Oh yeah? Go look in the Touring Section. Lol.

 

I rode my 89 FLHS yesterday, and nothing spectacular happened!! So glad for the advice here. Manual might say ... remove bolt. Well, that bolt looks unreachable!! Tips and tricks. If stuff is working, I guess you're busy riding and stuff. This bike has almost 58,000 miles. I think I'll do the cam and bearing in the spring. I'll set my spare mags up for use too.

My '85 FXRS just started some kind of random clacking noise in the primary. I'll open that soon and take a look.

 

I’m the third owner of my 98 Road King so there could be hidden repairs once made I’m un-aware of. With that disclosure stated, here’s what I do know.

I bought it for $4k with 80,000 miles on it. It was running strong.
‘All I did was a tune up, all fresh fluids, valve adjustment check, total advance timing check. I did maintain it, fluids every 2,000 - 2500 miles, kept chain and general maintenance up with **** tenacity.

I rode it in 5 months 27,000 miles

It was just starting to smoke a little, I put in straight 50 weight and the smoke was gone so more life was there.. but I pulled it all apart with like 116,000 miles.

What I found:
SE equivalent to a EV 27.. stock Cam barring, stock lifters and push rods, crank run out within spec.

So basically stock with performance cam and carb conversion. It was running for ignition the stock set up somehow. Those last 27,000 miles I put on it were torturous.

Were talking 5,500 rpm all the time, light to light burnouts and sever abuse. I was Really Hard on it. Didn’t care cause I knew I’d rebuild or replace the drivetrain just as soon as it gave up. So there’s a testament of a stock engine lasting.

Transmission was pretty good save the shifter pawl having sever excessive ware. Original suspension still hanging on and I’d be willing to bet it never got a fork oil service. Swing arm bushings show zero ware or issue.

Since then I’ve upgraded or at minimum rebuilt everything. I still ride it very hard, but I also do maintenance long long before required. Biweekly chain & belt checks, spark plug checks, all grease fittings, bolt and fastener check over, timing checks, exhaust leak examinations. I don’t think I’ve waited past 2000 miles for three hole oil replacements. I’d like to get something better for suspension, but both front and rear have been rebuilt with 15 weight up front and 10 weight in the rear shocks.

The 5 speed is now a late model tumbler, baker shifter pawl with back cut 2nd & 3rd. Upgraded calipers to late model 4 piston. Engine is now rebuilt 113 Ultima. Rivera pro clutch with variable pressure plate.

Love the bike.. trying to figure out the exhaust though… what I like doesn’t perform and anything that performs I hate the look..

 

No need to replace the inner cam bearing on an `89 Big Twin, unless there is damage, it already has a Torrington B-138 bearing.

 

Interesting, I thought it was early enough to be a good idea to change. I can do the EV13 and bearing in my 85 FXRS first then. The 89 FLHS has almost 58,000 miles. I was thinking 58,000 miles and 36 years is a good excuse to change the lifters at least and while you're in there....

The 85 FXRS has about 19,000 miles. I have the parts for 1 job.

 

Thanks for replys. Several mentioned things that hit me, negatively grabs people attention and not having a problem of some sort is not worth posting about. I guess I am not getting all this but that is fine, I will survive .
As some mentioned, I also keep bikes maintained and also try to catch a problem before it happens. Just seemed that if one follows forums and Utube advice these days, bikes are melting in the rain out there!
And no, I have not ridden my bike in the last three weeks, seems getting the bars I want means waiting for the chrome shop to get them done. Did get a EV-13 stuck in there, but now the wait for bars. (and yes I stuck a new bearing in there also) then will put tanks and exhaust back on.
I am wondering how bike will act with cam as I do like the quite stock pipes on bike? Guess I will just have to wait and see.
So all is well here, sorry no story about failures or bad oil choices, (plugs are a problem for another post) all tongue and cheek!

 

Yep. I agree whole-heartedly. I'm glad though to say my bike, once I got the lifter thing fixed, has been nothing but a joy to ride and I *never* worry about anything, except maybe a flat tire at 70 mph on a spoked rim, lol. I'd ride my sled from TN to CA and back again and not worry about a thing.

 

We rant here to clear the air. Before social media and HD forums, we would bitch to our riding buddy. But, he didn’t care. Now, with thousands of eyes we get to bitch electronically and we can post it, walk away and return a day later to see the impact. Pretty cool really.

In many of our younger days, we’d be sitting there alone, bike in parts and solving the issue over weeks. Ordering parts online, scrolling through our service manual book with tiny grainy B & W pictures that looked nothing like our bike.

Then we got early, pregoogle YouTube where people posted videos of how to do stuff. I loved that period. No ads, just some guy posting an instructional video to help others. Even, HD forums took issues seriously. Posts early on were more like talking to a rider in a roadside tavern about a common issue than ranting about the end of Harley Davidson. It’s different, I agree. HD forums is my only social media, therefore it is important enough that I have adapted to the changes. I realized early on that what people say and even more, what people read into posts is very different than if we met at a tavern and were sitting next to each other having a brew and talking about our bike, or our president, or the weather.

I still enjoy other OPs posting rants. We have less of a filter and while each response gives that poster a unique opportunity, after 10 or 12 they start to blend into several categories.

to the point we post issues more than glory, yah, I get it. If I’m unhappy, I want to share my misery. If I’m happy, I’m out riding. I don’t need or want to post anything. Somehow, if I have an issue with my bike, it feels better knowing you had the same issue, how you fixed it and moved on to the next issue. Also, it’s winter here. Morning coffee or late afternoon whiskey, I check in here to see what’s going on in the only social media site I’m on to see what’s going the hell is going on with other riders. Topic is not important, sharing some of our daily **** is.

 

son of hounds, Great points. Maybe I have not gotten away from how this all started and what it has grown into. I think I was just seeing what I use to call "selling out". Folks had a good U-Tube channel, then turned to click bait type titles wanting to explain how and when Harley sold out or when they were going out of business. Maybe I should just unsubscribe and move on from some. I do use and enjoy the how-to videos, also enjoy at times what is left out to make it seem easier than it really is and wonder how some are reacting as they find that out. I have about 10 more pages of how I feel but that is in my member section only, you know, pay me $2.95 a month and you can view it a month or so early. (that's the one that really caught me off guard!)
Other than that my day is pretty much like all the others I have.

 

Went back to a Shovel FLT, one of the greatest feelings riding it by myself thru the back country of Southern Ohio, don't need the clicks.

Last week experienced an uncomfortable situation, my riding buddies went to a benefit fund raiser for someone who passed, rode over a hour to meet them at the ride. Parking lot was bike owners with all models and makes of bikes being good for the cause, we were all on Shovels with my riding buddies being life time old school bikers. Preparing to leave the organizer started a religious congregation preaching in the name of the lord, the riders and passengers formed a hand chained circle extending out to the furthest area where we stood by our bikes, we remained by the bikes with several men and women started yelling at us "can't believe they won't join the circle" we were clearly being judged turning a good cause negative and sure we was the talk of the meeting place, they did smile taking our money.
We rode with the group for a while splitting off to our own direction, stopped to get a beer with my oldest riding buddy at 79 saying "Jesus did not judge anyone and accepted them for who they were"

My rant on today's world