THE GOOD BUCK

I worked all weekend to finish the Sportster build, but it’s not working. I made a few mistakes. I forgot to put in oil seals so had to take the barrels and heads off again. For some reason the one of the throttle cables doesn’t quite fit. It’s the return cable so just the pull cable should be sufficient for starting it up. Then I spent hours trying to set up the simplest thing with the new ignition device. The instructions say front cylinder, TDC, compression stroke, then just rotate the unit slightly until the light goes out. At the exact point the light goes out, screw the unit into place. Easy. I spent hours. It’s not made any easier by Harley’s stone age attitude. To turn the engine over you have to put the bike into gear, take the pistons out, jack up the arse end, and rotate the wheel by hand. Anyway, I removed the inspection cover and turned it over, but the ignition unit just wouldn’t light up. I moved it as far as it would go, wriggled it, and pulled it out a bit. Then the light came on but it was shorting. I was devastated. An electrical problem on a brand new unit. After resetting the timing mark 3 times, and the unit, I still couldn’t get it to light up. I came in (to get wifi reception for my ‘phone) and googled loads of pages. One of the threads mentioned that it might be TDC on the exhaust stroke. I went back and tried again. I got lights and set it in a matter of minutes. Dammit! Anyway, it’s fully rebuilt, it turns over, it’s got spark. That’s not nothing. But it won’t fire. Even spraying Easy Start directly into the engine. Actually, that was yesterday. I didn’t take a picture today, but the exhausts are back on, tank and seat. It looks like a bike. The problem is I don’t understand where to go from here. It has a brand new Ultima ignition unit so that should be my ignition timing sorted. The valve timing is Harley primitive. There are a bunch of cogs. If you line them up, dot to line, your valve timing is set. So it’s not that. I sprayed Easy Start into the barrels, so it’s not fuel. It’s just back firing and firing out of the carb. Which is what it was doing before I stripped it. I’ve just been looking. There are a bunch of simple things to check out. The HT leads from the coil are push on. They could be loose. They are the original leads, they could be shot. I got fresh leads in the ignition kit. I could try them instead. I’ll make sure the battery is 100% charged. I’ll double, triple check the wiring is the right lead to the right terminal on the coil. As the ideas are occurring to me I’m checking out the videos and cross referencing them against […]

I sent my barrels away to be sorted 10 weeks ago. They said it would be about 6 weeks. “About” doing a lot of heavy lifting there. I’ve sent a couple of emails, the latest today, to see how it was getting along, and I finally got a ‘phone call tonight saying the job is done, but the paint has got wrecked by paint and oil. He said he can chemically strip them (£20 for the pair) then send them tomorrow. Probably for the best it came off now. If I’d have rebuilt the engine and the paint had all come off I would have been miffed. He’s told me the right paint to use this time (ordered it of eBay, £38 for one spray can, with P&P!) and told me how to do it. Apparently once you’ve sprayed it you have to bake it in the oven to make it set. Oh. Did not know that. Today, being my day off, I did a few little jobs. I put the tappets back in, set the switches on the ignition module, took the pistons off and charged the battery. Little jobs that would have to be done at some point but I thought I might as well do them now as I’m all out of proper jobs. I can’t really do anything else until I get the barrels. Which is why I was chafing at the delay. Again, it’s probably turned out for the best. It’s taken me until the end of last week to get all my jobs done. If I’d have had the barrels I would have been rushing. That rarely adds to the quality of a job. I had one moment of victory during the week. Being the genius wot I is, I took pictures as I was stripping the bike. When I rebuilt the bottom end I had a random wire left hanging. I went through my photos and there was a picture of me holding the wire. Not attached to it’s destination location, just holding it. Absolutely useless picture. It’s been a low level worry for a week or two. When I’d finished the bottom end, fitted a new gasket, and filled the engine with oil I got to worrying it fitted beneath the casing. I’d been holding out, hoping it would make sense when I refitted the barrels. Then I had a genius idea. I looked up where the green wire connects on the wiring diagram, -oil pressure sensor- , then looked for it’s location in the book, 5 minutes later it was on, and all of my wiring is done! These are all baby steps towards getting my head around electrics. Now I’m getting proper anxious/ nervous/ excited. By this time next week the Harley *should* be running. If it is *OMG, OMG, OMG!* If it’s not, *despair*. Deep breaths. In other news, the Warrington Half. After I did that hard 20 miles and shuffle the next day, then did a test half […]

