2001 FXD
She’s nineteen years old and this is my first “new” bike. I bought it at Moroney’s, in Newburgh, and now, she’s got 140,000 miles. So here’s a little history:
- Motor oil and filter were changed 56 times. Once in Orem, Utah, once in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the rest of the time, in my garage. I started out using Pennzoil 20/50, before switching to HD Syn 3, and finally, MOBILE 1 15W-50, full synthetic. Great oil, great price.
-I changed the plugs 11 times. Harley plugs are good. Actually, the last Champions I had performed well, for over 10,000 miles, but one time, I had a bad one, right out of the box, and it soured me, left a bad taste, and from now on, I'll use the Harley plugs or Autolite 4164 at a loose .040.
-I greased the neck bearing 3 times; front end removal required.
-I changed the fork oil six times.
-I repacked the swingarm four times.
-I changed the speedo sensor twice.
-Every Winter, I Lube My Cables
*maintenance numbers continue to change as mileage continues to mount
The stock shocks were never very good, so I installed 12.5 inch Progressive 440’s with the heavy duty springs. And what about the spring loaded cam chain tensioners? Well I changed those twice, installing adjustable pushrods, new bearings, and lifters. Did it once at 49K, and again at 70K. But then, at 111,000, I installed the hybrid cam plate, with the bigger oil pump, SE 203 cams, new bearings, hydraulic tensioners, and V-Thunder lifters.
The weld broke on the shifter lever at 56,000, two days before my planned trip to Michigan. The part was back ordered, and a check of the computer revealed that none were available within a hundred miles. So I pulled off the outer primary, the inner primary, the clutch, the chain, and the compensator, brought the part to Moroney’s, and they welded it. And then I went to Michigan.
I installed “Speed Bleeders” at 106K. They make it real easy to maintain the brakes. I used to like the Dunlop 401 or 402, because they handled so well in the rain, but I’ve found a new favorite: the Michelin Commander II - the best rain tire I’ve ever tried. And they last, for me, about 20 percent longer than the Dunlop.
A spider once lived in the speedometer. This bike has been through forty states, and has never been trailered.
A few years ago, I switched to the hydraulic tensioners and larger oil pump, and checked the runout on the shaft. I was very pleased minimal runout. Like a new engine. I believe there is much truth in the value of left side Timkens and manual primary chain tensioners.
It’s fairly easy to tell if the idle jet is correct, but according to Nightrider website, if you don’t have access to a dyno, you need to do a W.O.T. run. Wide Open Throttle.
TO TEST THE MAIN JETTING, YOU MUST BE IN FOURTH OR FIFTH GEAR, AND RUNNING FAIRLY HIGH RPM (4000+), THEN OPEN THE THROTTLE ALL THE WAY TO THE THROTTLE STOP, NOTING THE FEEL OF THE BIKE.
And immediately afterwards, you shut her down, and check the plugs.
But anyway, I’d changed my pipes, and I just wasn’t getting the POWER, that I thought I should have, so I put in a bigger main jet.
The long hill on 84 west outa town
Rolling fast on the Superglide
No one in the right lane
95, 100 miles per hour some stupid SUV
Plodding along at 65 eases on over
check left, there’s room
hit the middle lane
And the plodding SUV
Can’t decide, straddles the line
So he hits the gap
Between lanes
And blasts on through
But just for a sec
he touched the rear brake
Oh…and don’t forget to check the plugs…
When new, my superglide ran really well with the stock exhaust, but I didn’t like the sound…so I bought “slip-ons.” Then it ran really well, and sounded good, too. But I was doing a lot of riding, running back and forth across the United States…and I was eating up some tires in the process. So every time I changed my back tire, I had to remove the damn muffler, because it blocked axle removal, and that became the pain in the ass of the entire process. Taking it off, then putting it back on…clamps…pain in the ass clamps. So I found a short exhaust…I bought a set of Vance & Hines “short shots.” And from then on, there would be no more muffler removal for a simple tire change….And they look good, too. Simple and clean.
