My "nucking futs" rubbermount, efi Sporty build

i liked my bike the way it was but i have never been one to leave anything alone. after smokeout and seeing no efi, rubbermount sportsters that were hardtailed, i decided to go ahead and cut into mine. plans are pretty simple, drop seat hand made hardtail, keep the efi, keep the rubbermount. this is only my second build, my first was a cb750.....this is my first harley....

heres how she started



here is where she was at until last weekend


ready for teardown (no the nick hogan look alike is not me, its yamabobber)


15 minutes later


this is what i am worried about, this wiring is nuts, going to do as much as i can to eliminate wires i dont need and hide others in the backbone.....


here she was 1 1/2 hours later


i took the frame to an old timer who has been building hardtails since vietnam....i am using his jig and brains and he is going to do the bulk of the fab work on the tail section...then it comes back to me for the rest.

more pics to come, i usually would not do a project like this during riding season but i just went for it.

Cool.

Looking forward to seeing it progress.

stuff i took off, alot of it will end up on egay

Looks like a good start, congrats on the balls to mess with that efi bs.

cool man! CTFS!!!

nice start man, lookin forward to seein the progress!

You got inspired and busted out the wrenches. Way to go man!

nice job man, can't wait to see what you end up with.

small update, forks off and shaved lower legs. also shaving trees and both will be powder coated. was leaning toward gloss black but the powder coater said it tends to show scratches.....thinking of trying a copper looking powder coat

cool!

one tip though..
change the belt for a chain.

saves you the possibility of frame cracks..
the engine and swing arm are somewhat like one piece on blubber mounts, and the vibrations of the engine are cut off from the frame due to the engine and swingarm being mounted in rubber.

with a hardtail and belt the engine's vibrations are transfered by the belt and can wreck havoc on the frame.. (over time)

using a chain you isolate the vibrations on the engine and not transfer them to the frame..


(yeah.. i'm ready for the rant of it being bull... i know it;s not.. it's harmonics)

Originally Posted by chief

cool!

one tip though..
change the belt for a chain.

saves you the possibility of frame cracks..
the engine and swing arm are somewhat like one piece on blubber mounts, and the vibrations of the engine are cut off from the frame due to the engine and swingarm being mounted in rubber.

with a hardtail and belt the engine's vibrations are transfered by the belt and can wreck havoc on the frame.. (over time)

using a chain you isolate the vibrations on the engine and not transfer them to the frame..


(yeah.. i'm ready for the rant of it being bull... i know it;s not.. it's harmonics)

i am always open to comments etc. i already have my chain conversion stuff. but if the hardtail is done right by someone who knows what they are doing i think i belt works just fine. i know plenty of people that do it that way when they do no stretch....maybe by over time you mean 10 years...

What handle bars and rear fender did you have on before? I like them. Subscribing to join the build.

Originally Posted by chief

cool!

one tip though..
change the belt for a chain.

saves you the possibility of frame cracks..
the engine and swing arm are somewhat like one piece on blubber mounts, and the vibrations of the engine are cut off from the frame due to the engine and swingarm being mounted in rubber.

with a hardtail and belt the engine's vibrations are transfered by the belt and can wreck havoc on the frame.. (over time)

using a chain you isolate the vibrations on the engine and not transfer them to the frame..


(yeah.. i'm ready for the rant of it being bull... i know it;s not.. it's harmonics)

Why would a chain isolate the vibes and a belt transfer them?

should have pics soon but the front end is done and shaved.....i got a 21" wheel , black and laced with stainless spokes. and i got such a good deal on it i am using my 16" nightster rear hub and having it laced to a 21"....so i will be running two 21" wheels....will post pics asap

just shooting from the hip here but you leave slack in a chain drive not in a belt. could possibly transfer a substantial amount more vibration to the rear wheel (i.e. the rear of the frame) with more tension being applied to a belt than a chain. sounds plausable but not sure haven't read anything about that anywhere else as far as hardtail frames go.

A complete takeout wiring harness is like a $140 on eBay. I have a hard tailed rubber mount 1200 that I picked up cheap because of a few issues. I was able to fix a few things on the harness in the frame once I had a complete harness and the understanding of what had been done on mine. When winter rolls around I will be tearing mine down and putting the harness I cut down on. For now I just have to deal with the all black wire spiced harness mounted in the frame, running through holes that were chiseled and torch cut.
Before you ditch efi, take a few days and think about your harness. Worst case pick up a take out harness and start over. The harness work was easy enough to figure out with the factory diagram, and the harness laying on the work bench.

Originally Posted by heavytlc

A complete takeout wiring harness is like a $140 on eBay. I have a hard tailed rubber mount 1200 that I picked up cheap because of a few issues. I was able to fix a few things on the harness in the frame once I had a complete harness and the understanding of what had been done on mine. When winter rolls around I will be tearing mine down and putting the harness I cut down on. For now I just have to deal with the all black wire spiced harness mounted in the frame, running through holes that were chiseled and torch cut.
Before you ditch efi, take a few days and think about your harness. Worst case pick up a take out harness and start over. The harness work was easy enough to figure out with the factory diagram, and the harness laying on the work bench.

the harness is not the problem. i ruled that out

Oh and nice work, and bitchen build.

I might have missed it, but what did you remove from the harness that would make the computer have issues? I assume you have removed everything except the engine control/fuel management stuff. I am new to the cut down efi sportster wiring, but have had a efi swapped daily driver auto since 1994. I hope I can offer some magical cure. Not sure what issue you are having.

well, the guy who did most the wiring got it all done and for some reason the ecm was killing the ground signal to the injectors. he kept telling me, i think this bike has a secuirty system on it. and i told him it didnt. but i was wrong. i have a TSSM and not a TSM. so now i am going to get a TSM and re-learn the ecm and it will be golden. should have her up and running next weekend if parts etc come in. going to do the exhaust tomorrow. nothing fancy just to get her going for now