I had 3 electrical issues with the Harley project. The horn didn’t work, I had no indicators, and the brake light seems to be stuck on. I’ve got to set up the new ignition unit, but that’s just a matter of screwing it in to place when I’ve put the barrels back on and can judge top dead centre. Anyway, the horn was dead. I read through the trouble shooting in the Clymer manual. It is brilliant manual. A step by step guide. I tested the circuit from the switch to the horn, I had connectivity. I wired the horn up to the battery, the horn worked. So it had to be the earth wire. I rigged a wire to a solid earth point on the frame and I have a horn! It doesn’t sound like much (the achievement, the horn sounds fine) but it’s my first ever win with electrical diagnosis, so I was thrilled. The indicators were a puzzle. The bike didn’t have any so I bought a set then tried fitting them. There was only one wire to each indicator on the bike. I attached it and fitted them but couldn’t find an earth. It turns out they are self grounding, but they still didn’t light so no power was getting to them. There are cut wires in the headlight that correspond to the power lines to the indicators in the wiring diagram. Rather than try to rewire the bike I looked it up and found a flasher module kit. It was a bit scary to fit as I had to cut off a connector. The wires leading to it were so short I would have been been in a right state if the new kit hadn’t worked. I checked all the wires in the wiring diagram to get them to correspond to the kit wires and … So, so happy. Two electrical wins! Now all I have to do is look at the brake light units. If there is any trouble with them they are only a fiver (each) to replace. Then I’m basically done with electrics and all I have to do is stick the barrels back on. I could be riding it to work in a fortnight! Probably not. I find it hard to imagine that it will be all done and I can just ride it. (Update: I had an unexpected day off today, – Wednesday-, I’ve been getting every shift for which I make myself available for the last few months. I did an 8.30m/m 8 miles run then cracked on with the final electrical problem, the brake light being permanently on. I’d convinced myself it was the hard thing, the pressure operated rear brake switch. I unplugged one lead and it was still on. Then I read up on it. It said the most common thing is the front brake switch. Which makes sense, because when I tracked down the rear switch I hadn’t touched it, or anything near it. I […]

I’ve had a good 24 hours. I was stressing for a few days as I’d lost all power on the Harley. It had most of the electrics working before I stripped it. When I was putting it back together I had a bit of a mix up with the battery cables. The one that comes from the left of the battery actually fits to the right of it. And they are both black cables with nothing to distinguish positive from negative. I had a moment and fitted the cables the wrong way around then had nothing when I tried hotwiring the ignition again. I was stressed out thinking I’d blown all the fuses. I did some research, it doesn’t have fuses, it has breaker relays. I’ve no idea about that, I’ve never come across them before. I reread my electrics for idiots book and was going to try and track down how far the power went. I fitted a new ignition last night and in doing so noticed a third wire. It’s been apart for weeks, I’d forgotten. I HAVE ELECTRICS! That’s a huge win. I’ve just sold a bike because I couldn’t repair an electrical fault. The barrels are supposed to be getting done this week, so next week I should have it all rebuilt. Then, hopefully, it’s just finish off the electrics. If I can get it running it is going to be so weird to have it actually on the road. The other thing is: running. Finally! It’s getting very close to the Frankfurt marathon and I’m still not committed to a training plan. I do the odd few 8 miles runs. I’ve done no consistent training for 3 months and no long runs for 2. I declared I was going to do a 20 mile run today. I was thinking I might fail, or if I finished it I would suffer so much, and be in such a state, that it would give me motivation (/fear) to train again. It was a gamble, because going from occasional 8 straight to 20 is asking for injury. Anyway, I set out today. I kept it at an easy pace, 8.10s to 8.50s, I was just after a finish. I’d said I’d try and keep it 8.30 to 9.00. I did a there-and-back, at the turn around I was feeling good. I kept expecting it to hit me and stop me, but at 15 miles I had enough in reserve that I was able to run a bunch in the 7.30s and kept all the last 5 at sub 8 to claw it back to a sub 8.15 (8.13) average. Slightly amazed at that. An 8m/m marathon is slightly under 3.30. That wouldn’t be too shameful given the lack of training. The other good thing, is I seem to be through the rough patch at work. I have a system in place now for *everything* so I shouldn’t get any more issues. And it’s still mad busy. I’ve been […]

The old VFR has sold. I only got the minimum bid for it, but that was £700. I should be able to get £200 for the stainless exhaust system. I only paid £1,100 for the new VFR so that more or less pays for it. I changed the head bearings, spark plugs, chain and sprocket set, and endcan (back to stock) and it feels like a different bike. It’s running so well I’m starting to wonder about the Harley. The VFR750 genuinely is the perfect all rounder. Great handling, bulletproof engine, and a delicious split personality. Rev it up to about 5,000rpm and it’s a great commuter, get over that and it suddenly turns into an eager screamer. It’s a relative thing, it’s no Fireblade or whatever, but it’s quick enough without feeling like it’s pointless overkill. Now I’m concerned I’ve poured all this money and obsession into the Harley and I’m not going to love it. Once you get past the appeal of the brand it’s still agricultural, under-powered, has no weather protection, with poor handling and barely adequate brakes. It’s already cost a fortune and if I want to finish it (cosmetically) it will cost the same again. We’ll see. I’m about through with spending on it now. Today I undid the clutch side, loosened off the clutch nut and transmission nut and properly tightened them with my new digital torque. That should be a proper job. I’ve rebuilt the clutch side properly now. Once I reconnect the clutch cable to the handle bars (and fill with oil) that side is done. Tomorrow I’m fitting the fancy new ignition timing thing, then fully rebuilding the the bottom right side of the engine. That’s wheels, tyres, oil lines, throttle cables and bottom end, all done. It will just be a matter of fitting the barrels/pistons/rings when they arrive, and finishing the rebuild. Then it’s the moment of truth. Will the bloody thing run? It *should*. Oh, and I need to wire up the indicators. But yeah, from having a million jobs, after tomorrow it’s down to fitting the the pistons/ rings/ barrels, carb/ air filter, top end, engine mounting brackets, exhaust, battery, tank, seat… and fire her up. Shit. That’s going to be a scary moment. In other news I’m forcing myself back into running. 3 runs this week. It’s only 3 weeks until Warrington Half and about 8 weeks until Frankfurt marathon. Eek!