Well, my battery finally gave up the fight.
Of course it happened as I was leaving bike night in front of all kinds of people. It was cool though, I got some jumper cables and got her started and headed home.
About 5 minutes from the house, I lost my tach and high beam and bike started to sputter and backfire. I pull into a fast food joint parking lot and shut down. Call the wife and tell her I'll be late, call my buddy and ask him to pull the battery out of his softail and bring it on over (at 9:00pm!!)
In the meantime, folks ride by asking if I needed a tow truck etc. I said no, I'll fix it here. Sort of reminded me of the time my good buddy Ray and I started working on his bike at a gas station at about 4am on our way to Mexico!:up:
He shows up and we do the swap. He follows me home and I return his battery. I take a look at my battery and see the in-service date I scribed on it 5/13/2005
Went down to the shop that did my dyno run for me and got a new battery. Harley Softail AGM. Got it home and checked my charging system (just to be sure) according to this thread:
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/technical/10479-battery-not-charging-when-running-2.html
Everything checks out so my electrical stuff is GTG.
While I was at the dyno shop, I started talking to the owner. I told him that the bike is running good and he recommended I add a lil back pressure because of my pipes (as did member John Sachs).
The shop has had alot of success with a 1/4 x 20 bolt double nutt'd. Figure I'll give it a shot, besides, my flange nuts keep needing to be tightened and I suddenly started getting a little decel popping. After reading Ray's thread about the old style (screaming eagle) gaskets, I accepted the reality that I prolly have an exhaust leak:angry:
Pick up my hardware and S/E gaskets...
Here are some pics.
Front head keeps getting sooty, I get some popping so I'm pretty sure I had an exhaust leak.
Rear Head looks really good. I HAVEN'T CLEANED THIS ONE AT ALL!
I placed a mark on my pipes about 3 inches from the opening.
Chrome 1/4 x 20 Button Head bolts, nuts and pressure washers.
Drilled my hole.
One done, one to go.
What it looks like.
How I got the inside nut on.
My S/E gaskets, 10 pack for about 30 bucks.
Here's a video of startup.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de85YfbhKKE]YouTube - MOV04760[/ame]
I took the bike out for a quick ride around town and to get gas. My initial impression is pretty good. I have zero 'stumble' at low RPM and the bike just feels more responsive. Also, the decel popping is barely there at all, a significant difference from before so I can be added to a "doubled up gasket guy"! :2thumbs:
Possibly I'm trying to justify spending an entire afternoon and most of my evening working on my bike but who needs to justify???
I love working on my bike and I'm loving the way it's running!:2thumbs:
Of course it happened as I was leaving bike night in front of all kinds of people. It was cool though, I got some jumper cables and got her started and headed home.
About 5 minutes from the house, I lost my tach and high beam and bike started to sputter and backfire. I pull into a fast food joint parking lot and shut down. Call the wife and tell her I'll be late, call my buddy and ask him to pull the battery out of his softail and bring it on over (at 9:00pm!!)
In the meantime, folks ride by asking if I needed a tow truck etc. I said no, I'll fix it here. Sort of reminded me of the time my good buddy Ray and I started working on his bike at a gas station at about 4am on our way to Mexico!:up:
He shows up and we do the swap. He follows me home and I return his battery. I take a look at my battery and see the in-service date I scribed on it 5/13/2005
Went down to the shop that did my dyno run for me and got a new battery. Harley Softail AGM. Got it home and checked my charging system (just to be sure) according to this thread:
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/technical/10479-battery-not-charging-when-running-2.html
Everything checks out so my electrical stuff is GTG.
While I was at the dyno shop, I started talking to the owner. I told him that the bike is running good and he recommended I add a lil back pressure because of my pipes (as did member John Sachs).
The shop has had alot of success with a 1/4 x 20 bolt double nutt'd. Figure I'll give it a shot, besides, my flange nuts keep needing to be tightened and I suddenly started getting a little decel popping. After reading Ray's thread about the old style (screaming eagle) gaskets, I accepted the reality that I prolly have an exhaust leak:angry:
Pick up my hardware and S/E gaskets...
Here are some pics.
Front head keeps getting sooty, I get some popping so I'm pretty sure I had an exhaust leak.
Rear Head looks really good. I HAVEN'T CLEANED THIS ONE AT ALL!
I placed a mark on my pipes about 3 inches from the opening.
Chrome 1/4 x 20 Button Head bolts, nuts and pressure washers.
Drilled my hole.
One done, one to go.
What it looks like.
How I got the inside nut on.
My S/E gaskets, 10 pack for about 30 bucks.
Here's a video of startup.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de85YfbhKKE]YouTube - MOV04760[/ame]
I took the bike out for a quick ride around town and to get gas. My initial impression is pretty good. I have zero 'stumble' at low RPM and the bike just feels more responsive. Also, the decel popping is barely there at all, a significant difference from before so I can be added to a "doubled up gasket guy"!
:2thumbs: Possibly I'm trying to justify spending an entire afternoon and most of my evening working on my bike but who needs to justify???
I love working on my bike and I'm loving the way it's running!:2thumbs:
:flag: 
