yup, here i am again with more things wrong with my bike.

i took off the entire carb assembly and found that two bolts on my intake manifold in between the cylinders, are loose. this is the whistle noise i hear on shutdown, and the edges of the bolts are perfectly round, no wrench will work. The bolts are turned with a 1/4 in. allen key... but the keys i have do not fit because of the shape of the manifold..

this is the right side of the engine behind the carb, and the left side is a 1/2 in. bolt and is easily tightened with a 1/2 in. wrench.

is there a special tool for this? it looks like i have to cut 1/2 in. off the short end of a allen key to get it to fit.

i also found that the rubber boot that fits over the manifold and that the carb slides into, is cracked. im ordering a new one asap.

I took my airfilter, used my vaccuum and the nook attachment and sucked evreything that accumulated inside, out. looks new. cheaper than replacing it, but i still will when i can.

I bought a small in line filter and tried for 2 hours to fit a place for it to fit, but the fuel line is only 6 inches and there is no space in the area it runs in to fit the filter.... 4 bucks wasted. i ended up replacing the hose and the clamps

on an interesting side note. I am getting 58+ MPG city by using 89 octane instead of 91..... before when i used anything under 91 the bike acted a little weird and backfired some and pinged. I'm thinking maybe its a combination of cooler weather and the intake leak somehow. I am not thinking too much into it, im just glad.

it also warms up faster with less choke. maybe i lost compression beucase the engine is stock and 20 years old, althought it only has 10850 miles


I painted the letters on my sidewalls white, looks like an old musclecar.




any thoughts on what specific type of allen key is used for the manifold? or how hard/easy it is to cut a little off one i have

also how many modded their tires to be a little unique?

 

Haaahaaaa.... we were doing that to our bikes before muscle cars...

It gives it a nice little touch....

As for the tool.... God only knows or maybe a Harley dealer could give you that info...

I have draws full of modified tools for special purposes.... it part of wrenching...[8D]

My two latest... a 12 inch drift pin, ground and bent to get the steering bearing races out and a cut off 6mm allen wrench for the front end dampers...

Charlie D.

 

Joseph, lubricate that chain.

 

For the intake manifold, either grind a allen wrench down shorter to fit in their, or buy a ball ended allen wrench that can go in at an angle. I used a ball ended allen wrench myself. Replace the intake gaskets while your at it, and make sure the area where it connects on the head is clean before putting the new ones on. When putting the new manifold in, tighten the 4 mounting bolts in increments all around to keep it even, it's really easy for the manifold be mounted out of alignment if you tighten one side first then the other.

 

The allen wrench will be hardened steel, so you'll need a grinder to shorten it up.

Nice job on the painted lettering, looks good.

 

Nice job on the tires. I didthe same tothe tires on my 1984 suburban. Its amazing sometimes what you can dowithout spending a pile of money. Good luck with the allen wrench.

 

thanks this is just the help I needed.

Never knew what a ball ended allen wrench was until now hahaha. i had to look up a pic.

alright, after work ill head to the dealer and home depot to get the tools and parts i need, ill also do the work tomorrow morning before work. my bike is my only transportation

thanks again

 

thanks alot guys

I bought a 1/4 in. ball ended allen before work today, and tore down the carb and had it fixed in 20 minutes on my lunch hour.

i didnt notice a whole lot of improvement and the bike was misfiring a bit at low RPMs.

but i ran it anyway to less than half a tank, and filled it up with 91 again. took it out, wapped open the throttle, and i just blasted away. it was freaking amazing!

its good to have the right tools for the job.

and i have a whole set of new carb seals and intake seals coming, ordered them last night online off bikebandit.com

 

Nice. I bought the fix my hog video for my sporty ,and my ultra also, but it gives you some good ideas and a bit of confidence in knowing and having a good reference.
I bought a set of ball allens from harbor freight, but I will advise you not to use them for torquing with. They flex too much for any kind of accurate torquing.
The fix my hog vids will tell you how to adjust your cables and at the carb and how to give your bike a good tune up in general.
On some bikes there are some carb bolts that are 'hollow' and need to be used for the carb to 'breathe through", so don't replace those with solid bolts.
I recall you had a problem with your fuel filter in the tank and maybe some cleaners and stuff used may have boogered up your seals. or maybe just age, but I'd get an extra set and now you'll have that experience, and the ability to remedy this situation if it occurs again.
I'd lube my cables and anything that may get stuck and leave me in a full on throttle position since your fuel system has a record of having problems. Not getting pushy, just a suggestion from a safety point of view.
Sounds like you're on the right track. You musta taken that 'evil inside' sticker off

Have fun