I bought my first Harley this spring. Its been a blessing and a nightmare all at the same time. Here is my story. I hope I put this in the right location since ill be asking for some tips and tricks as well.

I purchased the bike this year. I was looking for a simple project for cheap cash. I stumbled upon this bike from a friend of my fathers. at 4k it seemed like a steal. I rolled it onto the trailer and took my baby home and this is where my adventure starts.

I took the bike for a test drive for a few miles. everything seemed great. engine sounded good, brakes worked well, and it shifted pretty smooth for an old bike. All in all, I deemed it a non-lemon and the purchase was final. My father and I went through the bike and all seemed in order. The radio didn't work, but im an IT guy so I figured I could tackle that down the road by replacing the CD player with a custom setup for a smart phone. Ill get to that later since that project is still on the back burner after all ive been through this summer with this bike...

second ride of the season, I make it about a mile from my fathers house with him and his wife (both on their own Harleys). My father is a custom hot rob builder/fabricator. He has worked on all sorts of vehicles over his career and motorcycles are one of them so I feel like I have a decent understanding of the bike with my father and my heads put together.

After about a mile or so, the clutch was gone and I mean GONE. we get the bike home, send it over to our mechanic friend and he deems the clutch is toast. The bike goes to his shop and we pony up the cash for a new clutch and the labor involved. I get the bike back and it runs great... for about 2 miles.. Engine is not running correctly and the clutch is slipping. awesome... ride # 2 cancelled and the bike is back to his shop.

He performs a full tune up and readjusts the clutch. Bike runs great for about (2) trips and then the bike is acting up again. I work through a few small issues and now the battery isn't charging. im stuck someplace with a dead battery (napa auto parts and no they wouldn't jump me). I get the bike home, charge the battery over night, and take it back out for a sunday ride (not stopping and shutting it off so it doesn't die). I pray the stator isn't bad.... before the bike goes back to the shop, im riding it on a charged battery and bam, the bike wont start. I can feel the starter solenoid trying to kick in but its not engaging.

Back to the shop. Solenoid is brand new, so we move on to the starter. Yep, starter is dead. Starter drive is toast. (2) more parts replaced. (oh by the way I had to replace the odometer when I first got the bike) mechanic replaces the starter and starter drive. bike fires up but what do you know.... bad stator as well. Now im up to my eyes in debt for all these parts and labor not to mention the good month to month and a half that is was in the shop over the summer just for these repairs.

so I finally get the scooter back and im ready to ride... everything looks and sounds good. bike is running great (besides for loose fog lights etc). I get a few hundred miles in that weekend and uh oh spaghettio, my clutch is gone... wtf..

I bring it back to my guy.. he tells me I need a clutch cable. doesn't sound right to me but who the hell am I? I pay my guy 80 clams and get a new clutch cable. my outside adjustment is maxed out and the clutch doesn't feel 100% he explains I need to refabricate the piece that holds the adjustment screw that's on my frame and his adjustment wshould last for the end of the summer and we can refab the mount over the winter.

I take the bike out and it runs good all day. next day its getting late and I go for a scoot with my bags off (since I had to fix the ground on my rear blinker) and I find myself ona dark road about 45 minutes from home. the clutch is gone again.... no tools on me and a dark road by myself... I see a possum crossing the road, I cant shift..., before I know it I rode over the possum with both tires and had to hard shift all the way home....

So this leads to a few questions... anyone ever put a fat tire kit on a 1986 heritage softail and have t relocate the adjustment screw mount that's on the frame in order for the clutch to work correctly?

 

Sounds like U got what U wanted, a project bike for Cheap..

U need to learn that using Google to do some searches will help U a bunch.

Fat tire kits are available all over the net or even at Ur dealership.
As far as U adjustment screw,, it must be different than my 07 as mine is just a snap that holds the cable.

As far as Ur mechanic friend,, I'd be looking for someone better at working on bikes than it sounds like he is..


.

 

ive done plenty of goofgle searches and I didn't come across one link, thread, or picture that goes through the install and issues of installing a fat tire kit on a 86 softail. I found plenty of companies selling the kits, but nothing explaining issues after installing it or extra parts needed to make it all work.

I have a fork that sticks out of the clutch on the right side of the bike that the cable attaches to, goes into the clutch and then has a clutch fork at the bottom of it. We took it back to the original guy that put in the clutch and its supposedly adjusted correctly now. He said new clutches need an adjustment after a while... hmmmm

I had 2 different mechanic friends tinker with it and I agree. I need someone new or just get the dang repair manual myself for future issues.

 

You have the old style clutch mechanism with the external arm and cable. that changed to the internal "ball and ramp" style in '87.

I'd consider moving this post to the Evo section of the forum. You'll find a lot more expertise on these old bikes over there.

 

How can i move it? Im new to the forums and dont see anything in my editting options. Thanks!