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G'day all.
Well the old girl I picked up a few months ago is proving to be a bloody nice bike. I have gone through it and taken out wiring and speakers and stereo system as I have no need for it, think I have made the bike 8kg lighter, lol .
I did all the oils and gave her a good clean, she rides and handles well.
Now for my question...I am going to replace the lifters as the bike is at 27000miles, that's all I'm doing for now. When I got the bike home (I bought this off photos only) I noticed the heads have polished alloy around the plug region and around the base of the cylinders, plus the heads are jugs are gloss black.....do you think these could be after market? Or just cleaned up? P.O has no idea ....cheers.
The heads and cylinders might have been wrinkle black, or unpainted depending on the model bike (FLHS would have been unpainted engine and transmission, polished aluminum rocker boxes, primary cover, timing cover).
Lifters are a good idea, the first generation evo lifters had a reputation of failed needle bearings in the rollers.
Also keep in mind the 5 speed bikes before mid `94 had the old configuration transmission sprocket and associated hardware, they were known to come loose.
Cheers mate.
Yeah she's a FLHTCU so the heads and just were wrinkle black, so the gloss black and polished airea's have me baffled.
I know about the clutch and gearbox shaft, might update that when i do cam etc next year or when it needs it.
Hey Aussie...
I would guess that there has been some polishing work done on the top of the heads and the base of the cylinders. I worked at a chrome and polishing shop years ago and it looks to me like something has been done there. Heads and cylinders removed, hard to tell from the pics. Or maybe the guy had some very compact equipment to reach in there.
I am glad to hear of another removing the extra electrical components likely never to be used. I hate butchering these bikes [91 ultra] but.... Did your cruise work? Mine doesn't so I need to go back to the throttle lock, carpel tunnel. That means the other switch housings and perch clamps.
CB, Intercom, Radio, likely never use 'em.
It would be nice to simplify and lighten things up .
Did everything unplug nice so to be put into a box for the next guy should he want re-install?
Thanks, Frank
Yeah Frank I suspected they may have just been cleaned up, the whole bike is pretty tidy.
The cruise didnt work, It had a new blue tooth system installed and new speakers in the faring, everything un plugs pretty easy.
Just make sure you have an elec manual for your year, you need to remove your side covers....seat....tank and front of the faring, sounds like alot of work but its realy not.
I'm sure the bike feels lighter lol....but not much.
What kinda blue tooth system installed? Did they change the switch housings or somehow retain the volume controls to work?
It was wired up to use the bikes volume control etc and also a remote, pretty nice system.
I gave it to my son to put in a car he is doing up, should work ok, as long as he wires it correctly and gets diff speakers.
Truth be told, with the after market paint and polishing on the cylinders and lifter housings, would dare to guess that there was a base gasket leak, and the parts pimped when they where off to replace all the gaskets that come with a top end kit.
So on that note, and the fact that the lifter housings where removed and painted as well, would get the old lifters out to see if they are still the original factory installed units, or if they were replaced at the time of the base gasket replacements isntead.
Also, would be a good time to see if there is an after market cam in play or not if you do pull the lifter housings, since if there is, not a bad idea to replace the cam bearing it it's still the original bearing with original factory lifters still in play.
Note, pull the lifter tubes up to begin with, to make sure that someone did not replace the OEM push rods with adjustable rods during the base gasket replacements, meaning that your not going to have to pull the rocker assemblies out to pull the rods. As for nose cone, up to you if you want to pull it or not, but if you do pull just the lifter housings and see a shim on the back side of the cam telling you its an aftermarket cam with shim, would be a good idea to replace the cam bearing at the same time as the lifters in cause all are the original factory installed units. Just remember to scribe line your cam postion sensor plate before you pull it, so you don't have to screw around with re-timing it after the fact.
I would start with a compression test to see your base line and go from there.. As for the lifters, based on top end parts I'm sure they have been replaced as well.. Is anything giving you the indication that it needs to come apart? If you can post a video of how it's runs and idles that would also help to determine cam etc. What carb is on it?
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89 FLh