Well, the Short Shots looked great, but, I thought, the sound was never all that good. Kind of tinny and raucous, at the same time. Ya see, they came with these eleven inch baffles, all metal, like pipe, vented all around, a little crimp in the middle, near one end. So I took it out on the highway for a “speed test” with the new exhaust; I wanted to check the performance and the jetting.
Idling was good, and the bike ran OK, but the main test would be known as WTO: Wide Open Throttle, a test that some might consider “less than legal,” but which, under the proper circumstances, can prove highly exhilarating, and when I performed this test, I was less than satisfied. So I went home and put in a bigger main jet, and was still not satisfied. So I went home again, removed those eleven inch baffles, and cut them in half. And I put in another main jet, a 200, and took her out for another round of WTO, and this run, though not as good as the slip ons, was much better. The bike, I felt, was rideable. I pulled the plugs, they looked pretty good. Gas mileage was good: usually 40 mpg, or better. Half baffles, I figured, are better than no baffles.
But it was still a little tinny and raucous; I don’t think the neighbors were pleased. Maybe it was me…but it seemed like they scowled a lot when I passed. So I rode the bike like that for a few years, until just recently, when I saw Thunder City Baffles…nice name, and the claim, was that these baffles would cut down on the tinny, raucousness, and give my motorcycle a deeper tone, and improve my mid-range. Wow. That sounds good. That sounded real good until I looked at the price. These guys wanted a hundred and forty dollars for a set of baffles. But I read all the “testimonials,” and no one had anything bad to say, so I figured I’d give it a shot.
So I followed the instructions, drilled a couple of holes in my short shots, and installed the baffles deep in the pipe. The bike seemed to run OK, but the sound was better. So now it was time to take her out for the main test: WOT, and I must say that, without any further jet changes, the bike passed the WOT test, and after several weeks of riding, I’m convinced that the baffles did improve my mid-range…she pulls harder, definitely, and seems yet “tamer”. But number one: it sounds better. Number two: I got better mid-range. Number three: I didn’t lose nuthin’ up top (WOT). And now…the neighbors bring me fresh baked bread and cut flowers. Nope. But maybe they scowl a little less when I pass. And the plugs look good…
Supertrapp Came Next
Compression Test At 136,000 miles
front cyl: 156, 155 psi
rear cyl: 165, 157 psi
Jetting The Original Keihin
I put on a 2 into 1 Supertrapp exhaust, which enhanced my performance considerably. This is how it's tuned.
190 main jet. 48 slow jet. 2 1/2 turns out on the mix screw.
15 disks with open end cap
Autolite Plugs 4164 - loose .040
Gas Mileage: 51mpg summer; 43mpg winter
$500 Spider
I saw him a few days ago, the spider, but now it appears that he's building a web around my speedometer needle. Think of the possibilities: "I didn't know I was speeding officer…oh, look, there's a spider web in my speedometer." Or this: "…one hundred miles per hour…No Way. My speedometer only said fifty-five." Well, there's a little hole in the back, and I hooked a tiny hose onto a can of Raid, and gave him a little shot. There's really no way to get the little fucker out of there; I don't think the speedo comes apart. So for now, I'll just wait and see if the Raid will take its toll. And think of more excuses…
So…the spider was living in the speedometer, and I figured, “…live and let live,” that is, until she started building a web to the needle. So a little Raid applied around the holes in the bottom, where the wires go in, and a dose of heat from the heat gun, to spread the fumes, and the spider lay down at a spot between 90 and 95 MPH, on the glass. Didn’t move for 3 days, so I thought she was dead…and then I took a ride, and she came alive. Probably from the vibrations. And then, after the ride, she started building another web to the needle. That could be a problem. So I got my heat gun, and began to slowly heat the glass face of the speedometer, and she was running around in there, but I cooked her, and she shriveled up and died down where it says “Harley Davidson.” She came to rest in between the “e”, and the “y.” Unfortunately, I also cracked the glass. Shit.
