New S&S heads, piston rings...I'm ready to roll baby!

(May 10, 2014) Push came to shove this week and I had to spend some big bucks and invest in new heads. The logical choice was a compromise: rather than go with stock Harley Davidson heads or pay to have the old ones cleaned and machined, I decided to go with S&S. I read a lot of bitching on various Harley forums about stock heads--and even S&S heads--not delivering optimum performance. Sure, you can spend a fortune and have firms such as Branch O’Keefe deliver their specialty heads to your door. But, I don’t need to shave a second or two off my quarter mile time. I want a practical solution for my bagger. S&S offers a reasonable option for a rider like me. (By the way, there’s a great video on YouTube from Branch O’Keefe on how they machine heads for Harleys. It’s very enlightening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF8ncPES8Ng.)

As I wrote in my last blog post, I had an exhaust leak in my rear header pipe after the flange came loose and it cooked my exhaust valve. The old stock heads had come to their end, after more than 92,000 miles. And, it turns out I also had a cracked header pipe (see photo at left). Kevin at Jockeys Cycle welded the pipe. I’ll probably invest in a new exhaust system next winter. For now, I’ll go with the weld as I’m tapped out on funds. :-(

While he had the top end opened up, it only made sense for Kevin to replace the piston rings as well. I expect a small boost in compression, though the old rings weren't terribly worn. As Kevin said yesterday, this work ought to add at least another five years of life to this not so old girl. (She’s a 2006 FLHTCI.)

The guys at Jockeys have been great: they ordered the heads on Tuesday afternoon and had them installed today (Friday). They’re working a Saturday morning (tomorrow) to retune the ThunderMax engine control module (ECM) for the new heads and then test-ride the bike so I can have it by lunch time. I’m so psyched about getting an engine makeover that I plan to ride to Hendersonville this weekend in spite of rain in the forecast for the next three days. I’ve decided that I’ll put up with getting wet just to take her for a 600-mile spin.

Walking into Jockeys shop yesterday felt like Christmas morning as I saw the new heads just unpacked and looking as shiny and clean as they’ll ever be. (See photo.) I was so pumped up, I even took a picture of the installation guide. My friends and co-workers have been telling me for more than a year that I ought to buy a new bike, but there’s nothing quite like the feeling of breathing new life into a machine that’s taken me so many places…and will take me to many more.

DurAlt Fuel Conditioner

After some research, I’ve decided to invest in some Duralt Fuel Conditioner from FuelSaver Technologies Inc. in an effort to prevent future carbon buildup in my engine. Back in 2012, I wrote about the carbon buildup I had in my heads and that I began using StarTron Enzyme treatment in my engine in an attempt to avoid carbon buildup. I can only conclude that it doesn’t help.

I will give the DurAlt product a try. As FuelSaver Technologies advises on their web site, I will carefully monitor my fuel mileage and overall engine performance and see if their product makes a significant difference and report back on this web site. It’s hard to get hard data on these kinds of products. All I can find is anecdotal pitches for a wide range of products, from Marvel Mystery Oil—often referred to as MMO—to Sea Foam Motor Treatment.  I will try to compile some data on my bike and let you know what I learn.

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

And the repairs continue...

(May 6, 2014) There’s good news and bad news about my bike this week:

• Bad news: I burned out the rear exhaust valve over the weekend and it’s going to be expensive to correct the problem.
• Good news: The guys at Jockeys Cycle Inc. (Morrisville, NC) quickly diagnosed and repaired the (1) wiring problem with my left passing lamp, and (2) tightened down the rear exhaust port flange, replacing a nut that had fallen off yesterday. The bike is road worthy once more, though barely. The rear exhaust valve is making itself heard. 

In addition to these two repairs made by Jim at Jockeys, I made these two repairs since April 13, when I wrote my last blog post about maintenance issues:

• Installed new rear brake line switch
• Repaired wiring to the horn

I’ve been having so many things go wrong with my bike over the last year, it’s tough to keep up. I’m glad I’m recording it all in these blog posts. Someday I will look back at all of this and laugh…yeh, right. Anyhow, here are some of the ugly details of what’s been happening with my bike. Perhaps you can take something of what I’ve learned and apply it to a problem you’re having.

Horn

I returned home from Hendersonville, NC recently and saw my neighbor John outside and wanted to signal to him that I was home. I pressed the horn button and nothing. Seriously? This is my third horn in a year. So, after a deep breath, I decided to wait until a rainy evening during the week to check it out. Nature complied and Tuesday evening I went to work.

