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Bought myself a birthday present this year, a non running 78 1/2 FXS which I just started tearing into this past week.
This is my first HD but I'm not new to working on bikes. Total Harley novice though. One thing I've noticed as I pull things off the bike is that the previous owner sure like quick and cheap fixes.
Started by draining the old gas from the tank and pulling them off, I found this thing rattling around in the tank.
Maybe if I find and old mosquito in there we can make a chopper dinosaur out of the dna.
I wanted to start off by doing compression test to see what I was starting with and couldn't get the starter to engage. So I pulled the primary cover off to inspect the starter and saw this.
A tiny nylock bolt was at the bottom of the primary. Man.
Carlos, welcome. Cool bike. I suggest you pickup a service manual for the bike. You'll find that + the guys on this site a tremendous resource.
You mentioned attempting a compression test and the starter wouldn't engage. What was it doing exactly? I dealt with starter issues when I first was getting mine going.
Welcome to the forum Carlos. You'll find folks here very helpful.
One thing I would strongly suggest is thoroughly cleaning your fuel tank and fuel system. Congealed and contaminated fuel can cause you all sorts of problems.
I would also go over that bike with a fine toothed comb given the care the PO demonstrated.
I'm such it's still cold in Saskatoon so take your time and make sure that bike is road worthy. Who knows what other surprises you might find when you tear into it.
Good Luck.
welcome and have fun - that looks like a good candidate for a total tear down and repair. it'll only take time and money but you'll know the bike and fix all the short cuts
Fantastic looking bike. Those look like the original tires! If you have a battery in it, disconnect it now before you do anything else. If you get to playing around in the primary around the bendix, it's all hot and hooked up and there is a good chance it will engage and start spinning, possibly grabbing you somewhere you don't want to be grabbed.
Good idea, looks like I'll be changing the worn out drive sprockets so I'll be pulling the primary off. I'd like to keep all my fingers.
Originally Posted by carlgrover
Fantastic looking bike. Those look like the original tires! If you have a battery in it, disconnect it now before you do anything else. If you get to playing around in the primary around the bendix, it's all hot and hooked up and there is a good chance it will engage and start spinning, possibly grabbing you somewhere you don't want to be grabbed.
Been a while since I posted but I've been plugging away at this thing little by little in my spare time.
Cookie Monster standing guard.
Wheels off, that old rubber had to go.
PO had extended a lot of the wiring to accommodate apes, I'm not a fan of apes and I wanted to run some internal wires through the bars so I ran fresh wires.
First HD
