Maintenance Archives - Page 2 of 2

Drive Belt Replacement On A Harley Davidson Touring Model

September 17, 2017 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Repairs

A Tiny Rock and A Broken Belt

Who knew a tiny rock could lead to so much work! Last month Scott and I had his bike tore down to replace his rear tire, at that time he checked the rear sprocket and the drive belt. Everything looked fine. Fast forward one week and he notices his battery tender had gone out. He rides up to our local dealership to buy a new one and at some point, a rock gets between the rear sprocket and the drive-belt and caused a break in his drive belt. Thankfully the belt didn’t completely break on him!

Replacing the drive belt is a major job and the dealership charges a lot of labor for the repair. As with most maintenance and repair jobs, we decided to perform the work. It took us 10 hours to do the repair and record the process. I should note I record, take photos and assist as needed, Scott does all the actual mechanical work. As always, I learned a few things and got to take lots of pictures! This was the first time I got to see what the inside of the primary looked like! Scott knows how weird I am about that sort of thing so he paused during the work so I could take pictures.

Drive Belt Replacement On A Harley Davidson Touring Model

Scott broke the process up into several videos and placed them in the above playlist. You can find a tool and supply list along with detailed instructions over on his blog, Ride It Wrench It. Like I mentioned, this is a full day of work so plan on getting everything ready at least a day or two before you plan to do the work. Also, make sure you have the service manual for your motorcycle.

How to Change the Oil on a Harley Davidson Softail Deluxe

August 4, 2015 by Margaret Filed Under: DIY Projects, Maintenance, Safety, Videos

I can’t believe I am sharing a post on how to change the oil on a motorcycle! I love helping Scott work on the bikes but I don’t typically do much of the actual wrenching. I usually keep him company, pass tools to him and throw stuff away. The thing is the more I watched him work on the bikes the more I wanted to give it a try. After a few subtle hints he asked me if I wanted to do my next oil change. Even though I was a little nervous about it I said yes. Since then I have done my last three oil changes! I have also started doing more of the small maintenance type things on mine. You can view more of those post under the motorcycle maintenance tab.

I know I’m not the only one out there looking to get to know their motorcycle better and save a little cash so we decided to record me doing it.

Remember you don’t have to be a master mechanic or even be mechanically inclined. You just have to be willing to learn and try!

Changing the Oil and Oil Filter

Ride motorcycle until engine is at normal operating temperature.

Oil filter is located on an oil filter mount in front of the engine on the left side.

Loosen oil filler cap and remove.
Remove engine oil drain plug with O-ring. Allow oil to completely drain into a suitable container.

Use an oil filter wrench for filter removal. This tool can prevent damage to crankshaft position sensor and/or sensor cable.

Remove the oil filter using the OIL FILTER WRENCH . Clean the oil filter mount flange of any old gasket material (surface should be smooth and free of any debris or old gasket material).
Inspect O-ring for tears or damage. Replace if required. Wipe any foreign material from plug.
Install O-ring and drain plug and tighten to torque specifications found in your owners manual.
Apply a thin film of oil to gasket contact surface on mounting plate, gasket and new oil filter.
Screw filter onto adapter until gasket contacts plate surface, then apply another three-quarter to one full turn.
Refer to your owners manual for the correct amount of oil needed to fill your make and model.
Install the filler cap.
Start engine and carefully check for oil leaks around drain plug and oil filter.
Check engine oil level. Install filler cap.

Do not overfill oil tank. Doing so can result in oil carryover to the air cleaner leading to equipment damage and/or equipment malfunction.

How To Adjust The Clutch Leaver On A Motorcycle

March 21, 2015 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Safety

A motorcycle’s clutch cable will gradually loosen from the clutch lever’s grip with regular riding over time. This increases what is called “play,” which is the amount by which the lever can be depressed before it begins to operate/engage the clutch. If the lever play is not checked regularly and maintained, the cable could become too slack and cause more serious problems within the clutch assembly itself. Adjustments made at the lever can be completed in a few minutes.

Things You’ll Need

Wrenches
Lubricant ***optional

Instructions

1. Pull back the rubber cover from the clutch lever, and loosen the larger lock nut by unscrewing it with your fingers.

2. Screw the smaller adjusting nut outward to reduce free play and tighten the lever, or inward for the opposite effect. Use a set of wrenches if adjusting this with your fingers is too difficult.

3. Keep depressing the clutch lever to keep track of how much adjustment is being made. Apart from adjusting the play, it will also make the lever feel tighter. Be careful not to reduce free play too much or you will be left with a very tight clutch.

