------------------------------ Subject: 27. Hop-up Suggestions -- BT Technical "Big HP costs big money no matter what." -- Mark Cronenweth The most important thing to do is to plan all your mods ahead of time, because the motor is a package and each part effects the others. Many people do their thinking piece by piece; they waste a lot of money *and* end up with a lot less HP than desired. Be aware that the first HP advances are the cheapest. IOW, you can get 28% increase out of a stock motor for $400. The same increase out of a 100 horse plant will cost thousands. Note that all power increases will increase the stresses on other parts of the machine. You should remain conscious of the reliability trade-offs. Several popular scenarios are listed below. Wake up call Your Harley has been pretty well stopped-up to pass EPA noise and emissions standards. If you only want to wake her, up bolt on the SE air cleaner, SE slip-ons mufflers, HD (stock) 1200 Sporty ignition and a mild bolt in cam (such as the EV13). You will also have to install a Dynajet kit or perform equivalent modifications to the stock CV carburetor (see CV Carburetor Hop-up). HP increases will be between 20-30%, with an average of 20% gain across the rpm range of your motor. The stock XLH 1200 ignition has a more aggressive advance curve than the BT ignition, while keeping the rev limiter. Retaining the rev limiter promotes reliability; you should not rev the motor beyond 5,800 rpm. You are wasting your time, and may hurt the performance of your motor, if you don't do the carburetor modifications and the exhaust and air cleaner upgrade as a set. The motor will have a flat spot in its acceleration curve and will probably run hotter. Breathed on The same changes as in the preceding section, but utilizing parts with room for growth will provide a foundation for future modifications: Quicksilver or S&S Super E carburetor, Dyna 2000 ignition, SE slip-ons or other two-into-one pipe from the list above and a bolt-in cam such as the EV3. Head Job The next step involves a hotter cam, and headwork to improve the flow and compression ratio. Your can buy off-the-shelf from Eldebrock or S&S, or send your heads to BC Gerolamy, Headquarters, Branch etc. It has been suggested that buying new heads and selling the old ones can greatly reduce the cost of this upgrade. Some are of the opinion that welding heads (necessary for bathtub'd compression chamber, flat intake floor, D shaped exhaust etc.) weakens the metal. A point in favor of the Eldebrock is that it is CARB approved. It is strongly suggested that to select the correct cam, you discuss your set-up with your head provider (and with the shop working on your heads.) The head work should include upgrading the valve springs to allow for a cam with more than .500 lift. The compression ratio should be bumped by shaving the heads, decreasing the combustion chamber size or installing aftermarket pistons such as Wiseco. Asphalt Ripper "Once you hit the 80 hp "wall" you have to spend big bucks to go further." -- Jon Boulle The next logical step involves increasing the size of the plant. Eighty- eight inches can be achieved by increasing the cylinder bore and installing new pistons, or by increasing the stroke. To accommodate the increased size of your motor, your carburetor and cam may require upgrading and you will probably want to upgrade the driveline to handle the added stress. "Something to keep in mind when you are looking at the big bore motors is the [stock] cases newer than 89 have a tendency to crack [...] between the cylinders and the lifters [with big bore kits]. If you don't want to use aftermarket cases I suggest you build an 89" (4 5/8" stroker) motor instead." -- Leonard Pennock Find a very experienced Harley shop to perform this type of work. You probably want to avoid the boutique, as independents shops pay their mechanics more. There are exceptions, such as Bartels in San Diego Ca. and Vallejo Ca. Harley-Davidson, both of which race. Plan on spending at least a couple of grand. ------------------------------ Subject: 28. Hop-up Suggestions -- 883 Technical The 883 owner has an inexpensive option available to him that others do not. This is the ability to increase the displacement by a whopping 37% for less than $500. The recommended approach is having an experienced Harley machine shop punch out the cylinders and installing Wiseco pistons. It is important that the machine shop uses torque plates when boring out the cylinders. The Wiseco kit is preferred over the Harley Davidson stock 1200cc parts, because the Wiseco pistons are weighted to match the smaller 883 flywheels and the dished piston top will raise the compression ratio to 10:1 and allow you to skip head work. There are a couple of other performance parts that will separate your punched out 883 from a "real" 1200 -- the 883's valves are smaller than the 1200's and the starter motor is not as strong. Jeffery Stubbins Reports: "When you bore out an 883, you MUST replace the ignition module. Lots of people are not doing this important step and lunching their cylinders by overheating them with that lazy ignition advance curve on the stock 883 ignition module. Re-jetting the carburetor is also necessary, or you will further overheat the engine due to the relatively lean mixture of the 883 needle, and main jet. The needle jet is the same for each machine (883, and 1200.)" This common modification for 883 hot rodders is written up every few months in one HD rag or another, the latest of which is American Iron 4/95. They point out that your insurance coverage will be for a 883 and will likely be cheaper. Another Rider's Report: [I received the following from George Cohn in the middle of a bunch of other stuff. If anyone knows the attribution, please forward it to me.] These mods and tests were performed on a 1993 Hugger. 