Alright! Nobody did anything stupid in the world of motorcycles and Social Media so I can talk about my Sportster engine build!
For starters, understand that I am modifying a bike that has been in a state of continuous modification for the better part of two decades. Longtime readers know that even though this is a ’94, I pinch-hit the wiring harness from a ’95 into it.
That being said, this is far from a normal bike.
So ordering go-fast goodies is a bit of a chore – I have to remember what the original motor was, what the second motor was, what the new harness is, and what I did in that new harness.
Needless to say, my list of manuals for this swap and build is extensive. Between Clymer and Mother Davidson, I bet I have $200 in well-thumbed performance manuals sitting in the garage (here’s a hint – buy them used online – you’ll save a fortune).
The good news is that the block that I blew up was already pretty hot. It still had the 1212 small fin conversion moons ago, so I already had a chassis that was ready for this rebuild. I’d also long ago heated up the ignition to make use of a previous “head job” that I got, so I wasn’t worried on that part.
The new goodies, though, are a NOS set of Andrews N4s that I got mislabeled at a show some years back – it pays to know what the other guy thinks they are selling. Somebody put them in a “stock” box and this guy sold them as “stock” H-D cams.
Since I scored this long block used on the cheap, too, I put the real money into some bolt-ons – although I am having the heads reworked by a friend of mine that has some real knowledge of making Stage 3 power out of the Evo motor. Whether you like it or not, I bought the bullet (not bit) and ordered a Mikuni 42 and sold the old S & S. I’ve run the S & S for eons on a few bikes – largely because I was told to. So I’ll see how the Mikuni runs with that extra “oomph”. Yeah, it’s a $400 gamble, but why not? You only get so many fast bikes before you get stuck in the nursing home, so in 20 years, will I miss that $400? Not one bit.
Lastly, I’m also going to slip on a SuperTrapp 2 into 1 instead of the old open design I had. Call me crazy, but I really want to see how good they are. Stepping up to the Mikuni, though, I know that I need it.
Now I just need to get it all built and installed and get my big behind back on the road. While you guys up North are stuck with snow, we had thunderstorms and tornadoes last night. Having a bike in pieces and parts in my garage made it hard to get anything else undercover, so I decided, in the midst of 50 mph winds, that I will be back on the road, tested, dyno’ed, and tuned, by March 1.
I gotta get to work!