It turns out that one of the wires had broken inside the insulation. When I removed the horn from the bike, I noticed two things: (1) one of the wires was limp--indicating an internal break of the copper, and (2) that the horn itself was loose on its mounting bracket. I suspect that this permitted excess vibration, which led to the broken wire.

I tightened the horn and spliced in some wire using a butt connector (shown in the accompanying photo). I went to the local auto parts store and purchased a small package of “female” connectors (also shown in the photo). The old fellow behind the counter gave me a great tip: strip off double the normal amount of insulation and double back the copper wire on itself so you have a better fit into the connector. It worked great. I had the horn reconnected and operating in only about 20 minutes.

Just an FYI: When I looked at the photo of the old connector (right), I noticed that the wire was not making good contact in the connector. It was functional, but sloppy. Live and learn.  

Rear Brake Light Switch

Then I went to work on replacing the rear brake light switch. Rather than go stock again on a replacement switch, I went with ACCEL. Given that the previous HD switch lasted only about three years and 35,000 miles, I decided to try something new.

I bought the 181101 model for $15.36 by way of Amazon.com. It’s a wider diameter than the stock switch and I almost panicked when I realized how big it was. Fortunately, I had just what I needed: a 1” deep well, 12-point socket. Last fall I invested in a ½-inch drive socket set and it came with a set of deep well sockets up to one inch. I was really feeling like the universe was on my side. The damned thing actually worked on the first try!

Exhaust Flange

My luck didn’t last. This last weekend, my friend Mike Russo and I went for a 280-mile ride to Salisbury, NC by way of Sanford, Carthage, Biscoe, and Albermarle. Somewhere around Biscoe, I noticed that my engine was making excessive noise. After a quick examination, we concluded that exhaust was leaking from somewhere at the heads, probably from the rear cylinder. As I was riding after that, I could feel more heat than normal on my right leg. It turns out that a nut had come off the flange on the rear exhaust port and the other nut had worked its way loose. We rode well over 120 miles after that at high speed on I-85 and I-40 and that was enough to cook the rear exhaust valve.

Passing Lamp

Oh, but it actually gets a little worse, in a sick—almost funny—kind of way. As we came to a stoplight back in Cary, Mike pulled up on my left and looked at me with one of those looks you don’t want to see. He said, “I hate to tell you, but you’ve got a headlight out.” I replied, “No big deal; it’s just a bulb. We’ll replace it when we get to your house.” I’m thinking you already know how this is going to go. We got to his house and while I examined my exhaust header pipes, Mike pulled the left passing lamp bulb and installed a new one. Didn’t work. He tried another. That one didn’t work. We hooked up a volt meter to the power plug: it had 12V. OK, so now what? We decided to wait until we took it onto Jockeys and let them figure it out.

Jim rewired the socket and got it working. Apparently, there wasn’t quite enough voltage to do the job. After discovering the broken wire on my rear fuel injector, I have a great deal of respect for Jim’s skill at sniffing out and correcting wiring problems.

Valve Work Needed

So now for the really bad news. In addition to the burned out valve, I have excessive carbon buildup in my heads. Jimmy told me this a few years ago and Kevin confirmed it based on what little he could see without actually pulling the rocker box covers and heads off. The labor to clean and rework the heads is high enough to justify switching to a new set of S&S heads, which will cost me—with labor—$1400. Major bummer.

I’ve had to cancel my ride to the Iron Horse Motorcycle Lodge with the Raleigh HOG Chapter in June. I just cannot afford it given these expenses with my bike.

On the positive side, my odds of getting to and from Alberta in June/July without any major mechanical problems are getting better and better. The guys in the office have backed off on a betting pool… :-0)

I'm also expecting a huge boost in performance. When Jimmy cleaned my heads a few years ago, the bike ran like it had a brand new engine. The S&S heads should be even better.

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

P.S. I will write more about the new S&S heads after I've had a chance to try them out. Kevin says he can have the bike ready for me by Friday evening. I will then ride to Hendersonville for a three-day weekend. That ought to be 600+ miles of testing. Good enough for another blog post. :-)

Hendersonville, North Carolina

(April 30, 2014) Kevin, Jim, & the rest of the crew at Jockeys Cycles (Morrisville, NC) found the problem with my bike last week and fixed it.* I am very grateful for the perseverance, curiosity, and enthusiasm these gentlemen bring to their work. It’s clear that what they do each weekday is their passion not just their job.

