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I’ve been tinkering every morning and on my one day off today I’ve battered some jobs on the Harley.

I managed to get the engine out and split today. The great news is that apart from some staining and sticky bits of oil, there doesn’t seem to be any damage. After seeing the sludge and metal shavings on the sump plug I was expecting at some point to come across a pile of smashed metal and gunge.

I’m happy with that. I gave it a clean, scraped all the gasket off, sandpapered and cleaned it again, then started the rebuild. Once I had the cases back together I got carried away and continued, I fitted the oil pump, the cam gears, a new gasket, a new set of allen bolts and the cam side casing. That was a huge relief as that had the one bolt I’d had to drill out and I was scared it was going to strip when I tried to tighten it.

It was actually a mistake. They say to put the engine back in the frame before rebuilding because of the weight of an assembled engine. It’s only one casing and some cams. The relief of knowing the allen bolt has worked is well worth any slight extra struggle.

I’m not being too precious with piston rings as I’ve ordered a new set. I’ll give the pistons a good clean, fit the new rings, then pop the barrels on. I’m in a bit of dilemma with the outside of the engine block. I’d like to strip all the bits of oil and paint off and respray it, but I’m scared of getting any crap in the engine. I suppose I’ll have to loosely fit the barrels and other casing, clean it, strip the paint, then mask the casings and spray. It’s a plan. Then take the barrels and other case off and fit it back in the frame, rebuild the bottom end, fit the rings, spray the barrels (I’ve already given them two coats of paint stripper), rebuild the top end, refit all the other bits, then I’m ready to start again.

I’ve fitted a carb rebuild kit, I’ve got a new chain and sprocket set (had to order a HUGE socket to get the front sprocket off) and I’ve ordered fresh oil line, fuel line and a fuel filter. When it goes back together I’ll know the engine is clean and solid, and no crap will be getting in.

I’m fitting new throttle and clutch cables. When I get it going I don’t want to be stripping it again for consumables.

While I had the engine out I took the opportunity to wheel the rolling chassis out and give it a good clean. the difference is amazing. It’s only a cosmetic thing, but the difference between ‘covered in dirt, grease and accumulated oil’ and ‘a clean frame’ is very satisfying.

I spilled quite a bit of oil at various stages of the strip so I brushed the shed out then washed it with Pinesol and water. I wheeled the bike back in a bit later and overbalanced on the slippery floor and dropped the bike!

The front brake didn’t engage when I picked it up, I pumped it and it squirted brake fluid at me! Arggghhhh! Least worst outcome, it was just a split brake line. I’ve ordered a braided upgrade line. Not a big job. But in falling over a plate with two bolts welded on it fell off. I don’t know where it goes. That is concerning. I think it’s to do with mounting the engine so hopefully it will quickly become apparent.

Gawd bless the internet and all who sail on her! I’ve just watched a Youtube video from Delboy’s Garage, fitting a Sportster engine in the frame, and spotted the bracket and seen where he fitted it. Another huge relief.

A good day for rescuing potentially bad situations.

As an aside, looking at Delboy’s Garage rebuild, I don’t think I’m going to do the cosmetic rebuild. A powder coated frame (as he had) has to have an absolutely immaculate engine or it’s going to make it look twice as bad. I think I’ll go for the lived-in look. I’ll still probably want the power upgrades of air filter, pipes, carb jet, and a 1200cc conversion kit. We’ll see.

I’ve got six day work for next week so the money is rolling in nicely. Not ideal for working on the bike, but at least it pays for it. The other downer is they have slowly moved my start time later again. I now seem to be starting at 12.00-ish. Which means, this past week of Scotland runs, I’ve been finishing about 23.00, by the time I’m home, fed, showered, and settled it’s easily 01.00, but I don’t seem to be able to sleep past about 08.00. So I’m always knackered.

The other good news is I gave up on trying to rest my calf injury. I gave it another week or so, went for a slow run, and less than 2 miles in it seized again. I decided to try active recovery. I was just doing a 2 mile run every day to get it used to working. Also I’ve been cycling to work until I get around to swapping the wiring loom on my Honda, so I think I’m toughening up my calves. It seems to be working. 3 runs without any problems. Now I need to up the mileage and see what happens.

Just looked. 16 weeks until Frankfurt! So, so not good.

I’m going to have to try for a 10 miler and see if I can start training properly again.

Right. Bed.