1. Ran it stock on the dyno -- 23HP @ 3000RPM and 40HP @ 5500RPM 2. Added SE air cleaner and SE Slip-on mufflers ($150) -- 25HP @ 3000RPM and 51HP @ 5500RPM 3. Bored it out to 1200cc using Wiseco pistons and stock heads, replaced main jet with 170mm, opened idle mixture one turn, raised jet needle 0.090 using washers ($600) -- 43.5HP @ 3000RPM and 60HP @ 5500RPM 4. Replaced ignition and coil with SE parts ($150) -- 48HP @ 3000RPM and 61.5HP @ 5500RPM 5. Added Yost Power Tube (Jet Kit, $80) and Keihan jet needle ($15) from 1200 CV carb -- 54HP @ 3000RPM and 64.5 @ 5500RPM 6. Added Polished SS Supertrapp 2:1 ($470) -- 53HP @ 3000RPM and 67 @ 5500RPM This weekend my Andrews N4 cam is due to finally arrive, and as soon as I get that puppy installed and sorted out I will run it again on the dyno. My hope is to get 74HP or 1HP/cubic inch As to changing the Branch Heads or adding larger valves, the tests I have seen show that while I could pull about 5 more HP at the top end, I will lose that much in the mid-range, and that is where I would rather have it! ------------------------------ Subject: 29. Tranny Lube Technical Chris deHahn writes: "My experience with gear lubes is limited to the testing I did with my stroker. It was not a lab test, it was an application test. It proved to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the type of gear lube used in a Harley-Davidson transmission has a profound affect on it's performance. HD semi synthetic good all around, got sloppy when hot Golden Spectro 80W too thin, shifted poorly throughout heat range Bel-Ray 90W much better, but not as good when hot Bel-Ray 80W-140 as good as it gets, shifts quick and clean cold or hot This was a Big Twin four speed tranny with Andrews CR gears, clutches, shafts, and forks, with a ~110hp Shovelhead stroker motor driving it." ------------------------------ Subject: 30. Packin' (tools) Technical Davey D. wrote the first couple of paragraphs in a previous post. "What tools do you use to do regular maintenance? What bike do you ride? This is a good place to start. And if you don't do your PM start with 3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8 combination open/box end wrenches. Farmer pliers, small water pump pliers. Wire cutters and needle nose pliers. 8in Crescent wrench, spark plug socket, chain breaker (the small one), master link (preferably 2 of these with an extra couple of links. Screw driver with interchangeable bits that store in the handle. A small and large pair of vice grips. Throw in a hunk of 12 ga wire and electrical tape. With the newer bikes a set of ball ended allen (socket head) wrenches is a must. And a Mag light and batteries. Leave the batteries out until you need them. Throw a rag in there someplace and light gloves like batter gloves for working on the hot stuff. If I am on a trip, I'll throw in a bigger crescent wrench and some tire tools. I also try to do all of my PM work with the tools in my tool bag. This way you will figure out what you can and can't do with what's in there and what will make life a little more pleasant on the side of the road, be it you or somebody else. Over the years I have included in mine besides the above a set of six sockets in a tray with a cut down 3/8 ratchet. You will find that the people with the most extensive tool bag are the ones that don't need/use it. Because if they thought of all the tools they need they have probably thought about everything else that could go wrong in the first place. And don't buy expensive stuff" Barb reminds us: "Don't forget the 10mm wrench for tightening the battery connections. The only stupid metric." and Jim Groh adds: "I still carry duct tape and wire, the inside of the roll of duct tape is where my plugs, points, condensers, master links and wire is taped." Conehead adds this about electrics: "electric tape, dual-filament bulb, single-filament bulb (both wrapped in bubble-plastic), 30AMP breaker, 15AMP breaker, some 16 ga wire, tiny multi- meter, rectifier/regulator, coil, ignition module (all the old stock stuff), small stripper/crimper tool, alligator clips, dielectric grease. Toolroll > Bedroll." George (fzzt.pop!) discusses the best way to handle a flat tire if you're far from home: "(1) Carry a cold-patch kit. Auto-part stores have simple ones, or you can spend a bit more for one from a bike shop. BMW has a really nice but $30 kit. Yeah, yeah, cold patches aren't 