Thread: What kind of Motorcycle do you own.

I believe that a man should run what he wants as long as it is his machine and he pays the fucking bills, I run what I want and I do not ask anyone else to pay my bills.
But I want top overall ilage because I was a cruiser, I did ride my bike to work, but I didn't own a car all the time so a scoot was my main transport, I rode for comfort on the long haul and was mostly an ironButt rider, 700 mile days were ordinary, but hard to have a pardner as most do not go over 400 max.
not had a hardtail since I had a triumph Tbird with a spring hub and an Indian with hydraulic.
I want an engine capable of 100,000 miles and I do not find a BMW comfortable, so there is only one ride that suits me and that is a FLH Harley. But I pay for my own ride and it is my business.

Rigger.
I agree, on a bike which does low miles PA it doesn't matter, particularly out in the country.
Even living on a dirt road, those dust particles are big, its the city where the real problem is because the particle sizes are much finer.

Originally Posted by Rigger

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

can't see a metal filter loose enough to allow a cleaning being near as efficient as paper/fiber.

I am going to run it anyway as there are plenty of guys out there running them on Harleys and have over 20,000 miles with there K&P filters and dont have problems.

Originally Posted by peterpan

Yup its simple, filter area x porosity, increase one or the other and you have more gas flow but K&N have convinced people that you can halve one of them and still get more flow with the same cleaning and punters go for it.

All my bikes have K&N and filters and dont have a problem with them, sure I beleive that they do let more particals in but at what real cost, Take my Shadow for example had a K&N in it for 6 years, I live in a dusty place and have been knowen to take it dirt tracking now and then and yet the bike runs fine doesnt use oil so how much real damage will say someone living in a city do ?

And when it does fuck up, you can just bolt a new engine in it. Simple!

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Have you got a date for your next visit yet, Ned?

waiting for the new passport now, so i can dave the numbers and then off to singapore and hope to be sitting in a bar 4/7

There are plenty of independant tests showing that the K&N airfilter passes MUCH more dirt than the OEM filters, not a little bit more but up to 220% more. an extract from a BMW owners website:

If we had 100 grams of dust on a new BMW filter we would let through a total of 6.6 grams of dust in. If we used the new K&N filter we get 14.8 grams of dust. That's 224% (TWO HUNDRED TWENTY FOUR PERCENT!!) more dust ingested initially, stock vs. "free flow" and this ratio is pretty much held. Somewhere between 200-300% more dirt gets "ingested" anywhere across loading equivalence. The more INTERESTING thing is when you look at what happens to the DP or Differential Pressure at a constant airflow as you dirty both filters equally with time. The test used a rate of 75gr of dust per 20 min. Here's where the AREA difference comes MAJORLY into play. See, even though the BMW filter flows a bit less at the SAME loading, it also LOADS UP 5.25 times SLOWER due to it's LARGER effective area. So what happens is that the K&N initially flows better, but as the dirt continues coming in, the K&N eventually flows WORSE while still letting MORE dirt in.
Now, does any of this additional dirt cause problems? I dunno. I suppose we could have a few people do some independent oil analyses on different motors using both K&Ns and Stock filters. Get enough of them, and you'd have a good statistical basis. For me though, it's simple: More DIRT = BAD.
The additional short-term airflow might make sense on a track car. IMHO, it doesn't for the street.
-- Jim Conforti

My personal choice but I wouldn't touch K&N with a barge pole for a street bike given the evidence I have seen.

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

At this point in the game though I will build for longevity I was going through the Twin Cam service manual and they now consider teh WHOLE LOWER END to be a throw away & replace item. Flywheels, rods and all three pins.

i gotta ask the question here frankie, does this mean my beloved nighttrain is doomed? whenshe hit 30k, i decided to give her all she had, lined her up with a speed camera, i let her go and managed to squeeze 212, however after i passed said camera she coughed and farted through the carb and vomited some oil out the air filter, blow back? mind you since then 60k or so still running true and strong, so it has,nt affected her giddy up and go much to the annoyance of blokes with cubers and 6 speed boxers, i was worried that i scarred the bottom end but so far no sign of any wound, actually a bit more of a beast than most of models the same, when i let her loose she just sits there and 'bags' out , serious question is, do i just replace the whole bottom end when the time comes with standard gear or do the whole balance and stroke it?

Originally Posted by nedwalk

do i just replace the whole bottom end when the time comes with standard gear or do the whole balance and stroke it?

Short answer; yes teh factory manual states if there is any noticable rod big end wear to remove and replace the assembly.

Long answer is complicated and when all said and done means I cannot accept that.
This is what I do not like abut the TC The flywheel assembly is pressed together. Probably keyed, my research is not complete but armed with the 2007 Softail manual from the factory. and reading it twice to make sure some pages weren't stuck together (tough to do with a PDF but who knows?) You can hone the left or right mains and fit new rollers (within a certain limit) but you cannot rebuidl the lowers like we used to do on every V-twin fromteh Evo on down.

I imagine that you could heat the wheels and press them apart so that teh amount of material removed is minimal but the amount of interference fit required to keep the wheels trued and balanced even a small amount of hogging could be catastrophic on a touquey motor. There are reports of rider that tend to lugg there engines deeply knocking the wheels out of true.

Any way the manual dictate when checking the rod ends for wear you "firmly grasp" teh rear rod and try to move it up and down. it goes on to say "If there is ANY play replace teh assembly.

When I built hot rod motors I would first grid the rods of all forge flashing, magna flux it they passed this stage i woud rebuild with new races, new pin honed to a very slow slip almost plug fit (about .0005") I would then have the rods shot peened. With the assemblies being purcahsed and installed as complete assemblies these steps are impossible. I would not disassemble and reassemble the new press togethr flywheel assemblies in even a stock configuration.

