I have a `97 RK,green and black.Also a `02 EGlide.Love the RK.Low on power when I first got it but added a EV-27 cam and open air box plus dyno-tune a few years ago and it pulls real strong.Take it over my `02 twin cam any day.You made a great choies.Good luck.I love this bike,you will too! Skip

 

Man good choice great looking bike

 

I know they went to the shaker crank but always thought it was in 90 or 91. When I got the guy to redo my bottom end 2 years ago it was not the shaker crank but the 5 pc. At least I'm pretty sure it was.

 

I don't know the name "shaker crank' but before 1989, the crank was made of 5 pieces. The two pinion shafts, two fly wheels and wrist pin. In 1989 Harley attempted to make the manufacture less expensive and cast the pinions with the fly wheels. They were the same diameter. Problem was that the original pinions were Case Hardened. It was not cost effective to case harden the entire Fly wheel. So they just "Surface hardened" the pinions. This proved OK in the testing, but under regular use, they found that under long term and hard use, they would fail. So beginning with the 1990 model year, the shaft was enlarged and the cases were changed to accommodate the larger pinion. For Harley to issue a complete recall for all 1989 BT model motors would have cost Harley a large amount. And as it only would effect those that subjected their Harley to heavy usage, they only issued a "Service Bulletin" to cover only the original owner and under warranty, or close to the end of warranty. It saved Harley a lot of money.

If you check the Harley Part Catalogs for 1987-1990 (I have it along with one issued in 1989) any motor part using the "-89" part is obsolete. It has been replaced with the "-90" part.

I bet that if you took any 5 piece crank, it would fit the 1989 cases. But some connecting parts changed and would not work on the pre-1989 motor without modifications. If your motor had a 5 piece crank, it may have been changed.

 

Thanks Ultra I'm going to double check with the mechanic that did the bottom end.

 

Congrats on the new RK, im new to this myself but i think you made the right choice... well its the one id have picked anyway.

I did like the list of mods on that heritage though, especially that small bit of red bling they added to the right side of the bike

 

Well bit of an update now I have a few hundred miles on the RK ... I love this bike!!

Had an issue with it coughing through the carb under light acceleration so after checking all the ignition side decided to replace the intake gaskets for good measure and see how the carb was set up ... remember the previous owner just had $2500 worth of service/tune up done at the dealership less than two months ago.

Findings ... Stock carb mixture screw was 3 turns out, on disassembly we found it was running a #48 Low speed and a #175 High Speed also had a NOKM needle and the slide had been drilled to 1/8", float level was at 0.49 ... so got to wondering how/what the heck did HD of Dallas do???

Anyhow so I call a buddy over tell him to bring his magic carb box with him and we rebuild this thing including a new slide and stock needle. Set the float to .433 (11mm) shim the stock need 0.050, install a #45 Low Speed and a #185 High Speed set the mixture to two turns out and reassemble.

Fire the bike up and purrrs like a kitten straight off ... let it warm up for about 10 mins and take it for a ride ... WOW ... no coughing more power mid-high end totally different bike to ride ... I am sure I looked like the Cheshire Cat while riding ... was grinning from ear to ear!

Also ended up getting a windshield from a fellow forum member and that makes huge difference now it is getting cooler ... good thing about TX is we can ride nearly all year

Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving

 

A properly done CV is a blessing to the EVO. Enjoy the ride.

 

Dude, that's an awesome bike for that kind of money! What a deal! Great choice on the 97, very nice, congrats

 

I am excited i have a bike waiting for me when i get back that I havent seen or riden yet but what seen in pic and my ol lady told me this bike is mint 89 well congrate again man ride safe