So I found out that a new speedo, with my mileage programmed by a genuine technician of The Harley Davidson Motor Factory, was gonna run around five hundred bucks. A cool looking aftermarket speedo, with the mileage programmed in would cost about the same. Stock “take-offs” on E-Bay, could be found for around a hundred…I saw one, with 35,000 miles, for eighty bucks.
I don’t think I want to show a lower mileage, and open up a can of worms…maybe accusations of mileage tampering, so I figured I could just replace the glass. I found I could buy a new glass and bezel kit, from J & P Cycles for cheap, but further research led me to believe that the product is only available for a 4 1/2” speedo: mine is 3 1/2”. I even found a video, several videos, on how to change the glass and the bezel. But not for a 3 1/2”. Removal of the old bezel would cause kinks, and probably leakage, not to mention that the kinked up bezel would probably look like shit. So I put some tape over the cracked glass face…you can still see how fast you are going, and can still see the odometer, so you know when to change the oil. And I ran a very thin skim of blue silicone around the joint where the bezel and the glass meet…it should work for a while. But if you look real close, you can see the carcass of the Five Hundred Dollar Spider: right between the E and the Y.
Woozy In Jersey
Okay, so I was just a little bit woozy, and I rode down to this family restaurant in New Jersey…the one with the big hot rod theme, and it was sunday morning, and did I say I was woozy? So I parked the super glide at the end of a group of bikes in the middle of the parking lot, and there was this old leaky shovel head, on the end, next to mine. So I go inside, and I eat a piece of cheesecake and drink a cup off coffee, and I come back out, and I straddle my ride, I hit the starter button and…arrh….argh…so I shut her down. She never does this. She always kicks right over. Perplexed, I try it again. This time…it's only one arrg…and she dies. This never happens. So I wiggle some wires, and try again….nothing. So I pull the seat thinking that maybe the ground connection loosened on the battery. In the meantime, the riders parked to my left had come out, preparing to leave, and they seemed to take much enjoyment over my predicament…especially the shovel head guy. His old piece of shit bike probably never starts, but this time it fires right up, and he had this smug look on his face just before the group blasted out of the parking lot. So I dig out my tools and it's getting hot so I take off my leather jacket, and spread it out, and set my tools on it, and then the seat, in the adjacent empty parking spot. So I snug up the ground wire before I get this tremendous urge to take a dump. Shit. So I leave my stuff all spread out in the parking lot, and go back into the restaurant, where I find the one shitter occupied. Some dude is sitting in there dropping turds and taking his time, farting as he goes, and making loud coughing sounds, not really coughing but loudly clearing his throat, completely oblivious to my situation. So now we're alone in this little echoing bathroom…and I gotta go…really gotta go. And I'm thinkin' somebody probably stole my seat and jacket and tools. So now when this dude clears his throat, I mimic the noise, only louder. So he goes, "Arrh-arrh", and I go "Arrh-arrh", only louder. So finally this dude gets the message, and comes busting out of the stall, gives me a dirty look, slams the door and leaves, so I can take control of the warm toilet seat, and continue my business.
I'm still not really sure why my bike won't start, but at least my seat, my tools and my jacket seem undisturbed. So I wiggle wires and snug connections, and I put in the key, and she fires right up. Fuck that shovel head guy. So I shut her off, and test it again and she fires right up, so I quick pack my shit, and ride the fuck out of there, until I come to a friendly tavern with motorcycles parked outside. So I figure I'll stop for one, let the bike sit, then test her again, And I drink one down, and go out and test her and she fires right up. Okay so now that she's running good, and it's sunday, and the weather is nice…shit, I might as well go for a ride…so I blast on out of there. Fuck that shovel head guy.
