Posted on 11/23/2005 12:31:34 PM PST by Red Badger
And Maserati originally made machine tools (lathes & mills), Lamborgini made farm machinery as well. Like great presidents, great machinery is prone to humble beginnings.
BTW, the large alloy drum brakes on '67 to '72 HD's, both the Sporty and Electra-Glide, were Italian designed. HD did a lot with the Italians in the 60's including the consideration of collaborating on a four cyl. like the Honda Four years before Honda. What a lot of Harley greatness was flushed down the AMF toilet. The CEO's at GM should be reading Harley history right now. It just might save their butt?
I just put the Big Radius on my Nighttrain a few weeks ago. Sounds so much better than stock. I seriously considered powdercoating them but glad I didn't. Just the right amount of chrome.
The Night Train is a wicked work of art.
Hubby thinks I'm insane but I want the bare minimum of chrome on my trike.
He's going to get that Alsa Corp "black chrome" coating and put it on everything.
[forks, wheels...even the new spiffy chrome battery box he just bought me...poor guy]...LOL!
I love polished stainless steel and aluminum but chrome just doesn't do me.
The Vance & HInes reference was about their current V-Twin speed records.
They make great pipes.
Hubby is nuts for Thunderheaders and he's busy refitting my Sporty for a setup like his.
Oh...and you have to post pictures of your NT now, ya know.
No fair teasing....:)
I have a much taller sissy bar.
The punchline is actually "On a Hoover, the dirtbag is on the inside."
I sure hope your Honda doesn't fit like your clothes. By some that fit. LOL.
I'll be so glad when the "I'm wearing my fat uncle's hand-me-downs" look goes out of style....:)
Don't think I've got any pics since I put the pipes on. Will take one when I take it out tomorrow.
Cool.
Ping me....:)
Nope definitely not the first recall, though Harley has done a good job of making them as minor as possible.
Lucas - and some really bad lube systems.
Oh it actually depends on the bike. The last one I remember was needing to change the gasket on the clutch inspection cover. They got rid of the leaking o-ring and went with an actual gasket. For the most part they have all been minor like this.
Ooooh! A leak! How terrible!
I hate leaks. I have fired a few mechanics for trying the old "it's a harley, it's supposed to leak" line. Thats a rule in my shop is "no leaks".
I am getting all irritable thinking about that now.
"it's a harley, it's supposed to leak"
Nope. Guzzi started out in 1921 building motorcycle - beating BMW by two years - making them Europe's oldest bike builder.
The 3-wheel vehicle was a prototype built for the Italian military and never went into production. The v-twin motor it had shared little with the v-twins that showed up in bikes in '65.
I know whence I speak.
Those are usually just a checkball needing replacement. I hate it, it doesn't take much to replace the checkball. The old total evac motors were the only ones designed to leak, the fat bobs(going from a lot of memory now since I haven't worked on one in over 25years) were actually designed as one half being gas and the other half being oil. They would empty out at about the same pace due to how they pumped according to rpm's.
"Why can't you rice bike riders be nicer to your second gear??? I would say almost half of all rice racer type bikes I have gotten in all have 2nd gear problems. you guys are so rough on that gear."
I'd guess part of the problem is design - at higher rpms it can be difficult to make a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd with the large relative differnce in gear speeds. And, of course, on the way from 1st to 2nd you have to prod the lever through the neutral detent. And if you blow it at high rpm and torque, it can get pretty violent in there. Actually, the heel shifter many cruisers have is probably conducive to good positive engagement of the 2nd gear dogs on the 1-2 shift.
Oh, shim under bucket means (typically) that the cam lobe acts directly on a bucket, or tappet, which is what it sounds like, an inverted bucket shaped piece, which sits on top of the shim and over the spring retainer and spring, the shim in turn sitting on top of the valve stem/spring retainer. The advantage is that is the most direct system with the least reciprocating mass, allowing more agressive cam profiles and/or high rpms. Also done to prevent the possibility of the shim spitting out if the valves float.
OK, thanks for the correction. I'm no expert on the history of Italian (or Japanese or whatever, for that matter) motorcycles, for sure.
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