I’m a Novice HD wrench needs a little diag help.

Digging out my first bike that was built by a shop called basketcase. It’s a ‘84 fxwg with a 88 evo and has ‘80 ish FL tin.

When I put her away the starter would drag real bad, that was about 10 years ago. Pulled her out recently and tried to jump it and can’t even get 1 engine revolution. The engine is not siezed cause I was able to get it to spin when trying to push start it.

I work on cars all the time, not so much on my bikes but I want to start. I don’t even really know what the starter/selnoid looks like just followed the bat cable and tried to jump it from what I thought was the right posts.

Any decent videos/ books / advice on where to start would be super helpful if you guys have them.

In the mean time I’ll be draining the tank and cleaning the carb. Gas didn’t smell as bad as I thought, maybe I’ll get lucky, it’s an S&S carb.

 

take the plugs out and try the starter then.......see what happens.

 

Don`t spin it with the plugs out, unless you have a wrench handy to disconnect the battery cable, when the starter won`t stop cranking...These old type starter systems can run on sometimes, which can be very exciting, and expensive.

The battery is 10 years old, don`t even mess with it.

Forget the jumper cables, if you want to get the bike running, buy a new battery.

Clean all the cable connection points.

You`re on the right track cleaning the tank and carb.

Don`t add any oil to the tank, the level will be low because the oil has run down to the crankcase, there will be plenty of oil down there...

Put a pan underneath the crankcase breather hose because it is going to barf some oil out the breather.

 

Get your self a Factory Service Manual, they have a trouble shooting guide. Battery is a door stop, move on from that for sure.

 

Thanks for the replies, simple stuff like pulling the plugs and pulling a batt cable makes a difference and is the basic stuff I constantly overlook!


Here is a pic of the “barn find”
https://photos.app.goo.gl/G6vRzPTJ9hgThdRA7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TPZHpkYYYGTTTnZu5

https://photos.app.goo.gl/XYsy8mnZNfoqo7nd6


forgot to mention it has a 5 speed in 4 speed case as well.

In the past I had spoke to a few people who said a 88 EVO in a 84 FX frame (fxwg) wouldn’t fit. This for sure fits but pretty sure getting the heads off in the frame is the problem. Any other known issues with this mutt combo I might run into?

 

That's a nice looking bike, and the guys at Basketcase really do what their name says. These are the steps that I would take if I were to pull out a bike that sat for ten year.

Dump the gas, clean the carb, recharge or new battery, check that you have oil, and most of it will be at the bottom of the case, check all wiring connections, check if critters got into the pipes, put some fogging oil in the cylinder and spin them over (without gas). Then, I would proceed to check for spark from the sparkplugs. If you at least have spark, compression, and fresh gas delivered, the baby should start given non of the components have gone bad. Oh, what ignition are you running? Also, was it running when you put it up? Sounds like a great bike to get back on the road.

 

You need to stop speaking to whoever told you the 88 engine wouldn't fit!!!!
Any EVO motor will fit into any EVO frame.

 

I wouldn't dispute that for a minute! I thought 84 had both evo and shovels, not sure what this bike/frame would have come with.
And not that is matter but I guess I need a little help figuring out what this frame is. I just looked up the vin and I didn't get what I wanted out of it.

Here is a pic of the vin on the frame
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QksuoT65cHnbjA99A

I used the following site and it's telling me the model is designated as BH, which is FXST, year is a E which is 1984 and the engine as a 1 which is a 1450... not so much!
https://www.tabperformance.com/harle...uide-s/224.htm

Keep in mind I bought the bike in 1993.

Here is the engine case ID, I'll look those up later
https://photos.app.goo.gl/3LKL9SnYS1CqmG4U7

 

The bike was running when I put it away. Glad you asked about the ignition as I remember it would only fire on one cylinder from time to time and was really annoying. I replaced the coil with a chinessium piece but that didn't help so I think I need to figure that out as well. Taking tips for what to buy here as well, I do remember I put a single fire ignition on it when I did some engine work to it.

Basketcase was on the route 1 bypass in Portsmouth NH in the late 80's and into the 90's. Dude named Chuck owned it, the place was amazing, there wasn't a piece you couldn't find. It was also a hellatious dump that only Chuck could navigate. I basically wanted a bike on the cheap and walked in to see what we could build, 3 hours later we had yarded out enough parts that looked to be a bike from the basement and attic. The engine was the only piece on the first floor and it had arrived about 2 weeks before I got there and had been banged up in an accident. The result was basically this bike, pretty sure I have owned the bike since 1993, it was my first Harley.

 

Dug into it a bit today.

The tanks are UGLY, worse than I thought...... gonna need to get after those a bit to get them clean enough.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/R4mE1JnNSWxcmVUa9


I also learned a crap load about how the starter works. did not realize the noid pulled the starter drive on to the ring. The other suprize was that the starter motor turns a starter drive and is not directly involved in the party...I had heard the term jackshaft before but really didn't understand it. Is the entire starter drive refereed to as a jackshaft or is it just the portion that engages the starter ring? I told you I was a newbie!

Anyway I found the jackshaft to be a little galled up, thinking that happened a long time ago and I'm hoping the 2 spacers I found limit the travel of the enough to keep it away from the starter ring gears. You can see the galling here.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZdFGD9xQpZhQaFPd9
** I replaced the outer primary a long time ago and didn't notice the galling but I did notice there was 2 spacers... never knew why.

I was also able to validate the engine turned over. I'm sure someone is going to tell me I'm nuts for doing this the way I did but it helped me figure a few things out. It also shows the noid being a dink and sticking.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/M9GJ9FoRwzV69YUs8

Also looks like I'm missing a nut on the starter drive which bolts to the inner primary, feels like it's on there solid but I'll get a nut on it just because.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RQkes6bpe6XgjCpc8

This is the starter, I replaced it when I did some engine work. The engine is 10.1:1 compression so I thought a stock starter would spin it no problem, maybe I should upgrade this as well?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/WbiHsCvDLzo7Wwp9A

Also wondering if there is something I need to look at with the jack shaft like is over extending causing additional drag on the starter or is there a gear wearing out in there that is causing a problem? Clearly the noid needs help and will get it but while I'm in there I figure I'll chase what I can.