[mfgator]

Thanks will do. My daily driver is an 09 road glide. I want something as fun but without tearing down my daily all the time. My first Harley ever was a heritage. Still love the older ones. But seeing what can be done with the glide has me wondering. My hardest part was finding the right bike. There are a lot of troubled options out there. Your input was very helpful. When I get started I will share as I am sure I will need some help/encouragement. Keep us posted on how you are progressing.


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[western_rider]

More progress! (Tortoise like & just as boring, but progress nonetheless).

Tldr: I fixed a bunch of wiring/lights & installed a new ignition switch! Pictures below... Lol

I spent some time yesterday and today testing the wiring that I had done so far; verifying that with the bike as a standalone unit that everything worked.
Aaand, my right turn signal had no running light function. Turned out to be the bulb. I ordered a new set and replaced both. Front turn signals, check, right?
Not so fast! When I would wiggle the connector for the turn signal, I began to get intermittent light. Haven't dug into that yet as I got distracted, but it's probably just a bent pin.
As for the function of the turn signals, when I would cycle them, they would blink correctly three times and then would hyperflash...back to the wiring diagram. My idiot lights must be off of another bike because the roadglide diagram shows r-turn/l-turn & high beam sharing a common ground. De-pinned the connectors, re-arranged the wires according to the diagram & whaddya know? They function as they're supposed to!
**^This fix also fixed the lit 'Spot' button on my dash that wasn't lighting up. It draws power from the low beam circuit.

My headlights weren't coming on correctly either. They were winking when I would toggle the high/low- low beam would only work on the right and when you hit the switch only the high beam on the left would turn on. Double checked the wiring diagram, turned out I had a couple wires in the wrong order. Fixed it and now they work.

Now for the best part:
A guy I follow on Instagram performed this mod where he relocated an 80's Harley ignition switch to where the cigarette lighter normally is. I thought it was really slick and have been planning on doing it for some time. Well, I finally got around to it! It's a really neat solution and it's not like I was ever really going to use that lighter anyways... Any accessories I add to the bike will be added on proper-like & ran to the fuse box.

P.S. I ordered new led bulbs for the indicator lights as the Neutral one was out. If I'm gonna replace one, may as well upgrade em' all.

I think that's all...picture time!

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[western_rider]

Well Gents, if it's not one thing it's another. One of the front exhaust studs was buggered so I removed it with the double nut method. Which means I may as well remove em' all.
Ordering some Grade 8 Polished stainless ARP studs once I get paid!

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[western_rider]

Update!
Ordered those polished grade 8 exhaust studs & installed em'. Went in like a charm and made sure to anti-seize the ends to ensure ease of removal when that time inevitably comes along.
My fuel pump wasn't priming so I decided to replace everything. All new lines, check valve, pump, regulator, filter.
So my fuel pump seems to be priming now which is good.
With all the pertinent connections made and things tight I attempted another start. The exhaust pipe coming off the front cylinder had some gnarly popping & visible backfire while turning over.
Checked spark, tightened the front & rear spark plugs. Tried again. Same story.
Getting closer still, but no cigar.

I was just doing some reading on another forum and a guy claimed that that code from earlier regarding a rear injector is a factory mistake - something about saving a millimeter of wire. So, next time I get a second I'll go out and investigate that. I still need to clear the old codes and see if any new ones pop up... Maybe make sure all my computer bits are making nice with one another. All good avenues for a potential start. We'll see!
Any words of wisdom gentlemen?

Also, if I'm not on here again until the new year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 

[mjsdouble]

Good to see you’re getting closer. I’ve got nothing for you unfortunately. Your skill level is way beyond me. Happy Holidays to you as well. Hopefully 2021 is better for all of us.

 

[western_rider]

Progress!
I got to thinking about all the sensors on this bike and how some of them just seemed out of place...harness was too long, plugs didn't match, etc. I decided to order the crankshaft position sensor and the oil pressure sensor for the aforementioned reasons. My oil pressure sensor has yet to come in, but the Crankshaft position sensor did. The next night, I installed it annnd IT STARTED! I took it for a ride around the block this morning after installing enough parts to do so and it runs like complete garbage lol
Truly, the only things that were stopping this bike from starting aside from all the wiring/missing parts was a bad fuel pump, a mismatched/bad CPS...go figure.
The running condition is to be expected...The bike has Thunderheader True Duals on it and no tune/ tuner that I am aware of. The front cylinder sounds more like constant backfire as opposed to idling while the rear cylinder sounds ok. When you try to rev the motor or takeoff from a stop it struggles, but then eventually gets going, albeit poorly.
I guess next item on the list is a tuner? Any recommendations?
I'm stoked boys!

