1984 FXEF Russian Roulette
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4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Bremerton, WA
1984 FXEF Russian Roulette
I bought a 1984 shovelhead 4-sp to town run and tinker. bought with over 12,500.00 worth of receipts over 2 previous owners, and no less than a dozen different shops with hands on it, it runs great WHEN IT RUNS. It has an intermittant backfiring problems that when it happens, the bike will not run, leaves me stranded. Had secondary coil wires loose--thought it was fixed-not. Had total Ignition switch failure, and it ran fine about a dozen times, same problem. replaced plugs with 2 different brands and changed gap up and down. S&S E carb replaced in 1998, seems to be operating fine; I feel it is way too intermittant to be that anyway. has Cam-4 ignitions system--not known for failures, but,,, Engine runs strong when it runs. Backfiring is VERY loud and thruy carb. Once while running I forgot to turn the headlights on after starting, moved to light position and it immediately started backfiring. Returned to light off position and it ran great, for about 4 times after that, then it started doing it in that position as well--stranded again. All things being said at 60 Y.O I enjoy riding that bike more than my custom 2003 FLHRCI. Any advice other than dynamite? All help appreciated--after all the money that has been put into that bike over the years, I don't feel like throwing money at it anymore (or at least not much). Dan/Seattle
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,110
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From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Sounds like your charging system has contact / connection issues and you need to check all big wiring connections and all the grounding wires & attachment points , loose ground will make you chase gremlins forever .
Definately sounds electrical. With all of the fingers that have been in this bike, I would suggest that you pull the seat, tanks, rear fender, headlight and the handlebar switches to expose all of the wiring. Inspect every connection and splice. Yes, it is time consuming. But the littlest connection problem can give you the biggest heartache.
I had a fellow bring his '74 E-Glide over to the house once. The wiring was a spagetti bowl. It had been "re-wired", but the person who did it left the old wiring in place. It took me several days to pull everything and get it back to nominal running condition. You wouldn't believe all of the shorts and burned wires I found.
I'm not the best mechanic in the world, but I try to use common sense in what I do. Wiring will test your abilities to the point of you wanting to get rid of the bike. I think the pro mechanics will agree with me on this point.
I had a fellow bring his '74 E-Glide over to the house once. The wiring was a spagetti bowl. It had been "re-wired", but the person who did it left the old wiring in place. It took me several days to pull everything and get it back to nominal running condition. You wouldn't believe all of the shorts and burned wires I found.
I'm not the best mechanic in the world, but I try to use common sense in what I do. Wiring will test your abilities to the point of you wanting to get rid of the bike. I think the pro mechanics will agree with me on this point.
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4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Bremerton, WA
Thanks to both replies so far. I have even looked for a complete, NOT UNIVERSAL, wiring kit to no avail. If I rewired the thing myself, I would probably cob it up as bad or worse than it is now. Not even sure if the starter switch wiring is there as I forgot to mention that it has an aftermarked starter solenoid/lever system on left side of motor. Not sure why that was done, but it works ok for starting the bike. And still not sure about the Crane Cam-4 ignition system as I know little about that as well. Since wiring would be my weakest point, isn't there a company that provides a more simplistic approach to the wiring for the 3 main systems; lighting, charging, and ignition? Seems to me the custom bike builders these days have simplified wiring a great deal.
Last edited by srnad8; Oct 14, 2012 at 01:51 PM.
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Joined: Mar 2009
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From: Niles Canyon Ca.
I'm not a big fan of those Crane systems but they either work or they don't , no intermittent problems with those . I like the Dyna S ign. for shovels , you have to use a high end mechanical advance but they are rock solid and simple stupid to tune or trouble shoot .
Wiring looks a lot scarier than it really is , the stock harness is about twice as complicated as it needs to be to run the average bike and a full boat bagger adds a lot to it . Like Al said take you time don't get frustrated and it's a 3 day job to do a clean rewire from wheel to wheel . Don't use crimp connectors & tape , solder iron & shrink tubing is your new best friend .
Wiring looks a lot scarier than it really is , the stock harness is about twice as complicated as it needs to be to run the average bike and a full boat bagger adds a lot to it . Like Al said take you time don't get frustrated and it's a 3 day job to do a clean rewire from wheel to wheel . Don't use crimp connectors & tape , solder iron & shrink tubing is your new best friend .
Thanks to both replies so far. I have even looked for a complete, NOT UNIVERSAL, wiring kit to no avail. If I rewired the thing myself, I would probably cob it up as bad or worse than it is now. Not even sure if the starter switch wiring is there as I forgot to mention that it has an aftermarked starter solenoid/lever system on left side of motor. Not sure why that was done, but it works ok for starting the bike. And still not sure about the Crane Cam-4 ignition system as I know little about that as well. Since wiring would be my weakest point, isn't there a company that provides a more simplistic approach to the wiring for the 3 main systems; lighting, charging, and ignition? Seems to me the custom bike builders these days have simplified wiring a great deal.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,110
Likes: 51,396
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
You can do it yourself. Get the factory wiring diagram and cut out the things you don't need. Use some 20 amp curcuit breakers and go. I'll try to find one of my old wiring loom diagrams I drew up and post it. Maybe someone else has one. EasyRiders has a helpful book they put out some years ago about electrics. Look them up. Just take your time.
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4th Gear
Joined: Nov 2011
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From: Bremerton, WA
Thanks
For those that responded, thank you. The apparent route is to start tearing it down and hope I find something. It would just be nice to have something to replace the wiring with a more simplified approach like the custom bikes have today--minimal wiring. I can't even find someone locally that is willing to look at it, so my reservations must be founded. Thanks again.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 15,705
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From: Farmington ,MS
84's had crap wiring from the factory...had problems with them catching fire...one look at mine and pulled it off and trashed it. I installed an Ultima wiring harness...pretty simple..every wire labeled...had it for five years with no problems...get some nice features like built in run-turn -brake module and self canceling turn signals...just installed another on a VW trike.
http://www.ultimaproducts.com/harness.htm
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 29
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From: pasadena
like everyone else, there definitely is an electrical problem, and i would agree that might be better to replace harness then to repair. you could have a chafed wire somewhere shorting out, a high resistance ground or some other intermittent problem. wiring is not that bad if you have the book with diagram, some patience, and a little common sense.
good luck
good luck