Rebuild vs refresh

[Tattooo]

Started stripping the bike down for pulling the motor and found some hacked wiring. Clean up should be fun, I may try and use the factory harness as a backbone and clean up the connections I will keep. [ATTACH=CONFIG]107112[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]107113[/ATTACH]

Man that is some fucked up wiring you have there..... You really need to get rid of all of those butt connectors and get some shrink wrap and solder them all.

[Cramer]

Man that is some fucked up wiring you have there..... You really need to get rid of all of those butt connectors and get some shrink wrap and solder them all.

Yeah man. It’s ugly. There’s no way I want to have an issue and be sitting in the side of the road wondering which one of those pulled loose.

[farmall]

Avoid Chinesium harness kits and switchgear.

Simplified wiring harnesses are easy to build from quality components and not expensive.

[Fetch]

I kinda loo at what you going to do with the bike. If it's tight and makes decent compression I'm in favor of cleaning up the obvious problems and running it. Oil is cheap, and in few thousand miles , you'll know if you want to dump more money into it or not.

[Cramer]

I kinda loo at what you going to do with the bike. If it's tight and makes decent compression I'm in favor of cleaning up the obvious problems and running it. Oil is cheap, and in few thousand miles , you'll know if you want to dump more money into it or not.

I checked compression and I get 115 psi on each cylinder. I am going to pull it apart, clean it all up and look for any issues, maybe knock the glaze of the walls/fresh rings? Replace gaskets and run it. My goal is to get the leaks lessened, clean the wiring up, and take care of some other cosmetics (Flakey fender struts, mismatch controls, clean up the bars, etc) and get a season of riding on it before I do anything crazy.

That's also without knowing what I will find when I pull the heads.

I am trying to figure out if I want to pull the lid on the trans while I am in there. It shifts through the gears, didn't know if I would be able to see anything to be aware of, either way it will get fresh fluid.

[DoomBuggy]

If it shifts smoothly, I would be more interested in what is in the oil before I would pop the top,

[Cramer]

Finally started tear down. First thing I notice is each of the castings the rockers ride in seem different. 2 of them look like the rocker is wearing into the housing, but there is not any noticeable slack or play.

Then I pulled the rear jug. Seems like a lot of carbon on the valves and piston. Walls aren’t scored and there isn’t a ridge at the top just a line where the carbon starts, but there isn’t any cross hatching.

[JBinNC]

That little bit of crumbly look or chipping in the rocker boxes is totally normal. It is a vestige of the original factory machining and it is seen all the time. Everything else also looks normal for a shovel with miles on it. That's not even a lot of carbon (and oil residue) buildup compared to many shovels I have seen.

Carry on.

Jim

[Cramer]

Pulled the front head and jugs this evening. Front combustion chamber is less oily than rear?

I also noticed the head gasket on the front has a tear that corresponds with what at first looked like a crappy previous repair on the oil port, but it’s on both jug and head so what would cause that?


Front wall had what looks like
scoring but I can’t feel it with a finger nail.


Found S&S .040 pistons in there and the flywheel is marked 2006. So I am assuming there was a rebuild around then.

Now the question is, how much can I get away with? Just deglazing the walls and fresh rings? The oil leak at the front head gasket seems to be from that port, not the cylinder so have that repaired, which would require machining the head and jug faces? What to do with the heads?

[JBinNC]

You have more oil in the rear head, was that leaking into the chamber from the oil return (which is common)? The front head looks much better. I'm not sure about the front cylinder though, it almost looks like the piston may be galled on its rear thrust surface. Of course you will have to remove the cylinders and inspect.

You can hone the cylinders and rering, if the resulting skirt clearance is acceptable. But a good adjustable hone is best, rather than deglazing with a spring hone or ball hone. A good hone will make the cylinder round and straight again, and it is well worth having this done by someone with the proper tool. I will always gladly give up a half thou of skirt clearance for a straighter, rounder cylinder with a good finish.

As for the heads, you can drop hundreds of dollars on having them serviced, but if the guides are good, a decent 3 or 4 angle valve seat cut and facing the valves might only set you back a few hundred. The guides are the key to a decent head, for any of the H-D twins.

Jim

[JBinNC]

What is the serial number on the flywheel? That will tell you the stroke. With the dual plug heads, this is obviously not a "stock" motor. (Or was this covered earlier?)

Jim

[Cramer]

The only number I can find is on the crank, “#6500 H.C.W.”. Also, should I worry about that oil port on the front head?

[Cramer]

You have more oil in the rear head, was that leaking into the chamber from the oil return (which is common)? The front head looks much better. I'm not sure about the front cylinder though, it almost looks like the piston may be galled on its rear thrust surface. Of course you will have to remove the cylinders and inspect.

You can hone the cylinders and rering, if the resulting skirt clearance is acceptable. But a good adjustable hone is best, rather than deglazing with a spring hone or ball hone. A good hone will make the cylinder round and straight again, and it is well worth having this done by someone with the proper tool. I will always gladly give up a half thou of skirt clearance for a straighter, rounder cylinder with a good finish.

As for the heads, you can drop hundreds of dollars on having them serviced, but if the guides are good, a decent 3 or 4 angle valve seat cut and facing the valves might only set you back a few hundred. The guides are the key to a decent head, for any of the H-D twins.

Jim

I don’t see any noticeable galling on the front piston.

There is a local guy that I can take the cylinders too for honing, and he could also take care of my valves. I am wanting to do as much as I can on my own as much for the learning experience as well as budget, but spending a few hundred for the peace of mind would be worth it.

[JBinNC]

Yeah, that piston looks good, normal wear pattern, but some scratches from debris.

Jim

[Cramer]

I will also have to make a gasket for these shims, any suggestion on material?