100% reliable. It *could* blow out again. The point is to get the bike rolling so you can get somewhere to do a real fix. (2) Carry *two* cans of Inflate-a-Seal stuff. [If you use Fix-A-Flat be damn sure to tell the garage that fixes your tire before they break it down.] (3) Join Motorcycle Touring Services, which is a motorcycle-only towing service, anytime, anyplace, until you're on the road. 1-800-999-7064. Tires Irons are a hard way to change tires unless you've done it a lot and are good at it. Learning roadside will *really* ruin your day. In any event, plan on buying a new tire. Anything less is not as safe." ------------------------------ Subject: 31. Roadside Electrics Troubleshooting Technical Jon wrote this synopsis about a recent roadside troubleshooting session. It is generic enough to be used as a guide of sorts. "Ok here's how I thought it through to get the bike going again. First, I lit a cigarette. This was a stalling tactic to get me to start thinking about what was wrong instead of reacting to that horrible empty feeling when it quits on you. Three things make the motor run, gas, air and electricity. One of those three crapped out on me. I knew it was an electrical problem by the way the motor just quit. There was no sputtering like when its a gas problem or an air flow problem such as a clogged filter. This motor went from 2000 rpms to dead in a second. I tried the starter button first to see if it would crank. If it will crank the problem should be in the coil or plug wires. It wouldn't so I then hit the starter switch while flipping the kill button off and on to see if that had shorted out. Still nothing. If it had cranked but not started while flipping the kill switch I would have gotten an intermediate starter crank at one point or another. This did eliminate the kill switch but not the starter switch as a potential problem. I then began a check of all the cables that were visible, and tested them by giving a gentle tug. All was fine. All my lights were on so I knew I had a battery. But I checked anyway. I then flipped the ignition switch several times to see if that had gone south. That wasn't it. I held in the starter button while flipping the ignition switch. Somewhere there would be an intermediate starter crank if the ignition switch was worn. I then checked my turn signals. They didn't work. This told me the problem was in the ignition circuit since the turn signals work from the ignition side of the switch. So I knew from this that it was in my ignition circuit. I pulled the side panel and shorted across the starter relay with my trusty screwdriver. Nothing. This eliminated the starter button as the potential problem. This meant it was further upstream than the relay. I shorted across the battery circuit breaker just for good measure while there. Still nothing. So I was left with only one possibility. It had to be in one of the other circuit breakers inside the fairing. So I arbitrarily picked one and jumped the terminals with the screwdriver while holding in the starter button until I go it to crank over. After I got it to kick over I tried the starter again. It wouldn't crank so I hit the circuit breaker pretty hard since I figured it was just stuck in the open position. It was and started fine after the tap. If I hadn't gotten it to crank over I would have pulled one side of the circuit breaker leads off and put them on a single post so as to eliminate the circuit breaker. It isn't a good idea but it will get you home. So I changed it the next day anyway. If it does it once it will do it again. If I had a little circuit tester in my tool pouch I would have been able to get this done much quicker. But I don't carry one and maybe it wouldn't be a bad addition." ------------------------------ Subject: 32. Extracting a Broken Screw Technical Chris BeHanna advises: The usual method: 1) Swear a few times. 2) Drill a hole. 3) Get the screw extractor. 4) You were too cheap to buy a tap wrench, so you turn the screw extractor with vice grips. This breaks the screw extractor. 5) Curse a blue streak. 6) Take the part to a machinist for EDM work. A better method: 1) Spray the part with Kroil before trying to get it out. This may save you from breaking it in the first place. Let it soak for a day. 2) Take a punch and, in the center of the screw head, rap sharply once with a hammer. This helps to break any cold welding that may have occurred. 3) Use an impact driver. Use the correct tip (hint: do not use phillips tips where Posi-Drive is required and vice versa). If the head gets chewed up, I've had some success cutting a slot for a common tip with a cold chisel and a hammer (but be careful not to mar what the screw is in!). 4) For really resistant pieces, *gently* heat the piece that the bolt is in. Be careful to not ruin the temper of the metal, if applicable (e.g. frames). ------------------------------ Subject: 33. Paint Suppliers Technical James Cox supplied the following: House of Kolor 2521 27th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55406 (612) 729-1044 PPG Finishes 19699 Progress Drive Strongsville, OH 44136 (216) 572-2800