Cletus's other projects

[RXFORD]

Sheeeit, how about that, I did one of them scenic pics too on Sunday. 

[anglia4]

Shame it was such a foggy day

[RXFORD]

1 hour ago, anglia4 said:

Shame it was such a foggy day

Scratched lens filter

[cletus]

Next side project 

04 HD FXD 

1450cc, 5 speed, carb. 30something thousand miles

It's a bit of a 20 footer , the paint is fucked but I figure it's not a huge deal to get that sorted on a bike. Needs a lot of little tidy ups, it's a bit grubby, gear shift linkage is loose, speedo mount is a bit dumb

Seems to run OK, I've only ridden it a short distance but it seems to be a bit slow, doesn't stop great, handles a bit wierd, and build quality not great compared to a honda so is exactly what I was expecting 

Is all stock apart from aftermarket bars and risers and an led tail light , and it seems loud ish so maybe the mufflers have had a mufflectomy 

It's very big and heavy compared to what I'm used to, but the good thing about that is it is a more suitable size for me 

 

[RXFORD]

Sweet, the big question is have you decided who you are going to prospect for?

[RUNAMUCK]

1450cc and carb eh?

What's the static compression ratio on one of these?

Do you have a moment to discuss the merits of our lord and savior the belt driven barometric compensator?

[cletus]

Not sure what comp they are but it's enough to make them sound like they aren't going to start half the time 

[cletus]

Spent a few hours hooning around on it today on some roads I enjoy on my other bike.

The handling is actually a lot better than I was expecting. It's a lot of fun on windy roads

it doesn't do anything bad apart from the pegs and side stand hit the ground on tight corners, so you have to enter a bit slower, if you come in a bit hot and the pegs start grinding you're kind of fucked because you can't lean any more

This dyna series of bike is known for something called the "dyna wobble" , this is because the swing arm is mounted to the gear box and motor assembly, which is rubber mounted to the frame, so the rear wheel can kind of move around a bit, this is usually when the mounts are a bit chooched. Makes for interesting mid corner handling. This one does not do any wierd stuff so the mounts must be good ish 

The lack of hp doesn't seem to matter, it has bundles of torque and it goes good enough to get yourself into mischief so I'm not too worried about that

Brakes, are not super awesome but are probably good enough, it's a bit odd getting used to how much rear brake you can/have to use 

One other positive, it seems a bit easier on my back, the amount of spine ouchies was less than on the honda, I wonder if a bit of extra bike weight helps with that?

In all, I like it more now after spending a bit of time riding it 

 

[fletch]

Workmate has a dyna something. He got some mount kit for it to fix the wobble and has ridden it pretty hard 2 up all over the country.

I can ask him what kit he got in 2 weeks if your interested.

[cletus]

Cool, thanks

they are pretty simple, there's a couple of companies that make them. They are basically a panhard bar for the front  and rear mounts to stop it all moving sidewards 

[Mop Head]

Small bike enthusiast I may be. But I have ridden a lot of hooley doovidsuns and would trade again. Glad to see you with this @cletus. So tell us the plans, no one buys one of these and keeps it as they found it. 

[cletus]

Paint, not sure on colour yet

Some cosmetic tidy ups , frame and engine paint 

It's got a fiberglass front guard so I'll find a factory steel one 

Small headlight fairing and possibly chin spoiler 

2-1 pipe

Step up type seat 

Possibly twin disc front and some engine mods

 

This kind of thing 

 

[cletus]

Scenic potatoes

[Vintage Grumble]

I'm not a harley guy, but they are a cool looking bike. I'm enjoying your riding/ownership review. BUT, the speedo, does it not look crazy ridiculous where its at?

[tortron]

2 minutes ago, Vintage Grumble said:

I'm not a harley guy, but they are a cool looking bike. I'm enjoying your riding/ownership review. BUT, the speedo, does it not look crazy ridiculous where its at?

On the tank? You get used to it after a day

[Vintage Grumble]

Whats the big dial way up in the air between the bars? Rev counter?

[tortron]

25 minutes ago, Vintage Grumble said:

Whats the big dial way up in the air between the bars? Rev counter?

Oh that's it, looks like fuel filler and small gauge below it on this

[cletus]

Yeah on this model they are kind of high up factory, because it's got bar risers and a extra bracket it sticks up a lot more 

It's also on a dumb angle which makes it slightly difficult to see and the housing is slightly munted so I have a plan to reduce the height and fix the munt and angle

Repositioning the speedo up high is a practical thing (you don't have to look down at the tank all the time) that I think has become part of the "look" of this type of bike  

 

 

[Positive Ape]

wow, that first photo, by the sea, is awesome. A+!!!!

[cletus]

Time to release more potato noises, got a new zorst pipe

While the exhaust was off I thought I'd better check the weak point on these engines, which is the cam chain tensioners, they often wear out at very low mileage, they are plastic and have quite stiff springs. There's one that's easy to get to and another that's a bit more work, pushrods, rockers, lifters and cams all have to come out 

When they fail they break up and go in the oil pump and carnage ensues

Easy to check, just take stuff off, cam cover off, look

These are worn enough to need replacement so I'll do that soon, that would be an opportunity to do cams at the same time , and there's a few options on upgraded tensioner systems etc depending how many dollars you want to spend, there's a kit to convert to later model twin cam style hydraulic tensioners 

Anyway, bolted the exhaust on, I guess if it was a v rod I'd be finished here

 

 

Put the muffler on and started it, goodness me it's a bit rowdy, looks like they put the louvers in the muffler the wrong way around to make it noisy, I'll see what it's like but I'll probably make a more quiet insert 

Also the heat shield doesn't fit at the front , there's not enough room between the front pipe and the frame , might need a trim, or a spacer under the front engine mount might do it