With my bike running properly, I was eager to take it for a worthy test ride. The weather cooperated last weekend and I rode to Hendersonville, North Carolina where my daughter and her husband live. In addition to the beautiful scenery out that way, there are many great places to eat in the area.

Geography

From where I live in Cary (just southwest of Raleigh), Hendersonville is about 265 miles and takes four to four-and-a-half hours via I-40 and I-26. That’s the fastest way to get there from here.

There are also more scenic ways to get there. The city of Hendersonville is located where US 64, US 25, and Interstate 26 cross one another. Riding into town on US 64—from either direction—is the most scenic way to arrive. US 25 from the south is pretty, but from the north does not come close to the beauty of 64. I’ve tried multiple routes and recommend these two:

• I-40 to NC 9 south (exit 64) at Black Mountain/Montreat to US 64 west, or
• I-40 to US 64 west (exit 103) at Morganton 

NC 9 offers hairpin turns and some steep climbs and descents. It’s not for the faint of heart. It competes with the Diamondback for technical riding challenges. Features along this route include a natural spring that’s been tapped with a pipe and spigot. The spigot sits right alongside the road and if you’ve got enough nerve to park nearby you can sample the mountain water. This route ascends up to over 3,000 feet and crosses the Eastern Continental Divide. At that elevation you may find the air significantly cooler than you experienced on Interstate 40.

Ride NC 9 to the village of Bat Cave, where you make a left and then a quick right across the Broad River onto US 64 west and then on to Hendersonville by way of Edneyville. You can expect to add 15-30 minutes to your travel time over the I-40/I-26 route.

On the other hand, if you get off I-40 at Morganton and take US 64 west from there, you will add 30-45 minutes to the trip but will enjoy a fun road, especially once you get west of Rutherfordton. None of this route is particularly challenging, but there are some twisties west of Rutherfordton. The ascent into the mountains is much more gradual on this route.

A sign alongside the road, similar to the one you would see on the NC 9 route, tells you that you're crossing the Eastern Continental Divide. The two primary features of this route are (1) Chimney Rock State Park— and Chimney Rock itself, and (2) the resort town of Lake Lure. Both of these places are very popular with bikers. Last weekend, I stopped waving to the other riders because there were so many of them. I saw at least a couple hundred over the weekend, more than half of those in these two places.  

In the autumn, I urge you to take this second route so you pass through Edneyville. There you will find an abundance of apples. Henderson County is North Carolina apple country, and Edneyville is at the heart of that industry. If it can be made with apples you'll probably find it in Edneyville in October. 

Hendersonville Eateries

I try to arrive in Hendersonville hungry because I love the restaurants there. For breakfast, it’s a no brainer for me—I go to Joey’s New York Bagels. Joey’s is located on Haywood Road (NC 191) just off US 25 Business. They make the best bacon-egg-cheese sandwich I have ever tasted. I thought I was going to have some kind of culinary orgasm when I ate my first one. My wife, Sam, was sitting with me and began wondering if it was for real or whether I was trying to imitate Meg Ryan’s restaurant orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. They are that good.

The place is always very busy in the morning. On Saturday and Sunday mornings, in particular, you may have to eat in your car or take your food home with you because all of the tables inside are taken. We used a large flat rock at the edge of the parking lot last weekend.

For dinner, my favorite place is what I refer to as the “meat palace” but is actually named Flat Rock Wood Room. Technically, this place is not in Hendersonville. It’s on US 225 south, just across the city line, in the town of Flat Rock. If you like meat, you'll love this place. The ribs and brisket are amazing, and the chicken and pulled pork are also very good. The service is excellent and the prices are fair. In the nice weather, you can sit outside on the front porch and enjoy your meaty feast.

If you want veggies or a wider variety of choices, try Never Blue on Main Street in town. Last Saturday, I told the waiter, David, that I was a meat-and-potatoes guy and he immediately referred me to Mama’s Pot Roast. It was excellent. I got the veggies on the side and Sam ate them. The beef was lean and flavorful and the mashed potatoes were seasoned just right. I left no trace of either on my plate.

Main Street is packed with tourists and locals in the evenings from April through October. Be prepared to park and walk a distance. Most of the restaurants have outside seating, so you can people watch—and Harley watch if you’re like me—while you enjoy your dinner. I saw some very nice bikes cruising Main Street last weekend.

You have many choices for something sweet after dinner, but my favorite is Kilwin’s Chocolates, also on Main Street, near 5th Ave. There you can purchase chocolates of all kinds, fudge, and very tasty ice cream. You can also find tasty ice cream at Gop’s on Kanuga Road near Willow (along side the railroad tracks). It’s about a ten minute walk from the south end of Main Street.   