I’ve had a hell of a day off.

Happily, since I’m having to buy all my tools again but in imperial, and the Harley was £2,000 to start with, work has suddenly gone mad. 4 shifts, 6 shifts, 5 shifts for next week. I certainly can use the money but it’s making working on my bikes a lot harder.

Anyway, I was off today so cracked on. My goal was to strip the heads, check the valves and the barrels, and check the cams for timing.

I’d been doing 40 minutes or so before work to get all the peripheral bits off. I got stuck with one nut that just I couldn’t get the breaker bar on, and ended up rounding the head. That was on the front exhaust pipe. I was hoping I could remove the barrel with it attached, then work on it.

I succeeded! Yay for small victories. I had to angle grind the nut then hammer it with a cold chisel to turn it.

I stripped it down to the pistons without much further drama.

But, as is the law, one allen bolt just would not turn on the cam side casing. I was wriggling it backward and forward, sprayed oil on it, it was seized solid. In the end I snapped the bolt. Balls. I had to drill it out. I think I’ve repaired it enough to accept another bolt, but I’ll have to wait until after the rebuild to find out for sure.

I did an internet test on the valves. Poured petrol on them from the top, turned them over and looked for leakage. There was none. So valves are sealing OK.

I checked the bore on the barrels. There are some marks, more like a shining of the cylinder than scratches. You can still see the original cross hatching under the shine so it can’t be deep. I don’t think it’s the barrels/ pistons/ rings.

Hmmm, on a big screen they do look like proper scratches.

Once I’d finally got the cam cover off I checked the cams. All the timing marks are perfectly lined up. I took them out and cleaned them, put them back and they are still perfectly lined up. Having a cam/ pushrod system is clunky but easy to work on.

The bad news is I think this was a badly looked after bike, that went off the road for a reason. Someone had over-tightened an allen bolt to the point the allen key head snapped off in it. Then they’d left it there. Worrying.

Then I dropped the oil and saw the sump plug.

It’s a bit out of focus, but that was after I’d already given it a bit of a wipe. It’s covered in thick greasy/ oily sludge and, most worryingly, metal filings.

I’m in a bit of a quandary. Metal shavings in the engine is really bad news. I’ve ordered some more tools and, when they arrive, I’m going to strip it right down and split the engine cases.

Depending on what I find I’ll decide what to do. If I’m lucky it will all be fine and I can just clean it all out and rebuild, knowing there are no more metal filings in my engine.

Then I have to decide which way to go. Rebuild with the original barrels, big bore them to 1200cc, or get a big bore kit. Assuming the rest of the engine is worth saving. Those metal shavings had to come from somewhere.

As I’m writing I’ve come to a decision. I think I’ll rebuild with the original barrels. I’ve just ordered a complete engine gasket set. What I’m going to do is completely strip the engine, (and give everything a good clean while it’s in bits and the engine is out of the frame), hopefully just clean accumulated sludge of 20 years out of the engine, then rebuild.

I’ve really narrowed down the possibilities of what the problem could be. I’m leaning towards timing issue now. Rebuild it, make damn sure all the electricals are tight, then play with the timing, perhaps. I’ve got a rebuild kit for the carb, which I will be doing, but the engine start fluid seemed to rule that out as the primary problem. I think it can only be an electrical fault. Timing or a duff component.

So that’s the plan. Strip, clean and inspect, hopefully nothing awry, rebuild, get it running.

My shed is already looking like a Harley parts bin.

Then…!

Then run it as a dog for a bit, then do it all again. Strip it down as a winter project and completely tart it up. Powder coat the frame, fork legs and mudguards, new stanchions, chain and sprocket set, get the tank resprayed, big bore kit, wheels and tyres.

It’s going to be a shedload of money, but I get all the fun of playing with it as I do it, then a pristine bike to ride and enjoy for many years.

That’s another thing in the favour of my rebuilding it without the big bore: when I actually start riding it I may hate it. Right now I’m in “HARLEY DAVIDSON! SQUEEEE!” mode in my mind. Fangirling all over the place, but when the reality of a slow, heavy, no weather protection bike hits I may not want to spend a single penny more.

Tomorrow I’m going to test my calf on a run and have a go at sorting my VFR. It’s an electrical fault and I hate electrics. I’m really not looking forward to that.

