It's fooked

[Melch]

At least your engines bolted in. No wonder mine seemed so smooth - the engine was independent from the chassis

That will have been the 'Fully Floating Engine' that HD tried for a year. Quite rare apparently. Mostly because anybody that owned one is dead!

 

[Robbo1200ADV]

It went again after a couple of miles so more investigation needed.

What I did notice while grubbing about was the the front engine bolts are missing. you can slide the engine from side to side with your hands as it's just resting on the front mounting plate. At least that explains the terrible handling..I think I need to go through this bike before it kills me.

What the F ? I had that with a Kawasaki H1A made the handling even poorer . I hope it is covered by the warranty

 

[daveg]

Derby cover??

I meant the small cover on the right hand side of the gearbox, where the clutch cable goes in.

Hi Rob, thinking about it, and as PoD originally said, you may be better off draining the gearbox oil, it can't do any harm to replace it. There will be some oil that comes out of the cover but I think most of it will stay in if the bike's on the sidestand. You do fill the gearbox through a cap on the cover but that's while the bike is upright. I had a 1990 FXST and the gearbox drain plug was a Torx headed tapered plug at the bottom of the gearbox below the cover on the R/H side so you could just drain a little oil off. All other models including yours I think had the drain plug underneath.

It's a while since I last had a cover off so sorry if I misled you. You'll probably need a new gasket as well.

Of course if you've found the problem and don't have to take the cover off all well and good.

 

[Rob Farmer]

Thanks Dave,

Ill be draining the gearbox and chain case to pull the cases off. I suspect they'll be a reasonable order going to hd for gaskets and parts.

There's one of three options for the clutch problem:-
Clutch ramp screwed up. Clutch pushrod failing or the clutch coming adrift. Whatever it is I need to get to the bottom of it.

I found the main earth strap hanging loose this morning so for peace if mind I need to give the bike a good going over. I've just jumped on it and ridden it since I bought it.

 

[Steptoe]

Rob, check your belt. And the pulleys. You can't check them enough, so i've been told. Let me know how they are.

 

[Rob Farmer]

Neil,

I know David had a belt snap on him last year so that's fairly new but ill take the opportunity to check the front sprocket while the clutch is off. I'm wondering if the clutch wasn't done up properly after the belt was replaced. It may explain the clutch problem.

The engine flapping about wont have done the rubber mounts on the gearbox any good either so that's something else to check. I know David's been paying good money to have a harley shop sort things out, very frustrating and doesn't say much for them.

 

[David Nimrod]

I know David's been paying good money to have a harley shop sort things out, very frustrating and doesn't say much for them.

Too true... as 'the local HD Indy' I'm not too impressed with them at all...

 

[daveg]

Rob, check your belt. And the pulleys. You can't check them enough, so i've been told. Let me know how they are.

Have you checked yours? How many teeth have you got? They don't look real in your avatar

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Have you checked yours? How many teeth have you got? They don't look real in your avatar

i bet you haven't seen his 'bluetooth ' pic..

 

[Rob Farmer]

The good news is...now I've bolted the engine in the bikes handling is much, much better. I can even ride over white lines now with just a hint of rear wheel movement instead of it swinging wildly from one side to the other. A few more vibes but it gives a meaty feel to the ride.

The clutch is getting worse but thats the next job.

 

[Rob Farmer]

It's the clutch release bearing thats broken up so not too bad a job. Just need to flush the gearbox out as there seems to be a few rollers missing. No sign of an easy clutch, it's a standard ramp plate in there (marked with 15°)

Just ordered the parts and took the opportunity of upgrading the ramps to the latest spec as well as replacing the pushrod and all the other bits in contact with it. Came to £70 including the postage.

 

[jackassdave]

ive got to admit ,while in the shed today ,i checked just to make sure ,the bolts were in my engine.
they are ,thank god

 

[Rob Farmer]

Just going through the Receipts that came with the bike. Theres a receipt for £96 for fitting a "New Clutch Lite" to the clutch. £36 for new parts and £60 labour. By somebody called R lowe. The owner who paid for the parts lived in lancashire so I guess it was local to him.

Looking at the parts in the bike there a fairly new outer ramp part but an older inner. It looks like guy fitted a later spec outer ramp but left the original inner ramp in place and charged for the lot. I wonder if that contributed to the failure? it's just an outer from a 96 on bike.

 

[Steptoe]

By somebody called R Sowe. .

What a bum guy.

 

[David Nimrod]

This Thread might be interesting...

 

[Mutley]

Especially as there isn't one.....

Not my field of expertise...paging Mutley.....but I * think* some Evo big twins had a problem with the clutch basket coming apart....

We're all in the schitt if you think I'm some king of Harley guru

I'm afraid I only speak twin cam and shovel anyway

 

[Rob Farmer]

Just spent 5 minstrel peering at those pictures trying to see if the front engine bolts were fitted

 

[Rob Farmer]

It's the clutch release bearing thats broken up so not too bad a job. Just need to flush the gearbox out as there seems to be a few rollers missing. No sign of an easy clutch, it's a standard ramp plate in there (marked with 15°)

Just ordered the parts and took the opportunity of upgrading the ramps to the latest spec as well as replacing the pushrod and all the other bits in contact with it. Came to £70 including the postage.

Parts finally arrived today. The ramp is a stamped 18° which should give more clearance and a slightly heavier pull than the one thats fitted.

The clutch pushrod is a different design as well, it has a flat running down it's length instead of just being round. I guess to get more oil down there. I turned a temporary one up on the lathe so I could keep riding, it seems to be performing ok so can go in the tool bag.

I like these evo's, the designs obviouslly a throw back to earlier times when parts were hand made. It's great when you can turn parts up yourself to keep them on the road