1974 XLCH Resto-mod

[farmall]

All I see is pluses right now. Are there any legitimate reasons to abandon this design?

Not unless replacing with blade style breakers for slightly less bulk. I'd rather have the original style so I use those. The other day I had a weak breaker and got home by putting both eyelets on one post (obviously that bypasses the breaker so be SURE the issue isn't a dead short first!).

I always prefer breakers where practical.

Which type and grade do you recommend for this application?

My Cratex lost their labels due to age. Mine are 1/2" diameter round, medium grit by their color.

[RedHerring]

In the spirit of chopping, I've begun shortening the Mustang seat to a solo... looks like I'll have just enough material to rivet to the new back edge once I cut the steel.

[RedHerring]

Initial cutting and fitment results of the now solo seat are shaping up to what I'm after here. I still need to trim some more of the steel pan and rivet the material down...

[RedHerring]

The corrosion holocaust. I won't show step by step how I am eliminating corrosion and bringing the parts up to a shine. Most people have their own process anyway. Here's a pic to show what I'm dealing with. This is after working up to 600 grit wet sanding.l
The top portion is partially polished, the lower portion is corroded. Sorry for the dark picture, I've been working on the bike in the mornings and evenings when the sun is low and Temps are a bit cooler.

[RedHerring]

Mocked up the risers, bars, and controls to see where I need to drill the bars for wiring. I put all new switches in the controls- turn signals, high/low, front brake switch.
I might throw the rear fender on to get a feel of whether I'm going to flatten the seat back or keep the kick up. Then I can finish that...

[RedHerring]

Small update today. I decided to break off from the wiring aspect and dig further into the engine.
I got the trans pulled out and inspected. Everything looks good here. The shift shaft is nice and straight, not bent like some are. I'm not super familiar with these transmissions, but the teeth and dogs aren't worn or chipped and engagement is solid.

I did a fair amount of cleaning and flushing the old black oil out of the bottom end in preparation of splitting the cases to fix any leakage there. The whole bottom of the split line had been slathered with JB Weld, so I don't even need to question that it was leaking. I got all of that shit off of there without an ounce of patience. Good riddance. I'm going to use Three Bond as the sealant.

[RedHerring]

Kind of out of order, but I work on the bike mostly in the darker hours. Here's what I thought was the finished product of hand sanding and polishing some of the pieces. I'm not totally happy with them so I foresee more early mornings and getting Mothers all over me.
Still looking for a badge plate for the primary cover.

[RedHerring]

Wiring goes through the back bone
Out through the neck
And into the bars.

[RedHerring]

As I ponder whether to solder the switches or find small enough crimp terminals, I will go back to polishing aluminum...

[bpeak]

I give you 10 extra bonus points for redoing all the wiring to the proper bits... and not cutting out components to make it 'custom' (i.e. less wiring to mess with). You're doin it right man. Nice work!

[RedHerring]

Haha. Thanks for those points, man. My goal is to have everything fully functional with as much wiring hidden as possible. I finally broke down and bought some polishing heads for my drill. I was trying to be a hero and do it all by hand. Man, as much as I wanted to claim the glory, it just wasn't going to happen anytime this year. I think I'm going to mock the bottom end of the engine back into the frame and start building some hard lines for the oil system. I hope all is good with your build. Cheers!!!

[RedHerring]

Words cannot express the disdain that I feel towards the factory front brake switch that screws into the front brake housing. After breaking my third one, I have decided that I am going to plumb in a hydraulic actuated pressure switch that hides behind the headlight.

[RedHerring]

As mentioned before, I hate the stock harley front brake switch on these bikes. It's a decent design, but the products available are piss-poor at best. I read about others plumbing in a hydraulic switch and I decided to explore the possibilities. This is what I came up with.
From the master cylinder

Under the triple tree

Flex point at the fork tube

Down to the caliper

I still need to fab brackets, but you get the idea.
Peace and grease.

[RedHerring]

I haven't updated this thread in quite a while. I'm back to working on the bike now that life has quit throwing lemons at me. I made this little license plate bracket that mounts with the primary bolts. It's not done yet as I still need to drill the aluminum backing plate for the tag, but you get the idea of what I'm after here.

[RedHerring]

Polished up the Borrani rims. I don't know why but I really like them, so they are gonna stick around for a while. I used Wolfgang metal sealer after polishing them over and over for what seemed like an eternity. Got them all laced up with new spokes and nipples. Still need to buy or fab a truing stand but they are good for now.