Right, hopefully that’s settled my fevered brain a little. My obsessing has been getting more than usually frantic. Because of the whole “HARLEY DAVIDSON!” thing. Poor Wendy having to listen to me obsessively ranting on.

I’ve had some successes but a big problem. I’ve been working so I’ve not had the time to do too much, today was my day off and the engine start spray arrived yesterday so I did some work on it. I bought a cheap trolley jack with support cups to lift the bike up by the frame so I could take the forks off. It wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it was a full length platform to lift the whole bike. Nope. It fits across the bike and just raises one end or the other. Meh. I can make that work for most jobs. Then I went to slide it under the frame and because of the raised cups it wouldn’t fit! I had to angle grind half of the raised legs off before I could even start. Anyway, I got the forks off, finally got the seal covers off and the seals out.

I think they were due for a change.

That’s the good.

The bad is that I still can’t get it to start. I’ve re-gapped the plugs, really healthy spark now, I tried the engine start spray, nothing.

I’m thinking it’s probably the piston a rings now. I saw a video today saying the compression pressure should be at least 150psi. I tested at 120 and 125. Then I poured oil into the cylinders to form a temporary seal and I was at 150psi. I’ve emailed a query about how much it would cost for a rebore and rings, and how much it would be for a 1200cc big bore and rings.

I’ve managed to get another shift tomorrow, so that’s 5 so far for next week. I’ll fit the bits I’ve got coming and if I still can’t get it going I’ll start stripping the engine on my next day off. The only other options I can think of are the timing has gone out or the valves are leaking. I think it’s electronic timing, I can’t see how it can have gone out. I just watched a really helpful tip for the valves: take your head off, pour petrol into the inlet and outlet valves, turn your head over, if none has seeped through you’ve got a tight seal. That’s what I like. Simple, binary, tests.

If it’s not too much more than a rebore I might get it big bored anyway. I’ve got a feeling my obsession with owning a Harley is going to wane when I get it on the road, crack open the throttle and unleash 49bhp of puny pretension. 67bhp isn’t going to scare me, but it might make the bike a keeper.

To be honest, once I’ve got it running all I actually need is indicators and to fix the horn for an MOT. I will have to de-rust, oil bath and grease the chain, the headlight is shabby, and the tyres are so past their 5 year lifespan, but they would probably pass an mot. It’s mostly cosmetic apart from getting the engine running. You could spend thousands on the cosmetic, but I’ll try not to.

Because we live in arbitrary yet vindictive universe, now I’m up to my eyeballs in Harley repairs and fully occupied obsessing over that, my VFR750 has broken down. Super. It was fine going to work. Started on the button, not a problem. I finished work, turned my key in the ignition, nothing. I ran it up and down the carpark trying to bump it, stuttered and nothing. I called Wendy and she came in the car. I started my bike off jump leads, it was running, but as soon as I took the jump leads off it died again. At the third attempt I blew the main fuse. I brought the battery home and charged it. It took about 10 hours to charge so that will by the first problem. I took the car this morning and got some fuses then refitted the battery, but as soon as I put a fuse in it blew. Online says that it definitely a short circuit, some faulty wiring rubbing together or on the frame. Thinking about it, it only occurred after the crocodile clips, perhaps I’ve bitten through a wire.

I ordered a new starter relay, fuses, a battery and a regulator/ rectifier. I have to track down the short, then hopefully the new bits will cure the drain.

To strip all the fairings off and have a proper look at it I had to get the bike home. I had no option but to push it. Wendy ran me to work and I pushed it back. That was 2.6 miles of zero fun. I’ll be cycling to work this week. If I can’t track the short by the end of my days off I’m going to call a mobile sparky.

Meh.

Buck.

Today I cleaned and washed the carb after it’s overnight soak. I put it back together (missing a part, dumbarse) and tried it. Still not running, so I started on the other jobs. I pulled the front brake off, stripped and cleaned it, put it back on then bled it. I tried to do the same with the rear brake but it’s got Torx bolts. I don’t know if Torx come in imperial but mine were slightly loose and the bolts are set solid. I didn’t want to strip the head so I’ve ordered some Torx sockets. In the meantime I bled the brake. I pumped the tyres up. It rolls forward and back now without too much resistance (other than it’s native standing mass, obvs) and the brakes both work. I remembered to test and both my brake lights work. Brilliant. I need to fit indicators but so far the only thing electrical thing that isn’t working is the horn. I’m happy about that because I hate electrics.

