Refurbishing a bike

 <He comes charging in and throws a bunch of money on the bar>

Here's a wad of 20 dollar bills I just withdrew from the bank down the
street. Drink till it's all spent...and somebody lock the front door
while I hide this ski-mask and sawed off shotgun.

Been tossing this idea around for a while now. Figure I’ll throw it out
to the crowd to see what they say.

Assuming that the engine, clutch, and transmission are all fine – what
would you guys replace/repair on an aging bike to make it reliable like
it was when it was new? One o’ these days I’ll hafta have the engine
rebuilt on the Electra Glide, but instead of spending gobs of money on
high-performance upgrades I think I’d rather keep it pretty much stock
and spend the extra money on replacing some of the “little things” that
are often neglected until they break. What’s the point of having an “oh
my gawd” hi-perf engine in the bike if an old, worn throttle cable snaps
when you’re 50 miles south of Tentflap, Arizona and you’re dead in the road?

Soooooo, I started a list of things that someday I’d like to replace
that would make the bike reliable. I’d like to get your input on things
I omitted or that don’t really need to be on the list. Yeah, some of the
things might not really need to be replaced, but most of them don’t cost
a whole bunch and it’d make me feel better about the bike’s reliability
out on the road. I’d rather replace them in my shop when *I* want to…not
on the side of the road when the *bike* wants to. Peace of mind ya know.

Wheel bearings.
Throttle cables.
Final drive belt.
Clutch cable.
Refurb/upgrade the forks.
New steering bearings.
Swing arm bushings and related items. (Maybe add a Sta-Bo or sumpin’, too.)
Rear air shocks. (I dunno. Do they ever really wear out?)

A person could do most of the item on the list themselves with a manual
and some tools in order to save some bucks.

Just a thought.

Thanks,

Andy aka Big Stinkie

 On Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:46:48 -0500, Andy aka Big Stinkie <"andy at
bigstinkie dot com"> wrote:


I'm thinking about replacing the front discs on mine.  They've warped
a little over time.  Wondering if I can convert to floating discs.


    Ron
-
2003 FLHTCUI "Noisy Glide"
http://www.christianfamilywebsite.com
http://www.ronaldchristian.com

 On Wed, 10 Aug 2011 08:04:51 -0700, Ronald O. Christian


    Sure you can convert to floating, but unless you really push
the bike, or ride the brakes a lot it's probably not worth the
expense.  Except for the appearance & bragging rights.

Jinks ('86 FXRS, '07 FLTR)
#64
Remember, "No good deed goes unpunished"

 On 8/10/2011 10:04 AM, Ronald O. Christian wrote:

I just replaced pads front and back. My discs look fine at 62K. 'Course
here in Kansas we don't have much occasion to use brakes since there are
no curves to speak of. Only time we brake is when a tractor pulls out in
front of us. <grin>

Andy aka Big Stinkie

 On Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:46:48 -0500, Andy aka Big Stinkie <"andy at
bigstinkie dot com"> wrote:

<snip>

    Cheap & easy.  If it's old enough to have Timkin bearings just
repack 'em each tire change.  If it's new sealed bearings don't worry
about 'em.


    About 50k it's cheap & easy to replace.  Lube 2 to 4 times a
year depending on how much rain you ride in.


    Not so cheap or easy, but above 75k it's good insurance.


    Never!  Change to a hydraulic clutch.  More expensive, but
well worth the cost & you never have to adjust again.


    Flush & replace the fork oil, & change to chrome/powder coat.
New bushings at the same time.  Depending on how it rides & your style
of riding you might want to look into Progressive springs or other
fork enhancements.


    Anytime you can feel the steering, or at regular inspections.
Only a little more work if you have the front end apart for a fork oil
change or chrome/powder coating.


    At the same time you do the belt replacement.


    If it rides poorly, or you do a lot of hot rodding in the
twisties.  Do much of that in Kansas?

    Check the fiber plates in the clutch.  It's an easy job, &
stock replacements are cheap.  Harley makes a good clutch.

    While you're in the primary inspect the chain & tensioner.

    Cee Bailey, Windvest, Clearview recurve windshield.  Adds a
little more comfort to the ride.


    Every one of them can be done at home with a shop manual.
Most aren't difficult or expensive.  Probably the most labor intensive
is the belt replacement & swing arm service.  For me the best
improvement of the bunch was the change to a hydraulic clutch.  It's
amazingly easy & a big improvement.

    I've forgotten what year your bike is, but a mild cam
improvement makes a nice ride.  If it's an EVO era bike a cam change
is pretty easy.  If it's an early TC an upgrade to the hydraulic
tensioners is well worth the money.

Jinks ('86 FXRS, '07 FLTR)
#64
Remember, "No good deed goes unpunished"