 

[western_rider]

Here's how she sits immediately after the very first ride!

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[JacktheBagger]

COOL

JtB

 

[Ike Burns]

Awesome I bet that is a great feeling to be able to ride it finally even if it did run like shit

As far a tuner goes I would say the TTS Master Tune, The Power Vision, or the Thunder Max

 

[mjsdouble]

Congrats on the initiative ride. I’d go with a TTS tuner. You’re pretty close to the Cycle Doctor in Costa Mesa who tuned mine.

 

[western_rider]

Annndd here it is! Purchased because I found a local deal and I like the fact that I can get all sorts of readouts from the bike.
Going to order a mount for this thing from the same guy that made my speedo & tach mount. I think the cockpit will look really cool when I'm done.

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[Paul's Road Glide]

What a great project. I really need to find me a moto project. Can't wait to see it completed.

 

[western_rider]

THIS. BIKE. RIPS. It runs like a bat outta hell.
To bring you up to speed:
Since the bike wasn't running well even with the tuner, (It definitely ran better, but not great) I decided to just order every other sensor and plastic, electric doodad while also wiping out the trouble codes to do list. I know, I know, don't throw money at the project, it's a "budget" build. But really, the list of components that would affect the running condition of the bike that I HADN'T replaced yet was really short. I ordered 2 new stock injectors, 2 new o2 sensors and a new MAP sensor all manufactured by Feuling. I installed all of these in the last three hours after I got off work. I started it up and it idled perfectly.

 

[western_rider]

The above photos show the pile of parts I received as well as comparisons between some of the parts. I took a second to look for any obvious signs of wear, but didn't really see anything major. Let me know if anything sticks out to you guys. The attached photo of my intake manifold is interesting to me. I'm sure I mentioned this earlier in this adventure, but it appears to be ported. That "ringed" machining continues further into the intake manifold...
My trouble codes were for the rear injector and the rear O2 sensor and when you would stand behind the bike as it idled, you could feel that the exhaust coming out of that cylinder was weak. As I didn't test after each piece of the installation, I can't be sure as to what EXACTLY fixed my problem, but I know one of the items I bought solved it! lol
Also, apologies on some of the flipped photos...

 

[western_rider]

As I've never ridden anything other than japanese v-twins and parallel twins, I guess I don't really have that great of a comparison, but this bike was incredible. I took it up one exit on the freeway and back to my house. The power delivery is SO smooth. The bike has gobs of power. I was at 70mph in second gear. And when I let off the throttle the sound of the engine-braking through those Thunderheaders left me with a sh*t eating grin a mile long. To finally be able to ride this bike, properly, after a year was so fantastic. It still needs quite a few finishing touches. A couple adjustments here and there, a couple cases of "buy once, cry once", but for now, I'm beyond stoked!
Now that I've ridden this bike, I don't understand the stereotypes of Harley's. This bike felt VERY refined. It was fast, smooth, it tracked well (though my current suspension setup leaves something to be desired) and it sounds SOOO good. What's not to like about this bike?? You can argue aesthetics until you're blue in the face, but after this experience, I'm hooked for life.
I'll be posting more updates with finishing touches until it's ready for me to daily. After that, I'll either start a new thread with periodic updates for stage 2 of this build (performance oriented upgrades), or just keep it all on this one...not really sure how that's supposed to work.
Anyways, that's all for now folks. Very excited to keep on truckin' with this.

 

[DieselDave]

Congratulations brother. You earned it.

 

[Stoic Joker]

To finally be able to ride this bike, properly, after a year was so fantastic. It still needs quite a few finishing touches. A couple adjustments here and there, a couple cases of "buy once, cry once", but for now, I'm beyond stoked!

Be it a complete restoration or Frankenstein creation - It always feels better when you built it yourself.

 

[Zedbra]

Well done, man. You've put a lot of time and money into this, its really cool to watch someone seeing it through. Enjoy the ride!

 

[Ike Burns]

Congrats. From where you started to getting it riding like that is really impressive. Glad you are enjoying the ride and can't wait to see whats next.

 

[mjsdouble]

Stoked for you man. Mods done yourself are satisfying but this has to be in another level. To see where you started to the enthusiasm of getting the 1st good ride !! Big time props man. GL with the finishing touches.