The following interactions were excerpted from the rmh ng.
Many of the answers here are provided by the
Hog Doctor
HD Dealer Technician at your service......
His Employer's site: http://www.wishd.com/ (need Javascript on)
His site: http://www.execpc.com/~patrickz/patricksite.htm
Channel Trash wrote: > Been lurking here awhile...This is my first post to the group. My apologies > in advance for the inevitable breach of netiquite. > > Name your poison, plastic's on the bar. Last night my wife and I took a > nice putt to Galveston,TX. Rolled up the driveway and shut the bike down. > Opened the garage door and pushed the bike inside and heard a new noise. > After rolling up and down the driveway several times, I determined the > noise to be the secondary drive belt squeaking at the rear pulley. Upon > closer inspection it looks like the belt is not perfectly centered in the > pulley and the outer edge is rubbing on the outer lip of the pulley. The > belt looks okay except for some glazing on the outer edge. Is there any > cause for concern? Recommendations? > > I did a search of the archives at dejanews and read an old post about > something called Polyol from HD that was meant for quieting the squeaks on > early belt-driven Shovels. Anyone have any experience with it or similar > products? > > The bike has 500 miles on it since its 20000 mile service. Up till now the > belt's been quiet as a church mouse. Thanks in advance for your help.... > Adios > > Dave
Channel Trash wrote:
98FLHR Normal. I know many may not agree, but I leave my belt alone and the squeaks come and go depending on temp and humidity. I know what it is, so I don't worry about it.
For my customers, I will treat the belt with a product called 'rubber-care', very similar to armor-all. If that doesn't do it, I dress the outer edge with Napa 'sil-glyde', a rubber compatible lubricant.
I've noticed that even with perfectly aligned pulleys, the belt will thrust slightly to the outboard side, and likewise will track to the inside of the pulleys when rolling backwards. Something to do with the way the belts are made, so says Gates. (not bill, either)
In many cases, pulley alignment is sacrificed to make the bike track perfectly straight down the road. If you would rather have the bike pull to the left or right and have your pulleys in line, that's your option.
HogDr
John Marlet wrote: > In the book "101 Harley Davidson Performance projects" on p. 180 they > mention Fluid Balance Masters, which from the description looks good to > reduce my Softail vibrations. > > Does anyone have any experience with these balancers, the cost, > ease of installation, product name and where to buy them? > > Rgds John
I've heard that they don't really work.
Harleys shake because of the pistons and rods moving up and down together. Their weight being attached to the engine which is attached to the frame is what gets the shaking going on.
Making sure every thing is mounted solidly seems to help some. An item called a bar snake will definitely calm your handlebars down some. Also an M6 primary chain tensioner helps too.
Another cause of intense vibrations above around 3000 rpm's is flywheel shift. Where one flywheel gets a little ahead of the other. This usually only happens on a bike with stock flywheels that's had the hell run out of it. Revving it and dropping the clutch repeatedly pretty much guarantees that this will happen. My bike when it had the stock wheels in it did this and so have all of my friends. We all used to ride to the drag strip every weekend and we all paid the price for it.
If you haven't abused your bike the M6 and the bar snake will make a difference you'll notice as soon as you go for a ride. My bike has a big stroker on it and the mirrors stay pretty smooth up to about 75 mph then things start to get buzzy. I also geared my bike higher for lower revs on the highway. These thing brought back a lot of the fun in riding.
I hope this helps you. Roger
tym4brk@yahoo.com wrote:
> A round for the house...
>
> I want to replace my front brake pads ('96 fxdwg) and am looking for
> advice on the procedure. Never done this on a bike before, but have done
> cars. Anything I need to look out for when doing this? I have the
> service manual already.
>
> Your infinite wisdom is appreciated.
>
> Jeff
>
> Sent via Deja.com
http://www.deja.com/
>
Before you buy. Well, beyond the obvious dismantle and reassemble, make sure you note the position of the spring plate holding the inner pad, the bolt is self tapping into the new pad. You'll need to push the caliper piston back into it's bore, I do this by hand, and crack the bleeder loose and twist the bleeder to the bottom to push any water/crud out of the system rather than back up to the master cylinder.
