Jed’s Old Custom Softail comes back home.. along with other 2 wheeled additions

[j.e.d.]

Like getting a tattoo and at the time saying “never again”, then a few years later you start forgetting that pain and wanting to go through it again, I decided I wanted to buy back my old bike.

Bought the Don Morrison frame back in 2004, took 8 years and a shit ton of money to finally get it certified and on the road, then sold it 3 years later in January of 2015 for fuck all and having only done about 1200 miles as the oil pump decided to shit itself and I got pissy with it.

Fast forward to November 2017 and the guy I bought it off asked if I wanted to buy it back as his Mrs was having a kid and Harley life wasn’t on the cards for the foreseeable future so he was gonna sell it.. he’d spent a bit getting the oil pump rebuilt and oil tank cleaned and sealed (shit in the tank got into the pump).. I nearly bought it but pulled out due to finances and memories still fresh. 

Fast forward another 2 years to November 2019.. carbon copy conversation of 2017, he still hadn’t gotten round to selling and gave me first option to buy before he tries to sell.. I chickened out again, deciding the money was better spent on a trip to the States with the family instead.. 

Fast forward 2 more years again, November 2021.. (there’s a theme here and I don’t know why).. my circumstances have changed, I’m single, I have money, and I’m up for making stupid rash purchases, so I rang the guy up and sure enough, he still had it and he wanted less than last time so I bit the bullet and picked it up the next day before changing my mind.

Mix of emotions when saw the bike.. happy to get her back but sad to see the state she was in.. only 1640 miles on the clock assuming it’s still working, but she looks like shit. Kinda like a “Barn find” but maybe not the good kind, A lot of the chromed alloy finishes have deteriorated, and a fair bit of rust pitting to nuts and bolts here and there.

Gonna probably change the look of the bike out of necessity to my minimal budget, and look at blacking it out.. stay tuned if you like, it’ll probably take as long as anything I do on the Galaxie tbh

[Kiwibirdman]

Looks alright in the photos. I would put it together and do some miles, have some fun. It's too easy to have a project that carries on and you never to ride (drive) it

I'm up for a ride, if you don't mind triumphs.

[j.e.d.]

totally agree man.. yea I'll be doing the minimum to get it on the road as quick as I can.. I'm up for a ride for sure, triumphs are cool & I don't get bogged down on who rides what.. I just like big bikes cos I'm a big fella

[j.e.d.]

Totally got forgotten about did this thing as it sat in the container.. but tripping over it every now and then reminded me. Spent 3 days last week driving in shit Auckland traffic which has spurred me on to sort it out.

Spent Saturday with one of my boys moving things around and getting it in the new garage where there’s a bit more room

Started stripping down the front end. Shit pics sorry, I was surprised how finger tight things like the axle bolt and fork retaining bolts were.. sheesh

I’m trying to keep an orderly setout on the bench to reduce the chance of the ‘now where the fuck is that bolt’ question being muttered to myself on re-assembly. And still not sure how much gets blacked out, so will tidy the things that need tidying/painting then go from there.

[j.e.d.]

Shining old shiny things. Using some modellers steel wool works wonders cleaning up the old chrome bits. 
before:

after:

and some shiny controls.. I’m really happy how these have come back considering the finish looked like the fuel cap

 

still a little bit of pitting if you look close, but I’m not too concerned. 

[j.e.d.]

Painted some things

Happy with how the rim came out.. may not last long/may rust from the inside out on the spokes, but it looks nice and tidy now. Starting to put the front end together now

[j.e.d.]

Got the front end together tonight.. probably hard to see what it looks like, but I’m happy so far.. everything is cleaning up good. 

then for something different, I picked up a scooter for my son who is showing an interest in riding a bike.. figured he should see if he actually enjoys riding on something simple.. it’s a 2003 Bug Bandit.. never heard of them before. Top speed of about 50km/h downhill apparently. Love the smell of a two stroke.

[j.e.d.]

Finished cleaning up the dirty things on the bike.. looks soo much better.

Have painted the dash as well so will put that back on tomorrow.

Now, I have a question for those more knowledgeable than me.. this bike has been sitting for a few years, complete which is good so nothing I feel I need to worry in the bores as the spark plugs are still in and carb connected. I want to do the right thing on start up, so I’m thinking I’ll need to prime the oil pump somehow (looks like a bung at the top of the pump so assuming oil goes in there). I have a full service kit for the bike, engine, primary and trans oils, new filter.. would it pay to hand crank the engine to make sure it turns freely? I’m assuming here I’ll need to remove the primary cover to do this though so hopefully this won’t damage the gasket. Not sure if this is necessary though.

