Super Street Drag Bike Build, Hammer 1275,YouTube series

[TriNortchopz]

The beginning of a Super Street Drag Bike Build!; here is episode #1:

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode One Flywheel Assembly

[TriNortchopz]

Just wondering if any of you Harley engine builders have any critiques or tips on the flywheel build process as seen in video above.

[JBinNC]

Well, I normally run the forked rod on the rear cylinder. That, and I have never assembled an S&S set out of new parts that was that far out of true to start with.
But, what do I know?

Jim

[TriNortchopz]

Well, from what you've posted, lots is the answer. Interesting about fork orientation.
I was not a fan of the bouncy technique while torquing the nuts, and guess they must be short of clean shop rags - he mentioned cleaning the parts with Brakecleen, then wipes the crankpin with a greasy rag before dropping the second wheel on. The nuts are shallow, so machining the lead-in from the socket would provide a more positive engagement - he didn't mention if he had done that.

[TriNortchopz]

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode 2
Prepare And Assemble The Bottom End

[TriNortchopz]

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode 3
Installing The Bottom End Into The Frame

[TriNortchopz]

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode 4
Oil Pump, Motor Sprocket Seal, Pinion Gear And Stator

[thecarfarmer]

Well, I normally run the forked rod on the rear cylinder. That, and I have never assembled an S&S set out of new parts that was that far out of true to start with.
But, what do I know?

Jim

Just wondering if any of you Harley engine builders have any critiques or tips on the flywheel build process as seen in video above.

I'm not a "Harley engine builder", although I have built one, as well as a bunch of other non Harley engines. And, I stayed at a Holiday Inn the other night...

That being said, one thing I've seen guys do assembling cranks is to put some dykem or Sharpie on the holes in the flywheels, and the crank tapers, Dri-Fit the parts, and give them a little bit of a twist.

That way, they get a visual if there is any kind of a burr, or any other flaws with the mating surfaces.

Another point is to check all the rollers for size. I haven't had it happened to myself, but I've heard of guys getting bags of them that weren't all the same.

Just my "home gamer" 2¢

[Dragstews]

Kinda went by the pinion to cam gear back-lash check ...
(Must be running Drag Pipes ... )



S&S Pinion Gears
Pinion gears in proven S&S quality. The color code is identical to the factory codes so they can be used as stock replacement. If the color code is unknown we recommend to order a gear in the middle size range. These sizes fit 9 out of 10 engines and provide adequate clearance under most circumstances. As a rule of thumb it is preferable to allow slightly more gear lash than too little.

Cam gear noise
While some positive backlash is necessary to prevent gear tooth overloads, excess backlash (“clicking“) may sound annoying but won´t hurt anything. To correct noisy gears use either a larger cam gear or pinion gear. Tight fitting pinion and cam gears will cause very noticeable whining as a result of running with zero backlash which is a serious problem. In this case a smaller cam gear or pinion gear is required.

[thecarfarmer]

Yeah, you don't want to put a big pinion gear on one of those bikes without checking it.

Unless you like that sewing machine sound, and don't mind a few little metal shavings in the oil...

Also, there's a gear on the cam (#2? I forget which, now...) that meshes with that pinion gear that is just a press-fit. That way, you could run a coarse tooth set of cams in a later engine with fine tooth gears, or vice versa.

I took advantage of that trick to use a cheap set of Buell cam in my Sporty. Yeah, you might find better cams than Andrews N4s - but not @ 50 bucks!

[TriNortchopz]

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode 5
Modify Cam Cover, Install Cams And Lifters

[thecarfarmer]

Super Street Drag Bike Build
Episode 5
Modify Cam Cover, Install Cams And Lifters

One thing that came to mind is l would've been interested to see what diameter of gage pin would fit in the needle bearings in the cam cover.

It sticks in my mind from somewhere that those bearings are usually sized to fit on a shaft at a certain diameter (either inch fractions or metric), and that they are usually a kinda' sloppy fit on the shafts' diameters as found on the cover side of XL cams.

Maybe I'm thinking of some arcane Ironhead trivia?

Nonetheless, they say in the video that you should only run rollers on one side of the cams... IIRC, Harley ran them on both sides of WR engines, probably a bunch of other stuff, too...

Regardless, was wondering if they had actually checked the fit on that. Because, if the clearance is correct, I don't see what it would hurt to run rollers on both sides (as long as you aren't worried about a little extra sound...)

Also, how did he keep chips out of the rollers in the case while milling the bottom of the lifter bosses?

Or did I miss something?

[JBinNC]

WRs used BALL bearings on both sides of the cams. BIG difference.

Jim

[thecarfarmer]

WRs used BALL bearings on both sides of the cams. BIG difference.

Jim

As I read your comment, I think I remember that now.

We* put one of those together in the late seventies or maybe early 80s, when I was just a kid.

*by "we", I mean my dad put it together, and I just had to clean all the stuff in the solvent tank hour after hour...

[farmall]

That being said, one thing I've seen guys do assembling cranks is to put some dykem or Sharpie on the holes in the flywheels, and the crank tapers, Dri-Fit the parts, and give them a little bit of a twist.

Standard machinist trick to check taper fit. Thick Sharpies beat brushing dye any day.