Remember to refill after you're done.
Make sure you get the outer pad under the clip in the holder, and the friction surfaces face the rotor. lube the sliding pins with some hi temp brake caliper pin lube from Napa or your equivalent. That's about it.
HogDr
Rog wrote: > HogDr wrote: > > For the record, any time you affect the airflow through the engine, be it with > intake, cam, exhaust, or headwork, you must consider your carb settings. > Always recheck your jetting! > > How??? > Rog
Looks like a topic for the FAQ. This applies to CV carbs, but some of the theory will apply to any carb, once you understand the adjustment options and circuits. Anyway, here goes.
The first thing I do is get it about halfway warmed up, 2 or 3 miles. Then I slow down to about 25 mph in 2nd gear. This is roughly the middle of the transition range. I do it a bit cold so that if it's good here, it will be a bit rich when fully warmed up, which is a good thing. steady cruising, steady throttle, 25 mph, enrichiner off, it should run smooth, no coughing, surging or hesitation.
If it does, a change in pilot jet is in order. I'll start small and work my way up until it smoothes out. each time the pilot jet gets changed, the mixture screw should be readjusted using a lean drop method. I use a digital tachometer. turn the screw in until it stumbles and back out until you find the fastest idle speed. Adjust the idle speed screw so the engine is at 1000 rpm. turn the mixture screw in until it drops 50 rpm, then ease it back out just enough to touch 1000 rpm again. With a 48 or larger pilot, the idle may not drop at all and in that case I leave the screw open just a half turn.
Next is the midrange, back to the halfway warmed up stage, this time starting slow and slowly raising the speed of the bike in steps, say 10 mph increments and stopping for a steady cruise check at each stage, and feel how the engine runs. Again it should be smooth, no cough or surging, hesitation, etc. About 60 mph cruising is the middle of the midrange. running a steady ten miles here and reading your plugs is the best way to check it.
Shim the head of the needle up as necessary to richen the midrange. The needle determines the 'personality' of the carb much like the cam does for the engine. I like to use the stock needle that came with the bike, as it's profile is based on the weight and gearing of the bike.
Next is the main jet. I get the bike up to the 60 mph range, then nail it full throttle and feel what the engine does. It should pick up on power. If it slows down, your main jet is off. Start with a smaller main jet. If it starts coughing at full throttle, then go the other way.
Just my personal and professional opinion, but I have had great success with Dynojet products, and have many many happy customers after my having installed the kit. Of course you can rejet the stock carb with stock jets, but that will only correct the mixture, it doesn't 'improve' the carburetor in any way.
Have a great new year, and everyone save this for future reference, and I would be most flattered if it were filed with the FAQ.
HogDr
I think the technical FAQ is a good idea. Some of them are good and some you need to take with a grain of salt. For the people who read the one about the drive belt, and was wondering why the belt always runs to the left, it's because the pulley is machined that way. This is to insure that the belt stays away from the tire. This is straight from Harley Davidson.
About the carb. article, the guy was talking about shinning the needle? The easiest way to re-jet a cv carb. is to unscrew the jet in question mid-range or main ) and install a larger or smaller size. This of course is determined before hand in your test ride to determine if you need a smaller or larger size jet. Read your spark plugs, they will tell you how your engine is tuned, among other things. Also when tuning your bike also consider ambient temp., gas octane rating, engine timing, and what altitude you are riding in. Down here in the summer time you need high octane, and in the winter you can use a lower octane rating. In higher elevations, like in Sturges, use lower octane. You are wasting you money buying high octane gas in that elevation, plus your bike may run worse. I'm running a high compression engine and in temp. under 65 deg. F. I will run 87 octane gas. Above 65 deg. F. I run high octane. You just need to play with different octane ratings at different temps. to find what combinations run the best for you. Have fun and ride it like you stole it.
David Helms
D & B Performance Cycles
281-391-6767
dom wrote: > At present when I hit about 3000pm that is about all the acceleration > I get. The book says don't go past 5000, but I think if I twisted till 5000 > the engine would be screaming for me stop. There is no real acceleration > past 3000 anyway,,, why does the owners manual say 5000 ??
