I'm getting ready to time my 82 sporty with a timing light. I have the clear plug, so I don't get oil in my eye, and I just changed the oil so it will be a little easier to see my timing mark. My question is what marks are on the flywheel on the 82? I can't remember if its the up and down line or the dot or the side ways 8. Thanks Guys

 

I think I got it. The dot is #1 TDC and the up and down line is 35 degrees before TDC #1 cyclinder.

 

I think I have it back works. up and down line is TDC and the dot is 35 degrees before TDC?

 

You cannot trust anything that you read or really anything anyone tells you what your marks are. The reason is that, unless you are the original owner, you cannot know what flywheels are in there. Most likely they are original wheels and the generally available info will be correct. But it is unwise to go that route.

What you do is ...

1. remove spark plugs
2. rear wheel off the ground
3. trans in 4th gear
4. rotate the engine using the rear wheel
5. place a straw into the front cylinder thru the spark plug hole and watch it move up/down as you rotate the wheel
6. when the straw is up at its highest point that piston is at TDC
7. look in the spark plug hole to see the mark

Note 1: do not use a pencil, pen, etc, anything that will get stuck in there or break

Note 2: watch the straw carefully so that you do not lose it in the cylinder; perhaps run a needle & thread thru the top of it to aid in retrieval

Note 3: it does not matter for this if it is on compression or exhaust stroke

Note 4: rotate the wheel forward only; if you go too far go all the way around again

 

with out knowing what ignition you have it is almost impossable to direct you

mick is correct about locating TDC but you set timing on the 35 degree mark

as mick explained about TDC then use an air blower and blow air into the rear cylinder if the rear wheel moves right away your were TDC rear cylinder on its compression stroke - rotate the motor around again and watch the timing hole around a 1/2 a wheel movement before TDC will be the 35 Degree mark - chalk works for this on the tire

 

I just did what Mick said and the up and down line is TDC and the dot is 35? degrees before TDC. The lazy 8 must be TDC on the rear?

 

Correct, except that the lazy 8 is the rear cylinder advance timing mark. You do not need to use this mark for anything.

EDIT: I think the front cylinder advance timing mark is 40` not 35?

 

+1. If you've still got the stock flywheels, the up/down line is TDC for the front cylinder, the single dot is 40 degrees advanced for the front cylinder, and the lazy 8 is 40 degrees advanced for the rear cylinder.

 

hey Yellowstone Kelly, on your 82 are you still running stock carb, and if so do you know what the stock jets are in the Keihin carb? My bike has 2" drags on it. Do you think those are a little large? I have some baffles laying around I might try to put in them, and rejet it,

 

Yeah, I'm still running the stock original carb on my bike. Other than dropping the float bowl, I've never had it apart, so I'm sure it has the original stock jets in it. The FSM says the stock jets are:

Main jet: No, 160
Slow jet: No. 68

Regarding the drags, I have no direct experience with them. But from what I read on this and other forums, 2 inch drags might be too large for an Ironhead. And from what i read, baffles or lollipops in the drags will help eliminate the mid-range power dip that straight drags cause. Again, I have no experience with that either. Maybe Mick or someone else can give you more definitive info about this.

It's a little embarrassing for me to have to say that in the almost 32 years I've owned my bike, I've had to do almost nothing to it but change the oil and fill it with gas, and ride.

I did take it in for a tuneup at a local Indie shop back in the summer of 2003 before I took it to Sturgis, mostly because I was working a ton of hours at the time and didn't have time to work on it myself. About all they did to it was replace the rubber intake seals in the intake manifold and replace the spark plugs. They were pretty amazed at how well it ran. I also had them replace both tires then as well, as I was still running the original tires.

Back in 1982 when I bought the bike, the sales guy told me: "If you leave this bike the way it is, it'll run forever. It's the guys who f*ck with everything and make changes that have problems." And for my bike, he was right. I haven't changed anything, and it's been a great bike for me.