I was heading north out of Sussex, New Jersey. I’d had a cheese burger, a big pile of really good fries and 2 pints of PBR. So I’m rolling on 284, clean afternoon, december sun, and long december shadows. Rolling in zero traffic on clean smooth blacktop, maybe 60 mph and up ahead, maybe a quarter mile, out pulls a SUV, then quick right behind, a motorcycle. I keep my speed, and easy roll up on them, there’s nothing aggressive going on here, and I hang back at maybe 50 mph. So I’m on the right, maybe 2 cycle lengths back from the other bike who is closer to the center line, maintaining, and the SUV slows, signals, then makes a left…and there it is: OPEN ROAD. And the dude on the harley in front of me…he sees it, too. And he gives her some gas, and I’m right with him at 2 bike lengths…and he gives her some more, and we’re whipping through those smooth curves on 284, maybe 70, and I know he’s looking at me in the mirror, and he cranks it up…and we are rocking. Eighty miles per hour. Then ninety, and I’m right there as we near the New York border…and he signals for a right, and I slow and give him some room. And he pulls into the Sunoco, and I slow and he waves, waves to me that it was a good ride, waves me on to ride another day…and I wave back. Rock on brother…
CHOKE
The Harley Davidson Official Factory Manual refers to the part as Cable, Enrichment, part number 29229-88B. But, basically, it is a choke. It is for the last of the constant velocity carburetors, before the motor company switched, completely, to fuel injection. The actual choke knob, and the little thumb-wheel that’s used to tighten it, and hold the choke setting, being made of plastic, has a nasty tendency to crack, when over-tightened, especially if you use, pliers, vice grips, or plumbers tools. Once it’s broke, you can pull out the choke, but it won’t stay out. So you sit there for a minute (or two), to warm the engine…and you think it’s warm, but when you try to accelerate through a curve, you get a “carb fart,” an exciting phenomena, that causes the bike to feel like it’s going to momentarily stall, and the guy in the truck behind you, will run over you, and flatten you like a pancake. Though the replacement part is fairly cheap, actual replacement requires full or partial removal of the carburetor, which, generally speaking, requires removal of other parts, and which, generally speaking, is a pain the ass. It never fails, after carb removal, your hands smell like gas.
Well, I’ve had my fill of carb farts. While looking through the junk box, I found some tie clips…almost like “roach clips,” but fancy. And wider. And I found one, with a fake diamond stud, that will hold my choke open just the right amount, to warm the engine, while riding…and no carb farts. Depending on the ambient temperature, I can remove the clip device, at a convenient stop sign or traffic light, one, two or three miles from my home. Removal is easily accomplished with riding gloves on, and the “device” slips handily into my left jacket pocket. I imagine, if it was real cold, like below freezing, I could find a wider tie clip, to hold the choke out further, but I really like the one with the diamond stud. Listen folks, fix your bike the right way, but this is just too cool not to share. And I imagine, for those of you who like the shiny stuff, you can even find one in chrome. Just remember…chrome don’t get you home. And check your junk box.
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Metal On The Magnetic Drain Plug: I Got Tired Of Changing Those Damned Spring Tensioners! |
There’s usually flakes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I got rid of those damned spring tensioners at 111,000. Changed them twice, before I finally got around to the new cam plate with the hydraulic tensioners, and the bigger oil pump. But she runs good, that’s what matters, right? And she’s not real noisy, and the end play, at 111,000 checked out at .0025”. And the bearings are new, and like I said, the pump is bigger, so I guess I’ll just keep rolling along, until she blows.
