Go Sportsters

[DS Hobo]

I just bought this bike and as far as I know they are the stock shocks from Harley for the 1200S model. I will take a closer look at them and let you know what I find out.

[tree88]

Originally Posted by Randy

Well, I don't like to put anyone's "thang" down, and I know there are different tastes and priorities when it comes to bikes. But, this forum tends to have more "real riders" than some of the more H-D specific places I've experienced. Not that there aren't real riders there too, but the ratio is much higher here, in my experience. For example, here we are, talking about modifying our low bikes to improve cornering clearance, and I couldn't count the number of times I've read about people LOWERING Nighsters, 72's and 48's over on xlforum. I just don't get it. Seems to be a good bunch over there too, but just of a different mindset I guess. Function seems to take a backseat to form in other places. Here, for the most part, function trumps form.

Welcome to Advrider, btw!

most all of the bikes over there look awesome, but I need functional transportation lol. I have the typical "bar hopper" sitting in the garage- there is a reason it lost it's slot as the day to day ride. I wonder if other makes have the same issues with "fashion police" ?

[tree88]

belt to bellcrank clearance




closeup of above




belt to pulley cover clearance




holes that must be slotted (and half the thickness of the bottom spacer put behind ie: 1/4" in down will require 1/8" of spacers to get the bolts to tighten correctly)



you can just make out the 1/8" of washers behind the bracket.

[hhkiwi]

... and here are my photos. First the one showing the belt resting on the bellcrank with no one on the bike:



The next shot shows the situation with me sitting on the bike. I can push my finger in between the belt and the bellcrank:



And finally a photo showing the back of my belt - there's virtually no sign of wear after 6,500 miles:

[Randy]

Originally Posted by tree88

belt to bellcrank clearance



closeup of above


belt to pulley cover clearance



holes that must be slotted (and half the thickness of the bottom spacer put behind ie: 1/4" in down will require 1/8" of spacers to get the bolts to tighten correctly)


you can just make out the 1/8" of washers behind the bracket.

I tried to take pictures of mine for reference, but my bike is set up a little differently. The exhaust and cross over pipe support is in the way of getting a decent angle on it. The pics I got were pretty useless, unlike yours.

I understand what you did with the top mounting bolts, but I'm still a bit confused. Perhaps I'm looking at it wrong, or maybe I'm just dense, IDK, but it appears that about the only thing I could accomplish with spacers would be to move the master cylinder rearward, and not really down away from the belt. Do you have a pic of were exactly you placed the 1/4" spacer? Are you talking about behind the two large bolts below the m/c in this pic?

[tree88]

there are three bolts which hold the bracket to the bike.

the lower (front) bolt is where i spaced it down 1/4"

by moving the bracket straight down, there is a gap opened between the rear of the bracket and the frame.

this gap can be filled with roughly half the thickness of the lower spacer (because the rear of the bracket is at roughly a 45 degree angle)

the bracket moves straight down (because the front bolt hole will not allow forward or aft movement) but because of the angle of the frame it must be spaced to fill the gap.

hope this clears it up for you

[hhkiwi]

I'm scratching my head here - what am I missing? Why do you want to mess with your rear master right away?

Just install the longer shocks, give the belt some slack and take the bike for a ride. Then look at the outside of the belt for any signs of contact with the bellcrank - there's a good chance you won't find any, in which case there's no point lowering the rear master, right?

My belt is 6+ years old with 6,500 miles on it and my bike has had 15" shocks from new. If there'd been regular contact with the bell crank - or any other part - I'd know by now. But there's nothing, except perhaps a very fine line on the back of the belt from pushing the bike out of the garage with no load on it. But you'll have to look very closely to see it.

Me thinks you worry too much.

[tree88]

mine had a really light wear mark from the linkage- but riding style may have a large part to play in that. I do tend to gear brake alot (rear suspension unloaded, tension on lower part of belt) so I modified mine to prevent any further wear... your results may vary.

that and my suspension does not move very much when i sit on it (drops about 3/4")- so it runs damn near topped out at all times.

[Randy]

Originally Posted by tree88

there are three bolts which hold the bracket to the bike.

the lower (front) bolt is where i spaced it down 1/4"

by moving the bracket straight down, there is a gap opened between the rear of the bracket and the frame.

this gap can be filled with roughly half the thickness of the lower spacer (because the rear of the bracket is at roughly a 45 degree angle)

the bracket moves straight down (because the front bolt hole will not allow forward or aft movement) but because of the angle of the frame it must be spaced to fill the gap.

hope this clears it up for you

Ahhh.... Now I got ya!.. The whole cast iron thing gets moved down. I was just looking at where the master cylinder appears to bolt to that piece. And yes, I see what you mean about the top bolts and it all makes perfect sense to me now. Denseness over! At least for now...

Originally Posted by hhkiwi

I'm scratching my head here - what am I missing? Why do you want to mess with your rear master right away?

Just install the longer shocks, give the belt some slack and take the bike for a ride. Then look at the outside of the belt for any signs of contact with the bellcrank - there's a good chance you won't find any, in which case there's no point lowering the rear master, right?