When I put the carb back on I noticed one of the throttle to carb cables was slack. I was worried I’d done something wrong. I’m having issues with fitting the choke cable back in position as well. It’s one 17mm nut. What can possibly go wrong? Yet it doesn’t seem to want to work. Odd. Anyway, when I noticed the part of the carb I’d omitted (left it drying in the sun) I popped the carb off and rebuilt it. The slack cable came away in my hand. It had snapped in it’s sleeve. I’d already ordered a new set, but it was good to see it wasn’t me.

I’m working my way through the peripheral jobs (it all needs doing) as I’m trying to get the engine started. I’ve ordered a cheap trolley jack (with support cups to position under the frame) and a fork seal and dust cover set. I’ll pop the forks off, drain the fork oil, clean inside and then put fresh oil, seals and dust covers on.

I charged the new battery back up, held the choke open and tried to start it again after I replaced the carb, correctly. It didn’t go, but as I was rolling the starter off it did a little cough. I got a whiff of blue smoke!

I thought I was going to be testing it out with my engine start spray today, I ordered it off Amazon specifically for the next day delivery. It mustn’t have been on Prime. It’s saying delivery on Tuesday, it’s Thursday today.

After that blue smoke I got a rush to the head and ordered a cheap carb rebuild kit and a (whole) cheap replacement carb. If I can get it running I can relax and plod on with the jobs.

One thing that’s bothering me is the oil in the air filter and that was clarted all over the jets. There shouldn’t be oil there. Today as I was trying to start it without the air filter on it spat out some petrol. If the intake valves are not closing properly that could blow oil into the filter and spit petrol. I’ve just had a google. Depressingly common. Some guy rode 20 mile and blew a pint of oil through it. Harley’s man!

At least there are whole threads on how to fix it.

Borrowing trouble again.

For now, things are moving forward nicely.

Day One:

I dropped the van off this morning then cracked on with the bike. I’ve fitted the new battery, hotwired it, and I got lights, (low and high beam and clock and rear light, forgot to test if the brake is working) but no horn yet. The engine turned over nicely, sounded like good compression. I didn’t have any spark at the plugs though. I gapped the plugs and traced the wiring, the leads to the distributor were loose so I tightened them, SPARK!

It still wasn’t firing so I took the air filter off and gave it a wash, then took off and stripped the carb.

Oh boy.

It’s not a carb design I’m used to, but I pulled the one obvious jet out. The top half of it was literally black. It looked like some oil residue that had solidified. I took the diaphragm out of the top and I’ve soaked the rest of the carb in Pinesol and Mukoff overnight. It might work. I’ve never seen the like though. I was just looking, you can get a complete, aftermarket, carb for the price of a carb rebuild kit. While I was searching for “oil in carb problem” online (bit worrying, I can’t think how it can have got there) I saw a top tip. Spray some of that engine start spray into the engine and press the start button. If it runs for a second or so you know the intake valves and outlet valves are working, your rings and barrel are good enough to maintain a working pressure, your plugs and the electrical system is all working. The problem is your carb.

I’ve ordered a can of start spray. If it doesn’t run then I know I have more problems. You can strip it down to heads and barrels off with the engine still in the frame so it’s not too much hassle to do further investigation.

Now I’m wondering which way I’m going to go with the bike. I’ve given it a brush and a wash and been at it with rust eater and metal polish today and it looks a lot better, superficially. But there’s the thing. Once I’ve got it running I can either run it as a scruffy heap, sell it, or strip it down to bare frame, and get every part back to original condition.

Powder coating the frame £150- £350

New wheels £550

Tank and mudguards sprayed, say, £250

New stanchions £300

Engine respray?

I’ll have to think it through.

I’m making problems now.

I’ve got enough on my plate just getting it running.

Then I have to fit indicators, fix the horn, swap the headlight, take the forks off, drain, clean, put in fresh oil and new fork seals and refit, strip and clean the brakes, flush the brake fluid and refill it, and fit new tyres. Those are just the bare minimum jobs I already know I’ve got to do.

On the bright side, apart from the tyres, those are all cheap jobs.

In a way this is good. I want a project. If I had it up and running today, where would be the fun in that?

It’s just that nervous time when you don’t know if it is going to work. If I knew for sure the bike was going to run and I’d get everything sorted I could plod on happily. There is always that fear that I’m going to break it, or it will never start.