Tech Tips
Here you'll find some of the many tips and tricks that I've picked up over the years to make life easier and/or to save a few dollars. I didn't invent this stuff so don't give me credit for it. Most, if not all, of it can be found somewhere or other on the Internet. I just thought I'd try to bring them together for ease of reference.
If you have any that you'd like to share with your fellow riders, just click here to email them to me and I'll be happy to add them, always giving credit where credit is due. If anything appears on this page that is copyrighted material please click here to email me so that I can credit the author, and/or remove it right away.
If you have any that you'd like to share with your fellow riders, just click here to email them to me and I'll be happy to add them, always giving credit where credit is due. If anything appears on this page that is copyrighted material please click here to email me so that I can credit the author, and/or remove it right away.
Intake Leaks
1. Here's a new twist on an old trick. A common method to find intake leaks has been to spray aerosol carburetor cleaner, ether, or something similar around the intake gaskets with the bike idling. If the idle changes, you know you have a leak. Our twist is to use your propane torch (unlit) instead of aerosols, and avoid the mess left by over spray.
Exhaust
1. When installing exhaust pipes on Harley-Davidson models that use the split-rings, add a second set of the split-rings, placing the gaps opposite of the gaps in the first set. This makes for a MUCH more solid installation and the split-rings are dirt cheap.
History
What exactly is a "bobber"?
What many people today (mistakenly) call a bobber is in all actuality, a chopper, albeit a short one. Most often referred to as a "short chop" by those that actually know the difference. Choppers with long front ends are often referred to as "long bikes."
Bobbers came to life shortly after WW II, when returning servicemen would buy the largest displacement bikes they could get their hands on and then modify them to go faster. Since there were no real speed parts available back then, the best way to go faster was to reduce the weight of the machine, which is exactly what they did.
The first 2 things to be removed were almost always the big heavy muffler and the rear portion of the hinged rear fender. This was known as "bobbing" the fender and the bikes were known as "bob jobs" at first, which morphed into "bobbers."
I know.... "everyone" today is calling them bobbers. But if "everyone" starts calling a hamburger a hot dog it will still be a hamburger.
What many people today (mistakenly) call a bobber is in all actuality, a chopper, albeit a short one. Most often referred to as a "short chop" by those that actually know the difference. Choppers with long front ends are often referred to as "long bikes."
Bobbers came to life shortly after WW II, when returning servicemen would buy the largest displacement bikes they could get their hands on and then modify them to go faster. Since there were no real speed parts available back then, the best way to go faster was to reduce the weight of the machine, which is exactly what they did.
The first 2 things to be removed were almost always the big heavy muffler and the rear portion of the hinged rear fender. This was known as "bobbing" the fender and the bikes were known as "bob jobs" at first, which morphed into "bobbers."
I know.... "everyone" today is calling them bobbers. But if "everyone" starts calling a hamburger a hot dog it will still be a hamburger.