wide Glide conversion.  That means the bike is lowered to the ground, had every piece of chrome Harley Davidson offers, a Wide Glide front end and the classic full fender.  The bike was gorgeous even though I’m not really big into chrome.  The bike wasn’t perfect though; the previous owner added some Stabil fuel additive and let the thing sit for a year.  He replaced the battery after the old one died but the carburetor was gummed up even though the bike had 21K miles on it.  Everything else looked good though so I bought it.  After some adventures in carburetor rebuilding I now have a smooth running Dyna.  Given that I paid $5,800 for the Dyna and about $50 in rebuilding it I’d say I did okay.  More about the carburetor rebuild in a later post…