Got the shorty Barnett custom mousetrap cable and brake hose fitted, and took a 44 F. test ride. Copasetic, and much better-looking without all that excess hose and housing. It really helps to route the horn and high/low beam leads through the handlebar and riser for a clean look.

Next task is getting the OEM Police Special speedo rebuilt, installed, and calibrated to read accurately. There's another thread entitled 'speedometer woes' or something like that devoted to that project.

Happy New Year from northern-central New Mexico!

 

Happy new year from the UK

 

Rebuilt a '60s police special OEM Harley speedo, as discussed on this other thread. Here are the busted V-Twin reproduction (which didn't even last 2,500 miles) and the refurbished original unit. Very different, but I like the OEM unit's looks--and it operates smooth as silk now. Plus, it has a 'speed lock' servo that lets me clock people exceeding the posted limit, then show them just how naughty they are... (And, yes, I got the main odometer's 10K digit a little off when setting the mileage to anticipate where I think I'll be when done with job, but it'll straighten out during use.)

I'm a little confused by the testing I did today, which seems like it might be 2:1 but the expert I consulted said these '60s police specials are 1:1, and I'm sure he's right. So, I'll have to cobble together an alternative drive setup, discussed in the above thread. However, maybe first I'll just hook it up and see what's what, just for fun...

 

Things like tranny and wheel sprocket number of teeth along with modern tyre diameter all affect the calibration...

 

Absolutely. I have a 25-tooth front sprocket (I'm also running a belt primary), and have fitted a set of Michelin Commander II tires. So, the net of those changes was that the 2:1 aftermarket speedo was reading ~12% low.

Per the other thread, I'll first just hook it up to the existing cable (assuming the speedo-end flange is the same) for S&Gs, but anticipate it'll read wildly high. I could just insert a speed reduction gear box into the cable if that's the case, but don't much like the few spaces I have to hide the thing with the gearbox-to-speedo routing. Things are already cluttered enough with the mousetrap and shift linkage on the L/H side.

So, I may be adapting a vintage Triumph 1.25:1 rear-axle drive--which is straightforward to slip onto the R/H spacer with a little machined drive ring that'll take a morning to make up. That way, I could hide the ratio-adapting gear box down behind the tranny, by my spin-on oil filter, or thereabouts. They aren't large at all; I just like an uncluttered bike.

 

Oops, looking at the last post I see that I forgot to update this overall restoration thread consistent with the separate speedo thread. I installed the DIY refurbished speedo and it's indeed 2x too fast. But I think the easiest thing to do is insert a ratio adjuster inline just below the front of the tank. Shouldn't look terrible, and I'll be able to enjoy that very cool vintage dial, at last. Anyway, the illumination works great, and the needle floats steadily; it's just reading far too fast.

Another thing: I see on Sportsterpedia that "Starting on models on June 9th, 1969, a 1/16” vent hole was added to the Sportster and Electra Glide models oil filter cup in the side 1/4“ down from the cup opening to relieve any possible pressure build-up in the tank (which forces oil from the tank when the cap is removed) and to prevent possible siphoning of oil from the tank into the engine after the engine is shut off (wet sumping). It was also suggested to retro-fit earlier motors with this modification."

Well, I have a ball valve in the oil tank's feed line to the pump, so no longer have to worry about this issue. But has anyone either drilled a tiny hole in their FL horseshoe oil tank cap, or in the alternative added a vent hose that goes unobtrusively down and out alongside the battery vent hose? I mean, the tank never actually fills up during operation, correct?

 

I bought a mikuni hsr45 for the shovelhead. The guys from Mikuni Oz told me it's normal that the front runs richer. To do with the back cylinder gets hotter than the front because of the air flow. It's finding the happy medium. In a perfect world each pot would have a separate carburettor. 🙃 Had my 78fxe with a 93" ci stroker big bor kit. Tried 4 different carbs and the rear plug is always drier. Petrol evaporates fast in heat. I've tried running different plugs in each pot. One hotter than the other. Doesn't do fa. Just one of those "It's a shovelhead" things. The one thing I find stupid is to put a new set of sprockets and a chain on is a major job. Just did mine. What a nightmare. Didn't help that whoever assembled the battery housing and oil can had a spacer that needed drilling across about 5/16ths and up 1/4". Once I figured that out it made life easier. Was like having a king size bed with a broken leg. No way it was lining up. Under 10k since full rebuild and because he'd pushed, forced, twisted and levered the support rubbers to fit. They were all ripped in half. So on top of doing this job of pulling the inner primary etc, etc to get to the front sprocket I had a lovely 6-8 hrs of wtf trying to get everything in place. Just 1 hole on the oil can was all it took amd a light mill filing but it took a lot of hmmm, haaah, F#@k!! Then the penny dropped in a moment of clarity. Now it's all square, plumb, straight and no tension on the buffers. Only major F-up was I put the battery in its cradle to make sure it'd fit. Put the outer on loosely and arc welded it to the battery. Think I 🤔 have killed a cell or 2 because it was a bitch to start and sounds like its running on 1 pot. No sweet Potato Potato Potato sound. More like Pot Pot Pota Pot PoPoPo Pota. Battery's 6 yrs old. Summer is over so I'll pull the battery out of the Kawasaki jetski. Exactly the same 320cca motobatt in it. Saves me having to maintain the ski 6mths. Get a new one next summer ☀️. Still can't believe anyone would design a bike that either you work for 10hrs hard or pay handsomely just to swap a chain and 2 sprockets. What a ridiculous design flaw on a maintenance necessity. Like having to pull the differential and every drive axle off a car to change a flat. Not Grumpy. Just being Honest. Have a great day 😀

Back together and hopefully another 10 yrs before it needs that bs done again.

 

Wow... sorry to hear about that incredible hassle.

Thanks for the data on the front vs. rear cylinder mixture issue. I'm thinking that a contributing factor may be my aftermarket pipes. As you can see in this image from the top-end refresh after I bought the bike, I've got a side-by-side shotgun setup that uses a stock-type 'squish' pipe up front to snake the header pipe between the engine case and the frame, and then takes two bends before exiting parallel to the rear cylinder's muffler.

But the rear is a single bend with no additional restriction or change in diameter or shape of the header pipe. (Both mufflers are vintage Sporty jobs with a drilled-out baffle for increased flow.) So, I'm thinking that the normal tendency you outline might be enhanced by increased back-pressure up front...?

I've been thinking (especially because I'm adding a hydraulic clutch that puts the banjo fitting very close to that upward bend aft of the kicker cover) of cutting the front pipe under the tranny and shifting the lower muffler down and forward (raising the oil filter--easy to do). That would eliminate two bends and make the header pipe closer to matching length. We'll see...

On the sprocket change: aside from the oil tank woes, which I don't have to deal with due to my tin primary (?), I have never liked the design which places the main output shaft oil seal on the sprocket itself. My '71 Triumph Bonneville (and all unit 650s) has the same design. But I guess sprockets last 10,000 miles or more, so we shouldn't be doing this every year...

 

Sprocket woes
Triumph
BSA
Norton

 

Yeah, I guess that's just the way it is with this basic layout. I should stop whining...