Mechanical limitations of valvetrain float, also keeps piston speed down for a long life engine. Honestly, if your bike flattens out at 3Krpm, there is something wrong with the bike, maybe the carb mods, like a torn diaphragm or incorrect main jet. You should be able to pull up to the redline.
> Andrews ev27 cam > Andrews pushrods > Se ignition > Vance & hines longshot pipes > > The top 3 should improve my performance (more acceleration, quicker at the > stop lights,,,) as well as the pipes give me the sound I'm looking for.(I > want an improvement over the se slip ons)
Cam choice just comes down to matching the personality of the cam to your own driving personality, how you ride your bike.
My professional preference is the SE-4 and S&S chromoly pushrods. 2 into 1 header systems. (mine is a thunderheader) Each to his own, I'm sure your buddies have read all the latest magazines and know what's best. Unless of course, they're determined to stay in front of you (hehe) maybe you should seek professional help so you can stay in -front- of them!
HogDr
From preacher@home.in.Ca Fri Dec 11 17:51:53 1998 Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles.harley,alt.motorcycles.harley Subject: Re: adjustable pushrod From: Preacher <preacher@home.in.Ca> Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:51:53 -0800 -------- Mark Foster wrote: > > Mat Krupuk (matkrupuk@hotmail.com) wrote: > : just bought FLH and come with adjustable pushrod. Need info how to adjust it > : . Any comment or info related site is very much appreciated. > > I recommend you buy the Factory Shop Manual ($35 or so) and then you'll > be able to do whatever you want. Their explanantion on pushrod adjustment > is clearly done & easy to follow. >
Yeah, it says:
"put the purple one in the rear exhaust"
"put the blue on in the rear intake"
"put the yellow one in the front intake"
"put the green one in the front exhaust"
Since they (Evo's) didn't come with adjustable pushrods, the factory manual don't tell you SHIT about adjustable pushrods!
If you have for different length pushrods (like my S&S units) it goes like this:
(from shortest to longest rod)
Shortest goes in rear intake (equal to the Blue OEM rod)
Next shortest goes in front intake (same as Yellow)
Next shortest goes in rear exhaust (same as Purple)
Longest goes in front exhaust (same as Green)
As far as how many turns you want to adjust them to, it depends on the thread pitch. What you're trying to accomplish is to get the lifter plunger in the middle of it's range of travel. (actually just on the high side of it) Most lifters have about .200" travel so you want to make the pushrod .100" longer then it is with zero lash. What I've always done is, bring the cam lobe to it's lowest point (on base circle) and run the pushrod adjuster out to where there is zero lash (no play), then count the number of FLATS (flat sides of the adjuster nut) it takes to SLOWLY run the lifter through it's *total* range of travel. Then just back it off half the number of flats it took to fully compress it. (if it took 44 flats to go through the travel, 22 flats back out will be half way up) Then just bring the others out to zero lash and turn them 22 flats in or "longer". (22 is a hypothetical number, for discussions sake only!!!)
CAUTION: if the lifters have had oil in them turn the adjuster one turn (6 flats) at a time and then allow it to bleed off pressure (about 5 minutes of sitting) before continuing with the next "compression" cycle. You'll know when it's bled off because you will be able to spin it with your fingers. You will know when you reached the bottom of the lifter travel because it will no longer "bleed off" and spin, no matter how long it sits. At this point the valve is being held open and if you continue much past this point you COULD cause damage. DO NOT TURN THE ENGINE OVER WITH THE VALVES HELD OPEN!!
If you know the thread pitch on the adjusters you can easily calculate how many turns of the adjuster is .100". For instance, if you have 29 threads per inch (TPI) then 2.9 turns will be one tenth (.100" ) of an inch. If you have 32 tpi, then 3.2 turns will be .100". If you have 40 tpi, 4.0 turns will be .100". etc.