4. Tighten the locking nut once the correct clutch play is achieved by screwing it towards the lever. This can be done by hand and then tightened with a wrench.

5. Replace the rubber cover on the lever, and check to see if you can change gears by keeping the clutch lever depressed and moving the gear pedal up and down. Spray a small amount of lubricant in the rubber housing if it does not slide back on easily.

6. Make further adjustments as necessary until the lever action is as desired.

How To Lubricate Steering Head Bearings on a Harley Davidson

July 14, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Repairs, Safety

This weekend we decided not to take a ride. Scott and I both wanted to work on the Blue Ridge Parkway videos and pictures, work on our blog post, do some quick motorcycle maintenance and go to our HOG chapters skills day.

I decided that since the steering head bearing lubrication is quick and easy it would be a great place for me to start with my own set of maintenance videos. I do not have a background in mechanics so if I can do this you can do it!

I didn’t get a clip of us loading the grease gun because Scott had just finished using it on his. It isn’t hard to load but you can cause a gap in the line and have to pump some out each time you load it. The above picture is a close up of the grease.

The only two things you’re going to need for this maintenance procedure is a 14oz Grease Gun. You can purchase one from Amazon for less than $20. Auto repair shops and places like Nothern Tools also carry them. You won’t need any special adapters or extenders, the basic grease gun right out of the box works just fine. The other thing you’re going to need to get is the grease. Head to your local dealership’s parts counter and tell them what you’re doing. Harley has a special purpose grease that is formulated for higher temperatures before it liquefies. Using this grease is important because if you just pick up some bearing grease at Autozone the breakdown temperature may not be as high and if it’s hot outside and/or you’re doing a lot of maneuvers (skills day, competition, etc.) the grease could literally seep out of the bottom of the steering head and begin to leave the bearings without lubrication. It’s not expensive at the dealership and it’s approved by Harley for this purpose. I am sure that the same is true for other motorcycle manufactures. If in doubt check with your owners manual or ask at your dealership.

Once you have your grease gun and grease you are ready to. I hope you find the video helpful. Be sure to click the subscribe button!

Change in Media

July 6, 2014 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance

You have probably noticed that the videos I have embedded on the site all start off with Rumbling Rider. That is because my husband and I share the videos and photos we take. I love taking pictures but I am not ready to wield a video camera while going down the road, not yet at least. Scott of course has a passion for video. Scott does not use a mount while he records, he holds it in his hand in order to get different views from the road. Of course he always puts our safety before the shot.

As each site has evolved however I have had an increasing desire to get some video from my perspective and even have some plans to share me doing the maintenance on my bike. The video taken while riding will still be taken by Scott but I will be taking some at stops and compiling my own videos with the clips. So you can count on seeing a new intro and some videos of me with tools in my hand.

Fort Worth HOG 2013 Chapter Picnic & Parts Installation

October 7, 2013 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Road Trips

This weekend was super busy for both of us. Again, we had plans to do some work around the house but all of that changed when I got my new grips. Scott received the call from Fort Worth Harley that my parts had arrived earlier in the week so we went to get them Friday evening. When we got to the dealership they also had the saddlebag guards we had ordered. Scott then began whining a bit that Saturday would be a labor intensive day without rest, slaving away installing parts. During this whining along with the support of Nick, Patrick, Daniel, and Phil, I grabbed a set of edge cut saddlebag hinges off the shelf behind us for his bike and said that would be his payment for doing all the work.

Saturday was a parts installation day. We started with my grips and we decided to do our first video of parts installation. In the past we would post photos of the process so we wanted to mix things up a bit and see how it went. I wont elaborate here about it since the entire process is covered in the video. It did come out really good and I hope it can help someone install their own grips and adjust their throttle by watching it.

We also installed the saddlebag guards and saddlebag hinge covers on Scott’s bike. We also did videos of that process which he’ll work into future posts on Rumbling Rider.

Sunday was the Fort Worth HOG Chapter Picnic! This is an annual event and our second time attending. It is held at the Canyon West Golf Course in Weatherford, TX which is a beautiful place to have the picnic. We met at the dealership to line up for the parade ride to the golf course. This year the weather turned out very nice from the previous year. It was a bit chilly in the morning, 58 degrees when we left the house but soon warmed up to the mid 70’s. The parade ride went well, no traffic issues and it turned out to be a very pleasant ride to start the morning. Upon arrival those that wanted to ride the golf course staged while others parked their bikes. This is a unique opportunity that Canyon West allows us. We ride our bikes on the cart paths for all 18 holes and stop on the 9th for a photo shoot of the Chapters members. It’s a whole lot of fun and brings a good laugh to be able to do this. Golfers are taking pictures of us and waving as we ride on the cart paths while were waving and taking their pictures in return.

