Amen, brother! I bought my 1984 FXRT new. I still have it with about 180k miles on it.

However . . . because I need at least 85-90 lbs/ft of torque and 80hpto ride like I want with the OL and gear on board and run up mountain passes at 80+mph, I built and rebuilt the engine until it was giving me those numbers, or close enough. And once I got there, long-term reliability went in the toilet. Now, children, I'm not talking about ten-thousand mile reliability; you can do that and never leave the county. I mean reliability that still lets you cruise at 80 to 90mph without breaking downonce you have 100,000 miles on the bike. Guys, it ain't there.Between 80,000 and 130,000 miles I rebuilt that engine three times.It ran a crack all the way around the oil scraper chamber on a tripto the east coast and back, which required splitting the cases and repairing them. Then the engine just plain blew the front piston upwhile cruising at 70mph, and when I say"blew up" I mean the biggest piece left of that piston was the size of the end of my thumb, and I don't have bighands. Thathappened after I'd been listening to strange "ka-whish" noises out of the crankcase for a few thousand miles. I knew that engine inside-out and couldn't tell what it was, and NOBODY in the Puget Sound area could tell me, either. The last guy said "Ride it till it breaks and then you'll know." Yeah. It broke, and we never did figure out thecause. Then it spun a flywheel on the sprocket shaft one day.To fix that, I put in an '89 crank, the three-piece unit.

And finally, one day down in San Antonio on a long ride I checked my oil and discovered that it was all gone, after only about 500 miles. No idea where; there was no blue smoke, and no oil all over the bike, it was just - gone. So I loaded it up in a rental truck and hauled it back to Seattle.

And then I put in a 107" S&S Super Sidewinder, which solved all my power problems. I can leave it bone stock and still get more power than I need, keeping in mind that too much is just barely ever enough.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Evos are great engines,especially the early ones, when it was do or die forHarley. I love that bike - it's agreat ride. But -

Last July my wife decided I should have a new bike, so she went and bought me an'07 Road Glide (yeah, she's taken, andso's hersister), the only Harley I thought I had any use for nowadays. (That's 'cause it's a nephew to the FXRT, so to speak.) Mostly, I had been completely underwhelmed by HD in the last ten or twelve years, didn't even like the way they looked, but especially with the Twinkie motor. I hadn't really ridden one, see? But how do you say "No" to a new bike from your wife? You don't; you go ride it.

I didn't expect to like the Road Glide; I thought it would just be something to haul both of us around, and that I'd keep the FXRT for me. Radio? Cruise control? Jeezus, how old do you think I am?

But I do like it - a lot, enough that I put ten thousand miles on it between July 5 and Sept. 30, including a trip to Denver and back with the OL. That 96" mill is not as strong at the 107" S&Sin the FXRT, but it is strong enough. It took both of us and a load of gear upthe pass west of Denver on I-90 at90mph with no noticeable strain. And it handles well, not quite as well as the FXRT, since it doesn't lean as far, but well enough.

The point of all that is to say this: the FLTR is a better bike than the FXRT, and the Twinkie engine is a better engine, stock, than the stock80" Evo, by far. In fact, it's so much better that Bi

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: Pilgrim

Amen, brother! I bought my 1984 FXRT new. I still have it with about 180k miles on it.

However . . . because I need at least 85-90 lbs/ft of torque and 80hpto ride like I want with the OL and gear on board and run up mountain passes at 80+mph, I built and rebuilt the engine until it was giving me those numbers, or close enough. And once I got there, long-term reliability went in the toilet. Now, children, I'm not talking about ten-thousand mile reliability; you can do that and never leave the county. I mean reliability that still lets you cruise at 80 to 90mph without breaking downonce you have 100,000 miles on the bike. Guys, it ain't there.Between 80,000 and 130,000 miles I rebuilt that engine three times.It ran a crack all the way around the oil scraper chamber on a tripto the east coast and back, which required splitting the cases and repairing them. Then the engine just plain blew the front piston upwhile cruising at 70mph, and when I say"blew up" I mean the biggest piece left of that piston was the size of the end of my thumb, and I don't have bighands. Thathappened after I'd been listening to strange "ka-whish" noises out of the crankcase for a few thousand miles. I knew that engine inside-out and couldn't tell what it was, and NOBODY in the Puget Sound area could tell me, either. The last guy said "Ride it till it breaks and then you'll know." Yeah. It broke, and we never did figure out thecause. Then it spun a flywheel on the sprocket shaft one day.To fix that, I put in an '89 crank, the three-piece unit.

And finally, one day down in San Antonio on a long ride I checked my oil and discovered that it was all gone, after only about 500 miles. No idea where; there was no blue smoke, and no oil all over the bike, it was just - gone. So I loaded it up in a rental truck and hauled it back to Seattle.

And then I put in a 107" S&S Super Sidewinder, which solved all my power problems. I can leave it bone stock and still get more power than I need, keeping in mind that too much is just barely ever enough.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Evos are great engines,especially the early ones, when it was do or die forHarley. I love that bike - it's agreat ride. But -

Last July my wife decided I should have a new bike, so she went and bought me an'07 Road Glide (yeah, she's taken, andso's hersister), the only Harley I thought I had any use for nowadays. (That's 'cause it's a nephew to the FXRT, so to speak.) Mostly, I had been completely underwhelmed by HD in the last ten or twelve years, didn't even like the way they looked, but especially with the Twinkie motor. I hadn't really ridden one, see? But how do you say "No" to a new bike from your wife? You don't; you go ride it.

I didn't expect to like the Road Glide; I thought it would just be something to haul both of us around, and that I'd keep the FXRT for me. Radio? Cruise control? Jeezus, how old do you think I am?

But I do like it - a lot, enough that I put ten thousand miles on it between July 5 and Sept. 30, including a trip to Denver and back with the OL. That 96" mill is not as strong at the 107" S&Sin the FXRT, but it is strong enough. It took both of us and a load of gear upthe pass west of Denver on I-90 at90mph with no noticeable strain. And it handles well, not quite as well as the FXRT, since it doesn't lean as far, but well enough.

The point of all that is to say this: the FLTR is a better bike than the FXRT, and the Twinkie engine is a better engine, stock, than the stock80" Evo, by far. In fact, it's so much better that Big Red is for sale,

 

I like them all! Owned shovels and evo's, ridden TC's. My buddies 2007 FXD crushes my 1996 Fatboy but it sounds like a straight piped Honda and that's with a Fuel Pack and V&H's slip-ons!

 

Can you tell me what is involved in the change over to the 9 spokes? I have a 1998 FLSTS and would really like to put the 9 spokes on. From what I have been able to find out I will need a set from 2000 to 2002, different wheel bearings and open up the register on the brake disc. Anything else you can tell me? Thanks