My belt is 6+ years old with 6,500 miles on it and my bike has had 15" shocks from new. If there'd been regular contact with the bell crank - or any other part - I'd know by now. But there's nothing, except perhaps a very fine line on the back of the belt from pushing the bike out of the garage with no load on it. But you'll have to look very closely to see it.

Me thinks you worry too much.

Not missing anything. I agree, I'd try it first as is. But, I like to have a contingency plan just in case I'm not comfortable with how close my belt runs to other hard parts. I probably wouldn't "need" it, but it's nice to know that once I spend the cash on a set of shocks, I'm not screwed if my bike exhibits interference issues. Besides, a little extra clearance won't hurt.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The fact that my wire wheels have tubeless tires with tubes in them makes me angry. I am used to keeping a tire plug kit with me, but I'm not patching tubes. Anyone know where I can get some cheap cast wheels that I can run tubeless tires? All the ones I see on line are really pricey and fancy looking,. Or a good way to seal the wire wheels so I can throw the tubes away?

[hhkiwi]

Originally Posted by Eye of the Tiger

The fact that my wire wheels have tubeless tires with tubes in them makes me angry. I am used to keeping a tire plug kit with me, but I'm not patching tubes. Anyone know where I can get some cheap cast wheels that I can run tubeless tires? All the ones I see on line are really pricey and fancy looking,. Or a good way to seal the wire wheels so I can throw the tubes away?

Keep an eye out on Ebay or Craigslist - you can regularly pick up stock cast wheels for a good price.

[Randy]

Originally Posted by Eye of the Tiger

The fact that my wire wheels have tubeless tires with tubes in them makes me angry. I am used to keeping a tire plug kit with me, but I'm not patching tubes. Anyone know where I can get some cheap cast wheels that I can run tubeless tires? All the ones I see on line are really pricey and fancy looking,. Or a good way to seal the wire wheels so I can throw the tubes away?

Or, keep your spokes and convert your wheels to run tubeless. The internet is full of different DIY methods for doing this and there are companies that offer it as a service as well. I like the looks of spoked wheels but I'm like you about being stranded with no way to repair a simple puncture.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tec...l/viewall.html

[HapHazard]

Originally Posted by Eye of the Tiger

The fact that my wire wheels have tubeless tires with tubes in them makes me angry. I am used to keeping a tire plug kit with me, but I'm not patching tubes. Anyone know where I can get some cheap cast wheels that I can run tubeless tires? All the ones I see on line are really pricey and fancy looking,. Or a good way to seal the wire wheels so I can throw the tubes away?

Sorry they're in CT, but it's the best I could do on short notice.

http://hartford.craigslist.org/mcy/3620509063.html

iron 883 wheels - $500 (plainville)

looking to trade my black mag wheels of my 2012 iron 883 for black nightster wheels, may throw in cash or RSD parts to make deal

• Location: plainville

[Eye of the Tiger]

Originally Posted by HapHazard

Sorry they're in CT, but it's the best I could do on short notice.

http://hartford.craigslist.org/mcy/3620509063.html

iron 883 wheels - $500 (plainville)

looking to trade my black mag wheels of my 2012 iron 883 for black nightster wheels, may throw in cash or RSD parts to make deal

• Location: plainville

Wow, that would be perfect. Does that mean they would pay me $500 to swap wheels? That would cover gas and a couple of nights in a hotel.
Too bad I don't have time to actually make that trip.

Originally Posted by Randy

Or, keep your spokes and convert your wheels to run tubeless. The internet is full of different DIY methods for doing this and there are companies that offer it as a service as well. I like the looks of spoked wheels but I'm like you about being stranded with no way to repair a simple puncture.

http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/tec...l/viewall.html

$59/wheel ain't too bad, until I have to ship them all the way to California. I wonder if I can buy this sealant and do it myself.

Yes, apparently http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274533

[Randy]

Originally Posted by Eye of the Tiger

$59/wheel ain't too bad, until I have to ship them all the way to California. I wonder if I can buy this sealant and do it myself.

Yes, apparently http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=274533

Well, as I said, there are lots of DIY methods floating around the net... Lots of people do it with common off the shelf sealants and use different methods. Here's just a few of the things I found with a quick google search...

http://www.teamincomplete.com/Projec...elesswhee.html

http://cyb.smugmug.com/gallery/72508...9239&k=mT2KWZM

http://translate.google.com/translat...%3D346%26s%3D1

http://cyb.smugmug.com/gallery/72508...9239&k=mT2KWZM

http://www.gadgetjq.com/tww.htm


And then there's the Alpina kit that uses replacement spoke nipples with o-ring seals :

http://alpinawheelsusa.com/products/...it-conversion/

Of course I can't vouch for the reliability of any of these although I have read of quite a few people that have done it and had ridden tens of thousands of miles with no problems. But honestly, if you don't care about keeping the spokes, I'd do what you were originally thinking and just get mags and be done with it. I just tend to like spoked wheels on certain bikes for aesthetic reasons. Damn! There I go now! Putting form before function!


Hmmm... THIS STUFF sounds like it could be a useful product for this application if using the Teamincomplete method linked to above...