I am not a particularly trustworthy builder or writer, so I’d appreciate feedback if I should continue. If we like it, I will continue to write.
The most captivating way to start. In the future I'd like to talk about trips and parties, motors exploding, frames cracking, repairs, girls, tools, maybe get some notable figures and builders to chip in. But I’d like to start with chopper reliability. I have some stories, tech tips, motors, tools, and I am pretty well versed in breaking down.
I’ll refer to chopper reliability in the context of a long trip and I’ll make three categories.
Number one… general mechanical failure (chain breaks, fork seal blows, pegs fall off).
Number two... Drivetrain failure.
And number three… personal breakdown (you can’t make it home or you are the reason the bike is stopping every hour). This last one is a bit funny but I think worth talking about.
Number one. Right off the bat this is a strong belief I have. A broken shifter is just as bad as a blown motor if you’re trying to make it home. I have seen way more grounded bikes with bad wheel bearings, cracked frames, bad chains, broken levers etc than I have seen bad motors. Most of these things are preventable.
Preventative work is a mindset, this is a very incomplete list, but every bike is different and it’s your mentality that really counts here. All the revolving parts, wheels, brakes, sprockets, chains. Do we see witness marks of things hitting? Lift your chain in every direction and see if you can get it to hit your oil bag, or your frame. Pull your wheels once every so often and turn the bearings by hand. Are they loud and stiff? Hold your front end between your legs and try to shake the wheel back and forth. There is no use in changing your fluids before your trip if the wheels aren’t going to spin. Check your spokes, check for cracks on your pipes, your peg mounts, your oil bag mounts. This is common knowledge but when is the last time you got under the bike and checked those welds your buddy laid after a million beers. You would not believe how many bikes we’ve seen on the side of the road where the fender is hitting the tire somehow. This does not just “happen”. So there’s a huge list of mechanical failures here that can be fixed, and a recommendation is to sit with your bike. Sit for an hour and look. I have found a lot of stuff sitting and looking.
Before we get to number two there are a lot of things we can do if we still see failure on the road. Instead of carrying an entire spare cable, you can buy lengths of just the internal cable wire that you can then feed into the cable housing that is already on your bike. It takes up the space of an altoids can, and throw in what I think they call “emergency cable ends”. I always bring a few pieces of extra hardware with me. A single bolt has grounded me a couple times. But go look around if you are stuck. Lots of chain link fencing is built with 5/16 bolts. I have a 3/4 inch tube stuffed in my seat post tube filled with hardware, woodruff keys, condensers ect. Pegs off of a sportster fit as a kicker pedal. Small lengths of baling wire will hold what zip ties can’t. Bring vice grips instead of that 3/4 wrench. I have a hard time following this one, but when broken down it is in your best interest to keep a good mood. I have many many times yelled about how the trip was ruined and then somehow fixed the issue two hours later. It could have been one hour if I had kept a level head.
Drivetrain time. I would love in the future to go as deep as I can into motor work. But there isn’t time here so I’ll keep it big picture. You can sort of break down Harley motors into rotational or reciprocal motion. Meaning we’ve either got parts moving back and forth, like your pistons moving up and down, or we have parts rotating in circles, like your flywheels or cam. A problematic noise can be identified by its cycle, for instance every 360 degrees of crank rotation your piston will travel to the top of your cylinder and back. Your valve will only open roughly every 720 degrees of crank rotation. The point here is the valve as a reciprocal item will not make noise every revolution like a crank will. And the timing of the noise can help you identify issues. Reciprocal items like lifters and pushrods should have measurable play in their up and down motions as well as whatever retains them. Lifters inside their lifter blocks should have no side to side motion and very little up and down play. Rotational items will always be rotating over some type of bearing or bushing, and for the most parts will have an “end play” measurent. An example of end play would be if you were to motion to your buddy that you were about to have intercourse, with two fingers making an o and another moving back and forth inside. How far the o traveled back and forth would your end play. Anyways. This is an over simplified way to think about motors, but next time you wonder how a component is looking, like for instance a clutch basket. Think what is the condition of my bearing and how much end play do I have. Harley motors tend to have more issues with their reciprocating parts than they do with rotation. But the reality of breaking down for the most part comes down to timing and electrical. There are so many parts to cover in a motor, (which I would like to do soon) but for now I will say. Understand your timing, buy American points, bring extra condensers. Buy an American coil. Your ability to be a resource and not a liability on your trip is dependent on your understand of your motor.
Harley 4 speed transmissions are actually very reliable gear boxes. With almost a 50 year run, and Muncie style gears, the majority of my issues on the road are clutch and kicker issues. A high quality throwout bearing and rod as well as clean functional clutch plates are absolutely essential. There is a reason we sell both clutch kits as well as throwout bearings, after both have left me on the side of the road in Mexico. Kicker gears and bushings should be inspected every year or so to make sure neither the kicker gear plate or bushings are showing wear. Gear oil should come out clean on these transmissions, and in the case of metallics look into your throwout bearing before going any further.
Number three, are you going to make it. This one is a bit funny, but really overlooked. I've peed my pants from heatstroke in the middle of a trip, if my bike did that I would call it breaking down. Sometimes you just hate the end of the ride, but we’ve gone on trips where people end up in the hospital.
This entire section is mostly about packing.
There are people with a lot more miles than me, but this is what I’ve packed from Montana to Mexico and a lot of in between.
I always bring a rain coat. If you haven’t tried it, a super light windbreaker over a hoodie is way warmer than a big jacket. And they fold up very small. I only wear long sleeve. It’s an extra layer when you’re cold, you can ride all day in the sun without sunscreen. Bring a pair of clears for night riding or rain. Silk inserts for gloves really improve their cold weather abilities. Buy a small backpacking tarp, you can cover yourself and your bike in weather and it makes a nice place for repairs. This is not necessary but if you like gear check out the backpacking world of sleeping bags and mats, they are 1/4 of the size of what you get at Walmart. You cannot bring too many bungee cords! Do not be the guy always looking for an extra bungee cord! Do not tie anything to the back of your sissy bar! I have twice lost something that got locked in between my wheel and fender and once sent me skidding at 70mph. Put an extra bungee on everything you bring. It will carry your hoodie, it will carry your 12 rack. You cannot have too many bungee cords. And finally, before you set out, pack your bag a few days before and go ride. My first bikes, my packing was terrible. I rode all over the state and then set off to Montana from California. A good pack on your lower back, a saddle bag for water and tools. 300+ mile days are not a challenge when you can lean back and relax.
I’ve got a motor to build for the summer so I should probably get back to that. But there’s a lot to write about. I’d get a kick out of an intro to metalworking and what tools you ought to buy. Maybe an in-depth motor building write up with some pro builders.
SB