I may need to clean the carb too? Just thought of that now as it may have a build up in there.. the bike has only done 1640 miles since being on the road though.. noticed the fuel tap was slightly seized, so a quick spray of CRC freed that up.

Feedback greatly accepted, otherwise I’ll just start on Dr Google and work it out from there.. ta

[xsinclairx]

I think to check it’s not seized you could chuck it in 5th with the plugs out and push it? 
To build oil pressure crank it over with leads off plugs. Pretty sure oil light comes on if not enough oil pressure. 

I might be completely wrong tho 

[Goat]

For my 883, which had been sitting for god knows how long, I just unplugged the ignition module (so it wouldn't generate spark), and took out spark plugs so there was no compression to reduce/remove load on crank etc. I had the carb off too, but could just hold it WOT.

Bit of crc down the bore and just wound it over till I could see oil pumping back into the tank, This was from completely dry too.

I actually cracked the oil filter to check the pump was pumping, as soon as oil started to come out here I nipped it up and continued to crank until it was returning back to the pump. This took a while.
I'd assume evo big twins would also be roller crank, so doesn't need oil in the same way that standard bearings do.

If you're super worried, could pull the rocker covers and put some oil on the rockers/valves. Could also lift pushrod tubes and put some oil on the lifters.

 

Do pull the bowl off the carb and give it a clean, will no doubt have some misery in there. Check the jets to see if they're obscured with shit too. Do you have an S&S carb too? They're super simple so get in there!

[j.e.d.]

Thanks man, I'll do all that you've suggested. I don't have a problem with doing as much as I can to prevent any potential issues. Yea its a Super G, so I'll get stuck in there.. Cheers!

[j.e.d.]

Got the dash painted and installed.. not convinced on the look but it’s tidy and that’s the only theme I’m working on at the mo.. maybe I’ll paint the chrome around the ignition and the stainless speedo ring.

And the glass was broken on the speedo at some point during the previous ownership. Unfortunately the stainless ring is pressed on so no way of replacing it, and a new speedo is stupid money, so I just cut a circle from some hard plastic packaging (shower hose from Bunnings) and that seems to work for now. Would like to run a thin bead or silicon to stop any water getting in, but for now it’ll be a dry weather bike so not too worried about it. (White lines are a reflection on the plastic)

[tortron]

You can make a couple of small nicks in the back of the trim ring and very gently work around it to pry the edge up. I have done a couple of gauges this way

[j.e.d.]

Cheers man, will give that a go

[tortron]

If you care what the underside looks like. Wrap the body with some tape to stop it from marking when you lever against it. Here's my GN one that I opened up to convert to electric (pre dented) 

If you use something like a jewelers screwdriver you can pry it all up fairly evenly. I didn't put too much care into this one, and only half crimped it back down for later adjustments

 

[j.e.d.]

Electrical all sorted now. Bought a new battery from Auckland HD about 1.5 years ago, and only just realised the other day that the + - is the wrong way round for my cables. Decided that getting longer cables made would be far cheaper than buying another battery, so a trip to the local auto sparky in Puke got me new 100mm longer cables made up and a new connector plug as the rear loom connector was corroded.

Looks a little messy as I needed to move the loom around with the swap over, but the seat covers it all and there’s nothing loose..

Pulled the plugs.. rear looks a little blacker than the front.. will give them a little clean up and see how they go

 

[Kimjon]

For oil priming, assuming you have oil in it, ready to go.

Take plugs out and ground them (or disconnect coils).

Undo the lower of the large flat head screws on the oil pump. Put a magnet in the hole and pull the ball bearing (check valve) out. Let oil bypass into the hole you'll see, that the ball bearing would be blocking. You can put you finger over the top hole and let it flow for a few seconds. I even cranked mine.

Put the check valve back together.

Crank motor over on starter until oil light goes out. Do this in 5 second bursts. But mine pretty much went out straight away.

Good to go...

[Kimjon]

 

This is an easier way to show you. I took a video to show my mate at the time.

[j.e.d.]

Sweet cheers @Kimjon.. that'd be the one to the left in this pic... might have to call into the $2 shop for a telescopic magnet today. Thanks for that tip, as I wondered if there was a way to prime the pump

 

[Kimjon]

This one, the lower of the flat head slotted screws. It'll be directly over the oil feed line.