You can either use a thread pitch gauge or get a rule and count how many threads are in one inch of thread. Preacher
From ppollard@sprynet.com Mon Dec 14 11:23:18 1998 To: allen-1@pobox.com Subject: Re: adjustable pushrod From: ppollard@sprynet.com Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 08:23:18 -0800
--------
Another thing. Ironically enough, a couple of days after writing that article to RMH I was reading through a JIMS mini-catalog. On page 2 at the bottom it has a article that pertains to what I wrote. It's damn near identical to what I wrote but in a step by step format. It has some good info. in it and can add a couple of things to what I wrote. I'll quote the whole article and you can pick and choose which parts you want to include, if any. The part at the very end (the two charts) is
pretty good stuff. It's a couple of small charts that have threads per inch (tpi) of some of the more popular pushrods and actual travel for X number of flats on X pushrod, etc. Here it is, check it out: (note: it sounds like their procedure is for adjusting NEW lifters)
TAPPET TECH
Hydraulic Adjustments
For EVO Tappets
1. These tappets will work best in JIMS® EVO tappet blocks with a running clearance of .0007" to .0012".
2. JIMS® Powerglide™ Tappets can also be run in H-D® blocks, with excellent performance results.
3. JIMS® Powerglide™ Tappets are assembled with a small amount of oil to ease in the adjustment.
4. If the pushrods you are using are adjustable, proceed as follows.
5. With the Powerglide™ Tappet installed, start with the front tappet at the lowest point on
the cam and extend the pushrod to zero lash (no up and down play, but has a light spin).
6. Extend the pushrod adjuster the proper amount of wrench flats, see chart below. Note: Tighten lock nut. IMPORTANT NOTE: This adjustment will make the pushrod tight, which will bleed the hydraulic lifter, It can take 5-15 minutes, or longer, to bleed off. It is very important that the engine is not rotated while the pushrods are tight. The pushrod will spin with your fingers after the tappet has bled off.
7.
Recheck lock nut, close covers and install clips.
8. Repeat exact procedure on rear set.
9. Turn motor over several times until oil pumps into Powerglide tappets, until the oil light goes out, or until oil is returning to the oil tank.
(Chart 1)
Threads Wrench Total Travel Distance Distance per inch Flats Distance Per Turn Per Flat 24 15 .1042" .0417" .0069" 28 17 .1011" .0357" .0059" 32 18 .0937" .0313" .0052" 36 21 .0965" .0275" .0045" 40 24 .100" .025" .0042" 52 30 .0962" .0192" .0032"
(Chart 2)
POPULAR PUSHRODS
Pushrod Thread/inch
Andrews® 28
Andrews® 32
Crane® (New Time Saver) 28
Crane® (Old Time Saver) 24
Crane® 32
H-D® 32
H-D Screaming Eagle® 32
JIMS® Worksavers Evo 24
Slim-JIMS® Pan/Shovel 32
S&S® 32
RevTech® 36
Rivera® Taperlite 40
Have fun and I hope this helps you out.
Take it easy ,
Preacher (aka Phill Pollard)
spike wrote: > > Previously I followed the helpful Harley Worshop Manual and removed > the primary drive case etc. etc. Gee that gasket is expensive. The > solenoid is chucking the starter gear in to engage the clutch cog, > but there's no drive getting to it. I found that the starter > clutch-thingy in the motor gearbox was all gooked up with grease and > shit and a good clean-up seemed to fix the problem. This was just > before Christmas. Been riding a bit since then but not enough to gook > it up again.
The problem is that the sprag rollers get a flat spot and start skating on the shaft surface rather than grabbing it. That's a lot of R&R time and effort to just clean it up and hope for the best.
> Last time I did this I noticed a splined coupling between starter > gearbox and the primary, so I wonder if anybody here has removed the > starter motor without taking the primary cover off?
No can do. The jackshaft bolt runs right up through the reduction gear output shaft, and the bolts to dismantle the gearbox are facing the primary, can't get to them. Too bad they don't put a plug or something in the outer primary to get at the jackshaft bolt!
> Do ya reckon I'm gonna need a new starter clutch or is there a fix?
Yup. Time for a new bendix. It's been a problem lately, especially with the advent of all these maintenance free batteries. Funny, more than half of the bendices I've replaced have been heritage springer softails. Coincidence? Hmmm.
> The fault-finder in the manual gives the great advice 'replace starter
> clutch', but this kinda annoys the engineer in me.
Bugs the hell out of me too, can't explain it. Lots of theories, no proof.
Hog Dr