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Jul 7, 2013 | 06:23 PM

snellejongen

Thread Starter

Stage I

Joined: Jul 2013

Posts: 1

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From: West Oakland

New from Oakland

Hi All,

I'm a long time rider (mostly britt and italian, but also had a '97 superglide that I loved), but bought a '80 fx two years ago and can't get rid of it. It runs strong as hell and no leaks, but has had transmission problems from the start (always had a bit of trouble catching 2nd gear from 1st). The other day it froze up in first on me and I had to limp home. So, now I can see I'm into major tranny work. I've done a bit of research looking into the options. Money is an obstacle but, on the other hand, I'll wait for more money to do the "right" thing rather than doing something cheap. I've seen a lot of discussion around the various options and I could spring for a new 5 into 4 baker, but that would really hurt and I'm not sure I'll ever ride it enough to warent putting a brand new kit in an old bike. I do ride it hard though and want a solution that performs. I'm a pretty good mechanic (rebuilt a couple of old bonnie motors) and so am thinking about doing as much myself as I can though I have none of the special tools and have to trade off the cost of obtaining the tools against having someone else do the work for me. I'm not averse to keeping the 4 speed, but revs are a little high on the highway here in the Bay area which means I spend most of my time in the right lane. I'd really love to gear it down a little bit in top gear so that it's a bit easier on the engine. But, of course, I don't want to loose too much of the pull (maybe too much to ask for an old work horse). Anyway, I would very much appreciate folks' input on how I might proceed and what the tradeoffs might be. Also would much appreciate being put in contact with any good resources in my Oakland area. Thanks much.