Took off the primary cover and that screw falls out. The tensioner assembly was hanging on by a few threads on the lower screw only.

This was only one of the "issues" I found. Figured I really couldn't trust the bike so I took it apart. Here is where I'm at.....

78 Shovel

The next victim is here.

The other morning this 1978 FXS was on c-list.

Now the old girl is in my garage. She's filthy, she's old and been ragged on. She looks like she was ridden hard and put away wet more than once. The front brake doesn't work, paint is peeling, chrome is flaking and there are oil leaks; but she runs and rides just fine.

I have no idea where I am going with this old bird......for now probably leaving it alone and riding it the way it sits.

 

Cut the cam cover

More cutting and grinding. This time the cam cover got trimmed down. It really changes the look of the sportster engine/trans combo.

more cutting

 More cutting.....cut the sprocket cover in half. Very easy to do. Drill some holes from the back side and basically play connect the dots with the cut off wheel. Then grind it smooth. Take care though....you only get one shot at this.

Cutting stuff up

 The rear fender got cut in half. I probably should have cut a little less off but its all good.

 Cut the ends off of the struts. We won't be needing them anymore.

 This stuff goes in the garbage.

883 coming apart

I got the 883 to the garage and started pulling the bike apart.

Plans were to re-use the tank that was on it, lose the front fender and cut the rear fender.

91 883 Bobber project

Here's another bike that I have in the garage.....its a 1991 Harley Davidson Sportster 883. I wanted to build a cool looking bike that wasn't gonna break my wallet. I figured an evo sportster was the cheapest, most reliable platform I was gonna be able to get. FWIW, I have always loved sportsters. I really like old iron heads. But, I have had a few and they can be a little needy.

I really want a Shovelhead, but I am torn between a round swing-arm cone FLH, specifically a 1971 model and an earlier flatside in a rigid frame. I was born in 71 so that's why I think about the cone shovel, but I just love the look of the earlier flatside shovels. IMHO, those are the best looking engines HD ever made. I'll keep looking. Maybe next winter.

Back the Sportster project...... I found it on craigslist looking pretty sad for too much money. Ask price was 2500.00. I was able to bargain my way to a price that I was comfortable with. After buying the bike, I sold some of stuff that I wasn't gonna be using and got back some bucks. So to start, the bike cost me a grand out of pocket. It came with an S&S Super E carb and drag pipes.

More Dyna motor work

So I got my heads back for m the porting dudes. FWIW, they look good. I could have probably buttoned up everything abd been done, except for the carb......but I forgot to get gaskets for the rocker boxes. Picked those up today.

I am still waiting for my carb.....I sent my CV to Dale at Killer Motorcycle Products for a rebuild which includes a polish and tune.

Heads are bolted up. I am using Cyco MLS head gaskets. MLS...Multi Layer Steel. The process for torqueing the heads with this type of gasket is a little different. The Harley FSM says to tighten the head bolts in a specific order to 14ft lbs then turn the headbolt 90degrees for the final torque setting. That works out to about 35ft lbs on the torque wrench.

The MLS gasket sequence is different.....following the same bolt pattern, you go to finger tight then to 9ft lbs, then to 14ft lbs, then to 22 ft lbs, then 35 ft lbs, then final torque to 42ft lbs.

The best advice is to follow the torque procedure specific to the head gasket by the head gasket manufacturer.

Exhaust port before and after port  work

Screamin Eagle Hi Flow oil pump

In this side by side comparison, you can really see the difference in the stock 1999 TC88 oil pump vs the Screamin Eagle pump that came with the updated cam support plate. The gerotor gears are so much bigger, HD didn't have room to machine a groove for an o-ring. Harley claims...."This kit increases the oil supply by 23% and scavenging by 50% when compared to the 99-05 Original Equipment oil pump"

SNOW

We got snow.....not the "SNOW-MEGGEDON" that the TV channels were talking about. They make such a big deal about everything.....you never know what to expect anymore.

OBI...Oak Beach Inn

The old OBI is long gone....this was a cool October morning. Just me and a few seagulls hanging out.

Bullock Hill Rd.

Small road upstate NY

Random pics from the road

I do most riding with my bud Joe....that's his Softail. These are just random pics from some riding over the summer.

FXDX going back together

As of this posting the FXDX sits like this....awaiting the return of the heads.

A few steps in the process of putting her back together...

Some new parts

Got a mess of shit for the FXDX. Over the summer I was collectiong parts to go over the top-end.

Bought a set of take piston and jugs cheap....they had less than 500 miles. Got a set of Screamin Eagle 204 cams, I have read a lot of good stuff about them and I really like the reports of the "hot rod" sound the give the twinkie motor. Screamin Eagle Hybrid Cam Support Plate and oil pump. Sent the heads out to Dan at Hammer Performance for one of his CNC port jobs (waiting for those to get back) also sent the CV carb of to Dale at Killer for a rebuild (waiting on that too)

Route 30N

Route 30N

My Dyna with Joe's Softail and Bob's FXE. Sitting on Rte.30N.

Awsome XL trike....

Really cool sportster trike I saw on c-list....wish I had 6,000.00 to waste on this.

more 40K mile parts

The cams lost there hardening....look at the lobes

I had the old spring loaded tensioners in there....replaced these at 36K with Cyco tensioners

FXDX engine refreshen-upper

This is what the TC88 factory piston and jug combo looks like after alomst 40K miles.

Not too bad, Plenty of glazing but I can still see cross-hatching in the cylinder walls. The pistons themselves have plenty of wear on the thrust surfaces.

The compression ring gap measured in at .026 the FSM (factory service manual) says it should be between .007-.020.

1999 FXDX

Last year I bought a 1999 Dyna FXDX. It was cheap and I was planning on flipping it. After spending some time and a little money, I decided to keep her.

  This how she looked after I was done.

Put a bunch of miles on her over the summer and when the snow started falling this Dec, I had about 39K on the clock and decided to do some work to the engine.

First post

I hate winter! Sitting here waiting for the "Blizzard of 2015" to steamroll us. Calling for 2-3ft of snow! The snow is just starting......

I am gonna be blasting outs posts in the coming days and weeks cause winter sucks and there is nothing to do.