I have a small dilemma.
After decades of Superglides I recently bought a 1991 Ultra. I am really starting to like it.
I have owned many special interest vehicles over the years, Mild customizing but I am a bit of a purist, never anything irreversible and always in better condition when done with them than when I received them.
Bikes get Shotguns, Foreword control, Mini apes etc......
My dilemma is, for the sake of simplicity, I would really like to sympathetically remove the CB, [never use it, don't know or care how it works], the radio [same deal] and the cruise [doesn't work]. I would retain the cruise as I do have carpal tunnel issues and usually use my throttle lock a lot. The Ultra doesn't have one, nor can you put one on the switch housings. I would have to get lower switch housing both sides.
So I was at chopper shop the other day discussing this, and he was against it, and he hacks these bikes up all the time.
I'm thinking would be blasphemy?,..... but there seems to be lots of these bikes out there in equally as good condition.
I've never had the tank off.
Is this doable with out a lot of wire cutting? And not too irreversible or should I care? I am quite good with electrical and could do some unpinning.
Thanks for any thoughts ....
Frank

 

It's a fine bike, I've owned my '94 for 16 years and don't feel the need to upgrade. As far as parts, I've had good luck sourcing parts from Pinwall Cycle Salvage, they're not cheap but they are VERY good at describing parts accurately and I have never been disappointed with anything I've purchased from them. You can rewire the PTT button to be your garage door opener - works great. Enjoy your ride.

 

Thanks rizzo. It is a nice bike and I agree with you, can't see a need to upgrade, I was out again today for 4 hours hiway ridin'. Stopping at towns for coffee, never exceeding 3k rpm, just under 70mph. Just right.
No one else has any thoughts? Was hoping for some feedback from someone who may have done it. Not a big deal I guess, I will probably move foreword with the 'project' over the winter then...
Frank

 

I'd say you can unplug the radio and CB and see if the bike retains all of its other functions. I'm unsure if the radio and CB are part of any other circuit on that machine. I will say I ditched the CB on a '98 Ultra Classic with no side effects.

 

All I can say is that on my '90, I deleted the radio without incident. Just unplugged it and pulled it out.

One of these days I'm going to get around to replacing my hand controls. I've still got the orphan radio controls sitting there doing nothing.

No idea about the CB or the cruise. One thing to note is the parts fiche actually lists a separate part number for the wiring harness, depending on cruise control.




So who knows.

My guess is you could just unplug the CB without side effects.

If this was my bike, I'd take a stab at getting the factory cruise control working. Assuming you want cruise control, that is.

The problem with cruise control on these older bikes is the mechanical speedometer. All the newer and aftermarket cruise units rely on the transmission mounted speed sensor that your bike doesn't have.

Do you have the FSM and if so, does it have a troubleshooting guide for the cruise? (My manual is at home and I've never looked.) The way I see it, there are four components to the cruise system: The cruise module, the servo motor, the reed switch on the speedometer, and all the wires that connect everything together. The problem has to be one of those, right? Maybe I'm talking out of my ***, but this seems like it should be a reasonably straightforward troubleshooting problem.

Anyway, just some thoughts. Good luck!

 

On the cruise I believe there are 7 interrupts that will disengage the cruise. The FSM for my '94 has a very detailed diagnostic section to test each cruise function. It was helpful when mine was disengaging intermittently for no apparent reason. Never really found a failed component or connection but when I strapped the harness to the frame securely my issues stopped. I suspect I have a fatigued wire somewhere with broken strands that was causing the issue when it would flex.

 

Thanks fellas.
I would use the cruise and I do have a service manual cd that does list the trouble shooting sequences so I did plan to give it a quick go before removal. I am sure that the major components of the cruise control system are likely NLA or expensive as heck.
Thanks for the comments ....

 

Like you, I'm a purist and tend to keep my older bikes close to stock with a few change outs here and there. If I had the bike, I'd keep everything hooked up and at least working, even if I don't use it. I don't see what you'd be gaining by removing the CB/radio. Just my two cents.

 

I'm just thinking of simplifying things. I know I'm gonna have to work on this old girl and don't wanna have to work around things that are needlessly in the way.
Thanks Paint ...