There’s also a Marble Slab Creamery on Main Street near 4th Avenue and frozen yogurt with a huge selection of toppings at Sweet Frog’s on Main near 2nd Ave. 

I’m already looking forward to my next trip out there.

As always, keep the shiny side up.

-The Long Rider

*I’ll discuss the fix to my bike and repairs I made this week (April 29) in my next blog post.

Ride to Surf City, NC and New Bern, NC

(4/13/2014) I managed to get only my second day ride of the year in yesterday; and while the weather cooperated, my engine gave me trouble. On our way south earlier in the day, screamin' down I40 with its 70 mph speed limit, the engine seemed fine. It got progessively worse as the day wore on. Fortunately, I made it home OK. (I suspect my new ThunderMax ECM needs tuning.)

Mike Russo and I planned to have lunch at Buddy's Crab House at the end of NC210, right on the beach. We've eaten there before a couple of times before and love the view.

My engine began acting up so badly as we approached Topsail Island that we decided to turn around just before crossing the Topsail Island Bridge.

Another incentive to turn around was the traffic: the line onto the island was bumper-to-bumper for more than a mile, which shouldn't have surprised us given how great the weather and after such a long winter.

We decided to take US17 north through Jacksonville to New Bern. Mike said he wanted barbecue for lunch, so when we reached Moore's Bar-B-Que on US17 on the south side of New Bern, we pulled over.

We were not disappointed. A very friendly staff served us a huge plate full of ribs and other good eating for only a little over $10 each. We got the Saturday special: baby back ribs.

We forgot to put on sun screen and got a little burned. But after a little more than 300 miles, we felt like we had a good ride for the weekend.

Tomorrow (Monday), I'm taking my sick machine to the bike hospital: Jockey's Cycle in Morrisville. We'll soon see whether or not I'm going to be a happy camper this year.

Keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

Hole in the rear brake line

(4/13/2014) I meant this blog to be focused on the rides I take rather than the repairs I make, but it hasn’t worked out that way. As if to test my patience to its limit, I developed a pinhole-size leak in my rear brake line (see photo at right) April 3 or soon before. I noticed that my rear back pedal felt softer than normal and that I didn’t seem to be getting much braking action in the rear. When I got to my friend Mike’s house from the monthly HOG meeting, I checked the brake fluid level and it looked fine.

On my way home, with my wife on the back, the rear brake failed completely, as I was able to press the pedal all the way down with no perceptible pad pressure at the rear wheel. The next day, I inspected the fluid reservoir again and it looked sufficiently full, and the pads looked good too. I then crawled under the bike and inspected the line just behind the master brake cylinder. The protective cover had rotted, cracked, and mostly fallen away. I could see the thin metal tube. It looked a bit scraped up.

I reached up and pushed the pedal down with my right hand and got a small squirt of brake fluid in my face. I learned quickly that it doesn’t take much of a leak to reduce the brake fluid pressure below the functional threshold. 

My friend Mike Russo was kind enough to go to the local Harley dealer and ask about a replacement brake line. They wanted $180. That’s too much for such a simple piece of hardware. (Refer to the photo at the end of this post to see what the old, stock line looked once off the bike.)

I went online and was able to locate a stainless steel braided line for $77 and change. (See photo at left.) The customer reviews for the vendor I chose, Riders Discount, were excellent, so I ordered one immediately. Sure enough, the new brake line arrived in four business days: I ordered it on a Sunday evening and it arrived on Thursday.

Installation took some patience but went well. The key is to start the mounting process in the middle with the brake light switch plate. Bolt it on but do not tighten it. Then fit the lines to the master cylinder and caliper. Bleeding the line was pretty straightforward, as described in the maintenance manual. Unfortunately, the brake light switch wouldn’t work. I’m still trying to figure out why. I’ll let you know how I get it working again. (I’ve already replaced the rear brake light switch once since buying the bike back in 2009. That time, it stayed in the on position, a more dangerous situation than having it off. At least in the current state, I can choose to activate the brake light by using the front brake lever.)

In addition to the problem of an unresponsive brake light switch, my engine was misfiring again yesterday on a 300+ mile ride to the coast and back. I am scheduled to take my sick machine to Jockey’s Cycle tomorrow for more analysis and tuning of the ThunderMax Engine Control Module (ECM) and adjustments to the Idle Air Control (IAC).

I’ll write about the ride to the coast in my next blog post.

Keep the shiny side up.

-The Long Rider (& motorcycle mechanic in training)