Swingarm alignment...
Well I put bike on side stand with a couple wood blocks to get bike as straight up/down as possible and put the two bulbs on either side of rear tire (using wood blocks to hold tubes up a few inches off the ground. Sure enough tubes were touching left side of front tire and about 3/4" gap on the right side.
Removed V-Regulator and loosened center bolt on motor mount, adjusted turn buckle until gap was even on both sides of front tire. She now tracks straight and true and those road imperfections are not nearly as noticable to the seat of the pants feel.
Just a thought that you might want to try to check front to rear alignment.
Sorry for backtracking and skirting the original issue somewhat.
This is along the lines of what I did to correct my rear wheel alignment, except instead of grinding back the cam-stop, I added material to square it into alignment with the frame and front wheel.
I had built a much sturdier version of the "Jim's 3rd Hand" tool used to aid in tightening the axle nut and maintaining the desired belt tension. It worked so well, was out of sight and didn't interfere with anything so I devised a simple method of leaving it permanently mounted. It keeps everything aligned perfectly and the belt retains the desired tension long term. It has never needed the belt tension reset.
Just thought there might be some interest.
Last edited by Recycled; Aug 18, 2014 at 01:39 PM. Reason: added pic
Waiting on a chrome bag support bracket to be delivered.
Mine broke (again) about a week ago.
With the bike on a lift, check the front wheel for plumb and adjust the bike on the lift as required to get plumb as measured against the front rotors.
Now check the back wheel. If both are not plumb, now you have to figure out which is out of whack.
To check front to rear alignment of the wheels I have always used the string method. Use a long enough piece of string to be able to run around the front tire, down one side of the bike, around the back tire (tape it to the center of the tread) and back up the other side to the front tire (again tape to the center of the tread). The string should be about 2" off the ground and level all the way around. If everything is in alignment you should have the string touching at two points on the side wall of each tire on each side. If not in alignment you will have uneven gaps.
The Best of Harley-Davidson for Lifelong Riders
I've had a bunch of stuff at work that has been keeping me busy and haven't had time to do much of anything significant to the bike.
No update on the 'wobble' as of yet other than it's still there.
I did get the bag support and got it installed. I also had to have my license plate mount re-welded because the steel tab that holds it snapped when the bag support broke. This also required a replacement plate frame/light because it bounced down the road when it let loose.
I got the bike out for a short ride yesterday and ended-up riding home in 3rd gear after the shift pivot weld cracked off of the backplate on my BDL.
This is getting seriously annoying.
I guess I will be pulling the belt drive this week and having it re-welded.
A few thoughts...
I seriously dig my bike. After 8-years of ownership and countless hours of work - it is a bike that I can look at and be truly proud of...and I feel is absolutely perfect for me.
That said.
I am way tired of it not being reliable. I just want to be able to enjoy it for (at least) a couple of months without having to make repairs.
Knowing full well that maintenance is required for any vehicle...especially one that has as much one-off/custom work that mine has...I really wish I could just ride it and enjoy it.
I dunno. Very frustrated this morning.










