I bought this 82 FXR from a work buddy a couple years ago. He owned it since 1990, and it is very original, but tired. I knew it had a base gasket leak, so I decided to fix that and a few other things, and ride it this summer, because it felt and sounded good. But, one thing lead to another, and I'm doing the tear-down now.

Here's a short video of the bike running, you can see how it is a nice survivor:


But the leak was pretty bad. This is after running only a couple minutes, the water is from power washing it, and it went away.



Three or four of the cylinder base studs are not in all the way, and that could have contributed:





So I started taking the motor apart, and a few interesting things turned up. First, the hydraulic tappets are still there, that is probably why is sounds quiet:

 

Secondly, the rear plug is very oily, and the front just sooty. I didn't investigate what jets are in the S&S carb yet. I'll be re-installing the original Keihin when it goes back together.



I followed the Harley service manual and removed the rear head, and this is what it looks like in there. I'll freshen up the heads with seals. They were rebuilt in 1992/1993:




When I loosened the base nuts, two of the studs came out with them, and one was finger loose. The only one that stayed in place is the long one. When I lifted the barrel, it was very clear why it was leaking so badly:

 

The crack is pretty bad, one corner of the base flange is cracked, and a piece of the spigot is missing:



Now I have to figure out the overall condition of the motor to see if this is a split the cases rebuild or not. At this point, I don't know if that piece just fell out, or it's been missing for a while. The previous owner did replace the oil pump and shaft in 2009. Let's figure out the condition of the lower end by pulling the front cylinder and checking the rod for play.

That head isn't oily, and the piston looks to be in good shape:




Except for the one stud that is longer, these base nuts were a lot tighter than the back cylinder, almost gorilla tight. But it turns out the piston isn't all that great looking. So now need to replace one cylinder and one piston, so I will just get two cylinders in the .010-.020 range and start fresh:


:

 

And increasingly obvious why that Combustion chamber looks so Terrible... those rings certainly must have taken a Hit!!!
Only time I have seen broken Jugs is at the Drag Strip... Wish that engine could talk....My first wonderment is what Ignition is in it???
my '82 FXRS had an ignition module failure, that started with loosing the Rev Limiter!!!! Eventually it failed completely...

 

The way to test the rod bearings is to grab the piston and try to twist the rod. The front one had a little play, and I'm not sure if that's normal. But the back rod also had play, and that's supposed to be zero. So the front one is probably out of spec too. I found a set of Dixie/Superior rods with bearings and pin on ebay and there is an old timer in Rhode Island who may still want to do the tricky work of replacing them. I'll find out this weekend.

I was curious to see if that piece got into the breather, so time to take the cam chest apart. First the tappet housings. The lifters look decent, and the rollers are tight, so that's encouraging. Do they look good to the experts? Should I try to polish out those marks, or leave well enough alone?

 

I'm not sure if you mean the front chamber looks bad or the rear? The piston is the front.

It has a TwinTec ignition, but I don't know how old. There was no record if it being installed, but he did give me a manual which is dated 2011:

 

Here's where the parts are now, my wife was looking for a way to get ride of the kitchen divider, haha.



Cam cover came off without drama, and the gears look good. Good thing I'm taking it apart, there is still some water in the oil:




Andrews A cam, with hydraulic lifters? I'll put the original H cam back when it's time. This bike will be old and slow, like me.

 

Looking over the cam, I found a mark, and it feels like plastic. Matching mark on one of the tappet rollers. I think I can clean it off, but what do you think? It's only on one spot on the roller, so whatever caused it was only passing through once.





If the mark is from a piece of plastic, it probably came from the breather:



Part of it is missing:

 

Another good reason to tear it down completely. I read that there is an oversize breather that requires boring the housing. How is that done correctly?




That's all for now. I've got a bunch of stuff going on, so it may be a while before I tear into it further. Meanwhile, I'm open to any and all advice. Thanks, Joe

 

You'll have to take the case to a machine shop to see if they can save it... Have it mic'd..