FixingShit

One of the many joys of relying on a 35 year old motorcycle to get you to, and from, where ever you may need to go is having to fix things that break.  When you ride a motorcycle the way that I do, things break a lot.

I was hummin' on down the highway at about 75-80 (which old Harleys love, by the way) on my way school Tuesday and the 'ole girl started gettin' a little snotty.  It started with an occasional miss, the "carb farts," to we sophisticated types, that just so happened to coincide with a dwindling fuel level.  That kind of miss is a symptom of a lean condition (not enough fuel going into the combustion chamber), so flip the petcock lever to "Reserve," and hit the next gas station, right?

I filled 'er up and got back to gettin'.  It wasn't long, though, until I was getting stumbling and surging, a lot of popping from the carb and exhaust; a general sense that shit weren't goin' right.  The usual suspect in this case would be an air leak through the intake manifold seals, so I looked down to make sure my carburetor support bracket hadn't worked it's way loose.  That's when I was treated to the sight of sparks, smoke, and just enough flame for it to be a little bad-ass coming from in between the rear cylinder head and jug (Harley's have big jugs, heh heh).  Head gasket it is, then.  I'm good about taking hints from my girls like that.

I limped it the remaining 2 miles to school, got some rad parts I'm getting to build in the awesome fabrication lab designed, and ordered up a tow truck (road side assistance on issuance policies rules).

Got to work pulling it apart, and I'll say right now, pre-Evo head mounting is bullshit.

I present the culprit:

Ok, that gasket is old as hell.  Excusable malfunction.  And hot holy shit, those pistons are scummy.  Heads had some crust to 'em, too.

With that, I was done for the night.  The next morning Wayne and I took a ride out to see Eric at Toxic Choppers.  He's always got Shovel stuff on the shelf.  We bullshitted motors for a little bit, like we always do, got some fresh Seal-'em-ups, and split for the weed (gotta love Colorado) and hardware stores to grab the rest of the needed supplies.

I spent some time getting everything cleaned up on the piston faces and in the combustion chambers, and gasket surfaces.

I checked the gasket surfaces with a straight edge and a feeler gauge, and we got to work getting it all buttoned up.  Of course, this is where I stopped taking pictures 'cuz I was just wanting that sumbitch done.

I jammed around town last night, and the bike feels WAY better than it did before.  Back to flogging it on the daily.