Teh twin cam is a sweet motor smooth as silk I was running one the other day I swaer you could have balanced a ten baht coin on the cam cover, no perceptable vibration at idle. the new 96 inchers are grossly under powered for their potential. A motor like that built with proper heads a low duration mid lift cam and low comp should be able to gnerate over 100 Ft Lbs of torque. The 88 shold be capable of clsoe to that without adding cubes.

There has got to be a way to rebuild these things. perhaps with over sized crank pin and shafts but the press and truing apparatus will be a helluva lot more expensive and difficult to to find than the old truign stand lead mallet and torque wrench. I have only spent a couple dozen hours on this, was disgusted by what appear to me to be steps backward (S&S seem to agree at least they offer a timkin bearing left main bearing upgrade) I am still researching this and although there does not appear to be an exchange program or Flywheel rebuild tooling availabe as yet.

So when the bottom end goes order a kit, flywheels, big bore pistons and barrels bolt it in, throw the old set of wheels away. You cannot balance assembled wheels You cannot press apart rebuild and reassemble your fly wheels from all I ahve read so far. I have not seen new, unassembled flywheels or new crank pins or shafts or rod sets available anywhere, yet.

I have not completely accepted defeat nor will I say that the rebuild absolutely cannot be done But it does look like the entire flywheel assembly is a throw away and replace part. I've been building Hawg motors since the early seventies and my experience with the TC is minimal. The factory says remove and replace. The forces required to assemble and true the assemblies would beyond hand tools capability in any case. But I have not given up and am still digging.

The TC is a sweet motor when viewd fromteh outside, inside it appears to be some kind underpowered Rube goldberg contraption. Chain driven counter rotation balance shafts, Chain driven Cam shaft connected by a second chain. We were just discussing building a couple of spec bikes just clean road machines in the 90+ CU in range. I do like teh TC's smoothness and they do pull well over 2000 the valve train geometry is improved a bit but not racically and the TC will allow for much larger bore giving you a 100+ cu in motor with a square motor, but I would prefer the evo motor for real control over build quality and blanace even if it does mean stokes over 4.5 inches.

Apologies for the long winded reply. But I find it hard to believe that HD would take so many steps backwards in teis new improved! engine. But left as it is it does have a bit of grunt for what it is designed for and should go 100k easy. And you can bolt on enough low & midrange torque to pull stumps. Lot of people love this new motor. From the outside it looks cool from the inside? Looks like a Bic lighter compared to a zippo when compared to any previous Vee-Twin.

Still a motor that will give 100k miles before you throw it away ain;t all that bad I guess.

i did 220k on my 86 softy,when she started useing a bit of oil, used to go visit me old mum, usually about 5k trip, only poped the top and did a set of rings a cleaned up the valves, last i heard the bloke i sold her to, she was still running stong, just the usual complaits, ignition relay/ clutch forkshift and keep an ear on the front drive sproket,,oh and stater unit. would,nt mind another evo to go to commute with, maybe a 94 fxrs

Can't beat low R, low comp, thumpers for longevity. I don't like the TC design but for an off teh shelf motorcycle it'll probably out last most second owners.

We've settled on building a couple Evo 96 inch STs on spec just this evening all new parts. Be a while while we work out logistics, but looks like it's gonna happen (never know).

this thread shouldn't be on the second page,there sorted!

I have 2 bikes now

A Honda click and a Yamaha TZR

Postman dropped these off the other day, Arlen ness controls

I wanna buy V&H short shot staggered (black) pipes for my bike, priced them here well over 20,000 baht. do you ever have any probs paying import duty/tax on your parts?
I can get them from DennisKirk online for about 14000 baht, but fuckin hate the idea of paying the ransom when the get here!

Originally Posted by Rigger

Postman dropped these off the other day, Arlen ness controls

Look very gay. Nice job.

I use to have hard time when I used DHL as they hold your gear for ransom and you have to transfur money to their account before they will release your gear last lot of gear was held for about 10,000 baht for 700USD worth of parts. Lately I have been using USPS express international mail and they have been good, just dont send it by standard USPS as you will lose it. Last lot of gear that came in was around 700 USD worth and I paid 3,000 baht in import tax using USPS express shipping. If not get someone to carry it

flash looking bits mate, all that bling i woulda thought you would have routed the loom through the bars to tidy it off

Originally Posted by nedwalk

flash looking bits mate, all that bling i woulda thought you would have routed the loom through the bars to tidy it off

Still waiting on the bars to arrive with internal wiring. I could have drilled a hole but the guy I new did that in Khon kaen and one day his bars snaped and smashed his bike. The bars on there at the moment are made in Thailand. So I will just wait for the real ones.
I looked at full internal cables as well but at 2500 dollars I will pass on that at the moment

Originally Posted by Rigger

made in Thailand.

ok nuff said

Thanks for the info Rigger,
Got any pics of the bike the way it looks now?
I'm gonna try an get paypal sorted this week, I'm finding the things I need even cheaper on ebay. the pipes are about 370 bucks thats less than 13000 baht!

^ bike looks GREAT rigger!

Something need to be done with the tank. Need a flowing style kinda tank. That one looks to be an afterthought and just stuck on the frame.
As for the rest of the bike it does look good.
A skinny rear end. Is this old skool?
Frame looks pretty thick. Can run cables inside the frame?

Yeh one day I will get a new tank made and a spring seat, When this tire is done I will stick a 200 on it and yes skinny is old school, Not to worried about running cables in the frame but will be running the internal wiring for the bars. I just want to injoy riding it for a bit now.
I do still have a mid range cough that I have to get rid of, I already cleaned out the carb and added a filter, I think the timing my be out as I now and then I get pre ignition when switching of the bike, Any ideas ?
Not even sure how to set it on the buell ?