Valleyofthegun 2012 FXDB Street Bob build thread
The bad news is, I created several more hours of work for myself.
In my haste to get finished, I pinched the left side control wires between the two piece mounting bracket for the clutch lever. All four wires were shorted out.
I'm done for the night though. I tried working but no matter what I do everything seems to be working against me. I am beat. I'm going to go to sleep and I will approach it with fresh eyes and a new perspective tomorrow.
You can see where the wires got pinched. I first thought about using liquid electrical tape to fix the wires but that would be the half *** way of fixing them. I actually think im going to pull the right side back out also because the plastic conduitgot pulled down and there is three inches of wire exposed at the conteol end. Not a big deal but i might as well do it right and fix it.
Here is just a small glimpse of the aftermath of the monsson. I passed about 5 downed trees during my one mile trip to wallymart to get zip ties and hogh strength fishing line to pull the wires with.
It's hard to tell but the road is flooded almost all the way to the center line. 30 feet behind me the entire road is flooded out with about 6\" of water. It doesn't rain often in AZ but during monsoon the street can go from being totally dry to being covered with 12" some times 24" of rain in a matter of minutes.
Last edited by Valleyofthegun; Jul 12, 2018 at 02:24 AM.
It was so hot and humid that at around 10pm I started throwing up. Despite being sick, the horrendous amount mosquitoes and other bugs I got it done.
I found out the shorted out wires were not totally all my fault. The exit holes were either not extended out towards the bar ends far enough or the grips were not long enough. I ended up having to break out the Dremel and a grinding stone and extending the holes so the front brake and clutch clamp wouldn't pinch the control wires.
I am so happy to finally be done with the front end portion. I literally took the bars on and off 5 times. I totally disassembled hand control.housings, the throttle, the hand levers at least 8 times.
My fresh new paint and powdercoat doesn't look all that fresh any more. I think after I wash the bike and Polish the paint it will look much better.
I have also heard that most powder coat manufacturers make matching touch up paints, so I am going to look into that to touch up some minor scrathes.
Here is the where i had to extend the bar hole outwards so the clutch clamp wouldnt pinch the wires again and short them out. The elongated hole looks like crap but it did the trick. Plus, the entire hole is covered by the hand controls so the only time the hole can be seen is if the hand controls are removed.
Last edited by Valleyofthegun; Jul 13, 2018 at 03:40 AM.
Yes sir, been rehydrating all day.
I got my 10$ swap meet mirrors on. I know now why they were only 10$. The first few threads on the left mirror were stripped out. I had to remove the two flat washers to get the threads in deep enough to grab. Still got a lock washer so it should hold.
Going for my first real ride tonight. Just got to position my headlight so I am not blinding others on the road. Then do a fluid and tire pressure check and I'm off.
Wide glide is what, only and an inch wider than mid glide? That one inch makes a huge difference.
Next up is exchanging tanks. I am not sure how a yellow with black flamed tank is going to look but i will be finding out soon.
My bikes good side!
Last edited by Valleyofthegun; Jul 13, 2018 at 07:30 PM.
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
Can i.recheck and possibly tighten a nut or bolt if blue locktite was added and long since dried?
I don't plan on loosening anything I just want to.recheck torque specs to make sure I didn't miss anything.
After a minute of riding I realized the swap meet mirrors i.picked up are useless. The lenses.are plastic and a bit dull. I also couldn't get them.set to where I could see cars approaching from behind in.the right or left lane. It's the first time I tried running the mirrors underneath the bars. I think they look better underneath but I'm wondering if doing so severely restricts your range of veiw..
Have any of you folks ran mirrors underneath and got good results?
Also, not having turn signals was sketching me out. Actually it was the combo of no mirrors and no turn signals. I was constantly twisting my head to make sure the cars behind me saw my hand signals and to make sure that I wasn't going to get plowed from behind while stopped at red lights. Luckily both are only temporary issues.
Last edited by Valleyofthegun; Jul 14, 2018 at 05:43 AM.
The bike definitely ain't making things easy for me. It's like the bike is making me prove my commitment and dedication to her before she is going to properly work for me and let me ride her.
I go to get my turn signals working today and everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
My left turn signal and running light has always worked. I first thought that a lack of resistance from there being no other turn signals was causing it to not work. That wasn't the case. The wires on the left got tore up some how.
Between both turn signals and all the many issues I ran into, I am quickly going from knowing very little about my bikes electrical system, to knowing it quite well. It was another 12 hour day but I finally got both rear signals properly working.
I plan on replacing the rear brake light and turn signals with a light bar in the future. The upside is, it will be a breeze when the time comes because I now know exactly how the system works and where all the connectors are.
Having working rear turn signals is a huge relief. Like I said using hand signals was sketching me out. I kept having to twist my head around to see if the drivers behind me saw my hand signals. Even after me turning my head I wasn't sure.
The rear turn signals are working. I got my front turn signals ordered. Now i just have to get some decent mirrors that i can actually see with.


