Resurrection project

[Bograt]

Hi all,
hopeing for a little help here , my 1985 FXWG was GIVEN to me by my slightly insane friend who decided that after TEN years of looking at the pile of bits he was never going to get it rebuilt , so far i have spent about two months cleaning the crud off it and slowly replacing the worst bits the main problem I have is that I never saw it in one piece and am a little stuck on were to route the wiring and oil lines etc. does anyone out there have some pics of an 85 FX or similar model that might help .

here is what she looked like when I got her ..............those of a nervous disposition should look away now !

[Roddy_the_Dog]

Hi Bograt
Hang about for KiwiDave,thats his kind thing and I'm sure he'll sort you out

[kiwidave]

oh wow what a god-damn OUTSTANDING present!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you may or may not know that the 1985 four-speed Evos are rare and desireable. Combining Shovelhead EVERYTHING except the engine, for one year only. It was a ''use up the Shovel parts'' project by the MoCo.

Most Evos that year were five-speeds but not all of them.

I have the FXEF Fat Bob, there was an FXSB Low Rider and your Wide GLide. Kick and electric start. The Softail that year was also four-speed. But the swingarm 4spd Evos are nicer!

I can, and often do, drone on about these for bloody days! My FXEF is in the Readers Rides' Gallery. The FXWG had bigger gas tanks, forward controls, and wide glide forks, slightly longer fork tubes and raked triple trees. Otherwise the bikes were similar.

Everything there is do-able. If you get dispirited with polishing the rust outta the chrome ha ha ha EVERYTHING is available. The only really tricky part is the inner primary, but there is a way around that also. If you want pipes and seat help, I know what fits (The classic Shovelhead FX frame was tweaked for this year only to fit the inch-taller Evo.....so 99% of aftermarket seats don't fit, and pipes are tricky also)

Shoot!


PIX: here is a 90% stock one owned by a Swedish clubber. put mouse on pic for another view of it. Orig paint, but single seat and higher bars
http://www.tle.se/mc/


this one has custom paint, saddlebags...but generally original and click for a huge pic for you to work towards!! But dont put any bloody tassles on yours, please!
http://adcache.cycletrader.com/5/0/9/85418909.htm

[Bograt]

Hi Kiwidave ,

Nice Pics , I wasn't aware that she was so sought after , there are a couple of things I'm trying to find out at the moment , First where the oil filter should be mounted , and second the 3 inch X 1 inch terminal block in the wiring harness and about three million other things that I havn't come across yet

here are some more uptodate pics of the progress so far







she is starting to look a little better

Bograt

[kiwidave]

Nice job so far!!!

the oil filter mounts parallel to the ground behind the tranny, just in front of the rear wheel, about five inches off the ground. On a bracket bolted to frame.

Oil lines, longish, run from pump to seatpost then, cable tied to that, up to tank....one line runs underneath tranny to the filter...another, the breather line, ran from crankcase to air filter but that was an EPA thing....you will want to run that towards ground and stick a wee filter on the end. the filters can mount on any bolt i.e. tranny sidecover quite popular.

Wiring loom: inside the headlight bucket it is bloody spaghetti junction! if you choose to remove indicators (and you can run without 'em on a 1985) it tidies up the front wiring a LOT. the main harness is cable-tied to the the frame backbone between/under the twin gas tanks.

Those wiring harness blocks are available at dealerships still. You might be quite surprised at just how much still is, cos a lot of 1984/1985 Evo parts were still in use in 1999, albeit updated/improved.

Couple of other points:

I am thinking the bike was pretty original cos i notice in the first pic that is still has that original style carb-to-head rubber and hose-clamp set up which was always a weak point. It's bound to be shot, the condition the rest of the bike is in. You really wanna ditch that and run a Ramjett metal manifold. which I have had for 12yrs with no trouble whatsoever.

Also, in the 1990s Harley updated the inner clutch hub to make it a lot stronger. The original hub's fingers would break, and also the keyway was very susceptible to cracking. Use care and a new Woodruff key when installing. If there ARE any cracks in the keyway or broken fingers, get the upgraded part - ''84-89 Harley clutch hub'' brand new $90 on eBay every day of the week.

