My first bike. Don't even know how to ride. I passed the MSF & bought this to practice. Being an older model & given the "small" investment (considering the cost of newer models) i knew there would be mechanical issues


What was the thinking behind the tall sissy bar?



I'm not planning on a full on restorarestoration. Just make her mechanically sound & safe to ride on the road.

I'm a half decent shade tree mechanic but never worked on motorcycles, so I don't know what normal is. For instance.



Surely this is not normal. I'm going to have to find a new filter, clean the housing & try to see how much oil is passing through the air cleaner.

It's got a foot clutch & hand shifter. I'm going to change that. Eventually I'm going to put a proper NT wheel & tire on the front, but I'll be replacing the rear tire before that. That exhaust is straight pipe, if I can't find a solution to turn that down I'll be doing a full exhaust. & I'll be going back to a more stockish riser & drag bar combo.

Speaking of which, the handlebars are tight, but the bushings in the riser has some give, feels springy. Is that normal? I would have thought the bar should feel solid.

anyhoo..... so happy to be here.
Thanks be to God.

 

Maybe one of the admin guys will move this to the EVO section where you’ll get plenty of feed back. The thread you’ve started is for softails constructed after 2018… not that are more than 18 years old.

Needs a little trouble shooting, there is “some” oil that gets shot into your air cleaner.. that’s not Harley’s fault… blame the epa. But you might be running a tad rich. Yes clean and put in a new filter. K&N is good for an S&S E carb.

Bushings are because the previous rider wanted to be a hooligan with a ape hangers. Too much leverage on the risers. Just go on eBay and find any softail exhaust you like between 85-99. If you really want stock ones, they actually cost a lot, but you might find some.

I’m cheap and overly practicle.. if my goal was just to ride it but make it dependable here’s what I’d do on the cheap.. buy some cycle shack slip on mufflers from eBay and some exhaust gaskets.. once they all arrive, I’d remove your old exhaust. Take the rear pipe and with a hacksaw cut it off right before it sweeps upward. Take the rear head pipe and put duct tape over the entrance. Next, Steal your wife’s largest pitcher with measuring markings on it. Fill that rear pipe, noting how much water went into it at the end. Then dump the water out and set it aside. Take the front pipe tape up the entrance and fill it with the exact same amount of water as the rear pipe held. Once you find that level, cut the front pipe off right there. Now the two pipes are the exact same length. And I would put the slip on mufflers right onto the end with the clamps that are provided with the mufflers. Again I’m cheap. You don’t have to do it that way.

When you go to install them. Completely clean out the old gasket and clean up the pipes. You might even take a file and gently clean up any rough edges. I like to very very thinly put a little bit of high temperature red ATV in my fingers and kind of push it into the fibers of the gasket. Then, after cleaning my hands, I slide that new gasket inside the head. Next slide the pipe in place and finger tight the flange/head bolts to the head. Once both flanges are just finger tightened, I would put the mufflers on and line them up with any makeshift brackets. You want to make them nice and stiff, but Just finger tight the mufflers and brackets. Then I would line everything up and tighten the flange at the heads first. Once the exhaust flanges are tightened to the heads, Then I would tighten the brackets and mufflers. Go, gentle, don’t Force or twist anything. Don’t over tighten the flanges.

A 1999 night train would have come with a laced spoke front 21 inch wheel. So I don’t think that front rim is the original. It probably came off of either a fat boy or is aftermarket.

if you’re a new rider don’t ride it in the rain. That front tire is not good enough and you definitely want a front fender if you’re gonna be caught riding in the rain.

I would change the oil, the transmission fluid, and the primary fluid immediately. I would make sure and inspect that the brakes are in good condition. Your carburetor is probably fine, but needs adjusted.

Like you, I personally would remove the sissy bar, remove the ridiculous foot, clutch and shifter, and of course remove the ape hangers. To me those are all very poor performance items and they get in the way. But to each their own there are lots of people who enjoy riding their bikes with those features nothing wrong with that.

The 1999 night train is one of my very favorite bikes. It was the very last of the Evo softails and it was a really tough looking bike right from the factory. If you take care of it and put it in good condition, customize it so it’s right for you both for function and in aesthetic, then you’re gonna have a great bike.

I have a 93 Springer and love these bikes.

 

Dangit. .. I knew I was reading that wrong.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

Congratulation on your 1999 Night Train ride.

 

Yooo those Solid disc wheels look nice. If you black out that hubdisc, I think it'd look even better. OR if you could find a way to color match it to the forks. That dirty aluminium look, it fits with the blacked out Discs.

 

That air filter looks like a re-usable one. The red filter media color may mean it's sporting K&N filter oil. Look for any company names or part numbers on it and Goggle it/them.

If its a K&N or one like it, wash it and oil it. Then put it back in. Clean the inside of the filter housing/covers before you re-install them.

Search on YouTube for how to clean & oil & service your motorcycle air filter for 1000's of vids on how that works.

As for your bike:

Fix it, clean it, upgrade it until your happy enough to ride it. Oh, that's right now? Throw your leg over it and go.



P.S. Congratulations on your new (to you) ride.

 

I don’t think that is a k & n filter. They’re not that much money. Just buy a new one. All you have to know to order one is it’s a K&N for an S&S E.

 

Nice Ride , Enjoy

 

@BlueMurder I have moved this thread from the 2018+ Softail Models section to the EVO section as you will get better responses to your question in this section.

 

Tall sissybar=cool factor, duh.