Petcock
I’ve gotta take a ride today…a maintenance ride, not a fun ride. The fun will come later. I filled up my tank with 91 0ctane No Ethanol couple of days ago. I was on a maintenance ride that day, too. And, funny thing, when I got home, my superglide ticking hot from high speed, showed some slight wetness on the bottom of the petcock, and further investigation revealed a brownish gas stain below the petcock, on the primary, and on the rear head. So now I’m thinkin’ that I have some leaking at the petcock, and I clean it thoroughly, probably better than I’ve cleaned it in the last ten years, and, over the course of the day I observe. I like my garage; I like my motorcycles. I don’t want a simple leak to become a big problem. So I observe. And this is what I observe: It only leaks maybe one drop, and only when it’s hot…ticking hot. So, I can live with this petcock for a while. Remember…I have a full tank. So I have to go for a ride.
Hot motorcycles and leaking gas in a closed garage; it’s time for a new petcock. The one that’s on there is the original one, close to twenty years old, with a rubber diaphragm, that’s been exposed to ethanol fuels, all over the United States Of America. So I begin my search: There’s a genuine dealer part for close to a hundred dollars (61338-94c). There’s a genuine diaphragm for twenty something dollars (61200-97). And there are aftermarket ones for $21.95. So I read the “reviews” for the aftermarket ones, and it seems that, oh yes, the majority of folks who buy them are happy. But if you really dig into the reviews, you begin to see, a small percentage of folks who are disgruntled…disgruntled because their new petcocks leak right out of the box. Or disgruntled because their new petcock leaked, 3 months later, or 6 months later….No! That’s not for me. I like my garage; I like my motorcycles. So I go to Moroney’s, and sure enough, Jaime goes in the back stockroom and comes out with a diaphragm, an expensive little piece of rubber. My options appear limited, until Jaime mentions the FUEL VALVE BODY, 61338-02. So, I can get the whole body, with diaphragm inside, for less than forty bucks…I’ll take it.
So, I gotta go for a ride, not a fun ride. Who am I kidding? And ya know what? The faster I go, the faster I drain the tank. It’s time for some “wind therapy…”
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Testing The Shocks |
Heading south out of Ellenville, you see…I was testing my shocks, the original shocks that came with the bike. I’d taken them off several years ago, and put on some Heavy Duty Progressives, that I could use for touring, with the wife.. But the Progressives rode hard one up, and I think one was leaking. So I dug out the stock shocks, and they seem good. I got a hundred thousand out of the Progressives.
So I roll out of town to where the end of 30 mph limit sign is, and I get behind this sharp BMW, a black sedan, and he’s doing the speed limit, and I respect that, but I’m kind of close behind, when he decides to hit his windshield washers, and sprays me in the face with washer fluid. And it’s funny, and I smile and show him my front teeth, and I give him the finger. And I see him stick his arm, a black man, he sticks his arm out the window and gives me the finger back. And then he slows down, like he wants me to pull alongside, and there’s oncoming traffic, but I figure, what the hell, and I ride right up the double yellow, cautious…I’m thinking he might force me into oncoming traffic, cautious, I pull up alongside his open window…and he’s not hostile, he shrugs his shoulders, and spreads his hands, like…WHAT? So I smile…I show him my teeth, and shout…”It’s All Good.” and he looks astounded, and I’m just so glad that he didn’t run me into oncoming traffic, I laugh…It’s all good. And He lets me get ahead of him and I give her the gas. And Now I’m going down 209, and I’m passing just about everything on the road…75…80: crank that mutherfucker up 95 miles per hour. And I roll into Wurtsboro…doing 30, and out of town through the hairpin, hit the left lane to blow by the bus, and heading for Ski Run Road. Remember: this is a test of my new/old shock absorbers. Ski Run Road is a downhill run, curvy with whoop-dee-doo’s, and the shocks performed well, didn’t jar my teeth like the heavy duty’s, but had a tendency to “wallow” more. Not excellent, but good. So I got to the bottom of the mountain, and took the road over to Thompson Ridge, where I stopped for the stop sign at 302. And while I’m waiting for traffic to pass on 302, who goes by, but the BMW, the black one…same car, same black dude driving. I don’t think he saw me, but I’ll never know. I blasted across 302, and rolled through Searsville, and headed for home. Yep. Those shocks are good.