The clutch shaft was replaced in 1990 for a splined version instead of the tapered shaft we have, but as long as you are not hot-rodding or burning out a rear tyre every week, nothing wrong with the 84-89 one.

The 1984-1986 cases are primo quality. Probably the strongest Evo ones.

If you like to kickstart, throw out the H-D factory ignition module and use a Crane Hi4 Fireball. It has a ''kickstart'' setting. The OEM ignition is set so the flywheels have to turn a couple of times before the plugs will fire. Which requires tremendous power/luck on the pedal.

The Crane fires first time. It's brilliant. My first Hi-4 lasted 8 years/50,000 miles. On my second now. You also need compatible single-fire coils. Once you have that, and great plugs like Autolite Platinum ($2 each in the USA), you can throw away the electric start, it's so reliable. I have!

You reallly do need the factory service manual and, just as crucially the factory parts book. The service manual is ''1985-1990 FX/Softail'' always on eBay again, and the parts book is ''1984 FXST; 1985-86 FX'' a really slim wee volume and worth its weight in gold. Check archives for manual suppliers. A lot cheaper from USA.

Send me a PM if you need any helping finding them or anything. Where are you?

Oh yeah, and you have to join the club. We need more 4spd Evos! There are only 3 or 4 out of 1,000 or so bikes, I think!

Dave

[Bograt]

Hi Dave ,

To Answer your last question first I'm in the Isle of Man , the one place in the WORLD without a Harley dealer ( Bummer! ) even though they rob you blind it would be handy to be able to just pop down the road for the odd bits and pieces .

the factory service manual I've got But will definately look into getting a parts book , though I have got the 2004 Zodiac Bikers book (Bikers Porn) which lists a lot of OEM part No.s

The Bike has quite a History , my mate bought her in Germany early 86 ( New) and rode her back to UK he was in USAF at mildenhall at the time , took her to USA when he left the airforce , had her in the states until he emergrated to the Isle of Man in about 95 when he stripped her down to get through the import test ( no MOT over here but any vehicle over 3 years old imported to the island has to be tested - just once ! )

She's got 37,000 on the clock so not to many things should be worn out the main problem is the metal moth has done for most of the shiny bits

another Nice little thing about the island - NO NATIONAL SPEED LIMIT !

Will definately have a close look at the inner clutch hub in the morning

the wiring harness block is fine I just need to know where it goes , I've refirbed the rest of the harness , replaced all the scotch blocks with solderd bullets into double connectors which sould work better, must say after rewiring Jap bikes that harness is a sinch

the Crane Hi4 Fireball sounds a good idea even though I'm not planning on doing away with the starter ( less embarising when you stall at traffic lights )

will definately think about joining once she's back on the road ( it is a RIDERS club after all !)

catch ya later

Pete. AKA The Bograt

[dantheman]

crackin project ye hav there bograt, kiwi fair knows his stuff aboot these kinda bikes, makes acrackin wee thread, keep us all posted, and as dave says for anything get from the states so much cheaper than here, good luck m8,

[chilly]

Try bikebandit.com loads of scematic drawings of all makes of bike, FXR is on there with loads of detailed drawings,should be of some help if you can see them ok.

Good luck with the build.

Chilly

[Bograt]

Thanks Chilly,

had a quick look , found the terminal block I was Looking for , they list it as discontinued then in brackets says " bolted to rear fender " which is all I needed to know , mind you that part of the build is a long ways off , but you know what it's like when somthing just Bugs you and you have to find the answer !

Thanks Pal

Pete.

[kiwidave]

that sits under the seat on the fender and holds the oem circuit breakers (3)

Keep 'em coming!

The parts book you need is 99455-86A, and was in print until very recently (may still be). Do a search here to find US suppliers.... it's INVALUABLE Pete cos it shows you where every nut, bolt, bracket and gasket goes and in what order. Without it on a project like this, you are pissing in the wind a bit...even with the service manual. it has EVERY part number down to the 5p (sorry....£1!!) washers. Critical when you are mail-ordering parts.

I've sent you a PM......