that's a damb good idea there LRMike

 

Thanks man. On a different mod, is there any one that has fabbed up some forward controls onto thier bike using existing hi-way pegs? I'm trying to design a cheap set and would like to get some ideas.

 

Probably most already know this. On my 1979 FXS Lowrider and 1987 FXR, and I'm assuming all other Harley's, at least later shovelheads to date, the headlights came on on both ignition switch settings. If your battery is a bit weak and you're trying to start your bike with the headlight on, you're taking away some of the power available for the starter. The switch actually has two settings built in, one to run with lights off and the other to run with lights on. There's a jumper that connects the ignition terminal of the switch to the light terminal. Just unscrew the jumper from the light terminal and double it back on to the ignition terminal. Now you have a three position switch, off-ignition on/lights off-ignition on/lights on. If you don't like it, just reconnect back to the original configuration. Just remember to turn your lights on once it's started especially if it's required in your state.

Dave

 

I've been working my butt off trying to get my old Keihin butterfly carb running right on my 1987 FXR. My budget is tight, I can't buy another carb unless I can find a good deal. One of the more difficult things to do is adjusting the idle on the bike. I don't want to carry a screwdriver with me to adjust the idle so I came up with this extended adjuster using stuff I had in the shop. I started with a 1/2" stainless steel allen head bolt about 2 inches long or so and turned down the shank till it was about .25" diameter. Then I drilled and tapped it for a 4mm - .70 thread. I red Loctited the 4mm screw in the tapped hole after I removed the head of the screw. I turned the inside of the hex for the allen wrench to fit a small coat button off of my military service jacket that I RTV'd in place just to jazz it up a bit. I'm attaching photo's of what the bolt looked like before and after I finished it (the unfinished screw is a bit shorter as I couldn't find another the same length). Works like a champ...





After changing the pilot jet and adjusting the air/fuel mixture and idle, it seems to be running better than it ever has before....it's certainly starting better.... I need some nice weather to give it a good test drive...

Dave Young

 

I can't believe I read the entire thread! Wish I had found this last fall but there are enough rainy days left this spring to try some of these excellent mods. Thanks everyone!

 

In post 861 of this thread I had posted a side plate that I had fabricated to go beneath the left side cover of my 1987 FXR. It was a temporary design as I wanted one that I could quickly remove to use as a plate under my kickstand on gravel or asphalt. Today I re-fabricated the plate.

On a bar under the side plate there is two holes drilled from factory that had plastic plugs in it. I took two ¼-20x.5” Allen head bolts and chucked them up in the lathe. I shortened the head of both as they are .25 inches thick as is the diamond plate. I also tapered the head to about 1/16” from the bottom of the head. These bolts were installed in the factory drilled holes to act as guides for the new kickstand plate. I started off with ¼ inch aluminum diamond plate, sprayed layout fluid on it and scribed the dimensions and then rough cut the plate to shape. I then put it on a milling machine and milled it to its proper dimension. Turning over I used a mill and plunge cut twice to correlate to the location of the Allen head bolts just installed. I had several ¼ inch diameter high strength magnets. I plunge cut six holes in back of the cover and epoxied the magnets in place. I tested the plate for fit and function. It's easy to pull off and it’s not going anywhere unless I pull it off. I spray painted it gloss black. After it dried, I cleaned off the raised “diamonds” on the plate for looks. I’m planning on using the plate magnet side down, with the kickstand resting only on the “diamonds” of the diamond plate. It goes without saying that I’ll probably have to paint or retouch it every once in a while.

 

that's a great idea i have been looking to change my super glide tank to low rider tank and wasn't sure what i would do with idiot lights..

 

i can't believe i spent the last 2 days at work reading this whole thread. once i started i couldn't stop. lot's of great ideas. i liked the idea of moving idiot lights off the headlight visor. i have a super glide with the dual tach speedo combo. added drags last winter and now trying to get the guages down onto tank. i think a low rider tank is what i'm leaning toward. are there other model tanks that will fit on stock tabs without mods???

 

Thanks for mentioning moving the idiot lights off the headlight visor mod. Can you tell me the post number in this thread and save me trawling?

Thanks

JohnCT

 

John, if you read the first page, Mudpuddle has an index of what is where.