Worn Dogs? Maybe Not.
After a hundred and twenty five thousand "trouble free" miles, I finally tore into the tranny of my superglide. Actually, Jerry did. The only problem I ever had, was, of late, something that happened only when accelerating hard and fast, up near 5000 RPM, in the lower gears: “racing”, if you will. It felt like I "skipped a tooth" on those high rev shifts between the lower gears. I thought maybe the dogs were worn. Jerry tore it apart for me, cleaned and examined each piece. The pawl spring had broken, somewhere along the line, and chipped up a few of the gears. There was nothing left of the pawl spring. Most of the dogs look good, but third shows some wear. It must have been oh, maybe ten years ago, I had to replace the transmission speedometer sensor twice, and both times, the magnet was loaded with shavings and chips, and I’m thinking, where’d all them chips come from, and that must have been my pawl spring, all ground up between the gears, into little chips…glitter, if you will. Because Jerry found nothing, not a trace of the pawl spring when he opened her up.
So, I’m wondering: how come the bike ran so well, shifted so well, for all those years, without the pawl spring. It appears that the pawl spring has a job of gently pushing the pawl into the ratchet that shifts the gears. Without the spring, gravity took over, and dropped the pawl down to where it was supposed to go. Sweet. But maybe at high RPM, racing shifts, she dropped down and was kicked back out. Anyway, it appears that corporate Harley Davidson has gone and made parts for the 5 speed transmission obsolete. So the hunt is on. Gonna get some new gears, and as many genuine Harley parts as I can, then she’ll be good for another 125,000 miles.
I'd also like to note here, that the rear drive belt had worn a groove in the steel transmission pulley. A smooth groove.
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Fork Oil Secrets |
So I got out a big wrench, and alternately loosened my fork caps, until one of them fired like a rocket, under pressure from the compressed fork spring, and made a large dent in my wooden overhead garage door, and I’m thinking, hmmm… So I drilled holes in my fork caps, actually Vic did it for me, cause he has a drill press, and tapped the holes for a pipe thread, and fitted them with a 3/8” allen plug. The holes are big enough to accept the nipple from an oil filler bottle. I have 2 filler bottles, measure the correct amount for each side, drain from the bottom, put the bottom plugs back in….and carefully squeeze the precious fluid into each tube. And no more dealings with those pesky springs. It’s just a matter of finding the correct weight oil.
The Harley manual, the bible, says to use Genuine HD Type E, which I found to be a little “squishy,” I did some internet research and found some charts, confusing viscosity numbers, and replacement guides pertaining to fork oil, which led me to believe that the HD Type E fork oil is rated at a viscosity of approximately 7w, and that the HD Screaming Eagle Heavy is approximately 20w. So, I figured, why not try something in between, and there it was: Bel-Ray 15w.
It’s rush hour, and traffic is jamming up on all the major roads, so I do a little lane splitting, and wind up at Moroney’s Harley Davidson, and on the shelf, all I see, is the familiar little bottles of Type E, and Screaming Eagle Heavy. Nope. So I wander over to “the Metric side,” down the stairs to the unpretentious “metric side” of the dealership. This is where they sell stuff for…Jap Bikes. The man at the counter was helpful. I told him that I was looking to try a 15w in my Harley. He didn’t have the Bel-Ray, either, but recommended the Maxima 15w…”Harley compatible,” he said. And I bought it. And I left there happy, and then I saw traffic was jammed as far as the eye could see…rush hour traffic. I shot off down some side road until I found more jammed up traffic, and I began splitting lanes. I split lanes “un-aggressively,” squeezing through the jam, trying not to clip any mirrors…I feel I’m doing a service to those who are stuck, by alleviating the jam, somewhat, by giving up my place on the road to a bigger vehicle, and relegating my humble air cooled motorcycle to the narrow, often un-maintained places, where no other vehicle can go.
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