Next on the agenda were bike games! We love the bike games. We are a motorcycle riding group thus bike games only make sense! There were 5 bike games offered and Scott and I did all of them. I was very proud of myself because I competed in the single rider slow race even though I am still new to riding. I told Scott that i didn’t want my fear of trying something new on a bike to keep me from doing it. The bike games included a single rider slow race, couples slow race, ball drop, road kill toss, and weeny grab. We did well again this year taking 1st in 4 of the 5 bike games.

After the games, there was a yummy lunch and home baked sweets to satisfy our hunger. Shortly after eating lunch the monthly Chapter meeting was conducted, prizes for the bike games, and raffle ticket prizes were given away. The day concluded with a water balloon toss and a poke and run game. Scott was the unfortunate victim that broke the water balloon and got wet.

We rode home and relaxed from all of the excitement. We were both tired and didn’t even take time to download our pictures for the blog. Scott didn’t even take the GoPro this time. For whatever reason, he didn’t want to keep up with it or worry about taking video. He just wanted to enjoy the day, spend time with Chapter members, and have fun. I did however take the camera and managed to snap a few shots.

Fort Worth HOG Chapter Picnic 2013 Slideshow

Installing Saddlebags

August 24, 2013 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Road Trips

This week-end there wasn’t much getting around the need to do some maintenance work on the bikes and install some new hardware. Looking back at the last couple rides a problem we’ve been having is storage space. Scott is having to carry everything for both of us in his saddlebags. We had found bags for my bike last month that I liked from Viking Bags so we went ahead and ordered them. Last week we decided to stop by Fort Worth Harley while we made our weekly grocery rounds. We ordered some saddlebag guards for my bike and a reduced reach clutch and brake handle too. I have been struggling with the reach on my controls since getting the bike so we had to do something for me. Of course these are all things you discover as you ride your bike and one of the downsides to being 5′ 1″, most things just don’t fit without a little modification. We also picked up a few things Scott had been eyeing for his bike.

Here is a list and then well go into more details about what worked, what didn’t and how we made things work.

Oil Change
Air Filter Cleaning
Hand Grips
Saddlebag Guards
Saddlebags

We started with the hand grips on Scot’s bike. This will be the second set he’s put on. The last were nice but just didn’t have the right feel to them. They were kind of short and his hand would overlap on the end. They also didn’t give his hands good support for longer rides. Our salesman said to try Avon Grips. He was so sure Scott would like them they spent 10 minutes walking around the dealership until they found a bike with Avon grips on it. Like he said, they felt superb so we ordered a set that had the Edge Cut style like his clutch and brake lever. It takes about 10 minutes to install them. Here are the pics of the process.

Grip Replacement on a 2012 Harley Davidson Street Glide

Then we did an oil change and air intake filter cleaning on the Street Glide. Next we worked on putting the Saddlebag Guards on my bike. There was a little bit of tear down on the right side installation. Had to nearly remove the entire exhaust system to get the lower mounting bolt installed. Not a big issue though. After installing the guards is where it all fell apart. We bought some saddlebags from Viking. We didn’t like the Harley’s softail deluxe bags. They are an extremely poor design and have the capacity to hold little more than a shoe on each side. That wont do much for any type of trip we might want to take and they are expensive, over $1000 from what some people in our chapter told us they paid. The bags we purchased are super nice and almost as big as my Street Glide bags. A molded plastic shell covered with leather gives them rigidity and style. Both of us are quite impressed with them and they were only $219.00. However, the mounting kit that came with them just sucks. The left side support provided is completely useless as it will not clear the drive train. Not only that but the bolts they provided had the wrong type threads so they wouldn’t screw in and were waaaaaay too long. We went to Harley and ordered a nice single piece mount made by Drag Specialties for $60.

The saddle bag supports arrived Tuesday so we picked them up and hurried home to see if they were going to work. Again, more issues. We figured this would happen since we are using non Harley parts. The supports fit perfectly and clear the drive train but they angle outwards from the fender. This means the bags wont hang straight. Scott’s idea was to find some barrel spacers for the mount and use longer bolts. Off to Home Depot we went. It took a while to find exactly what we thought might work and get back home. Scott put the supports on and held the bags into place while I marked where the mounting bolts came to on the bags. Got out the drill and made the holes. We put a large flange washer that Scott painted on the inside and outside of the bag, the mounting bolt through those, then the barrel spacer over that, then the support which bolted perfectly in place, thus holding the bags very securely. They still lean outwards a bit but not bad enough to get worked up about.

We still had to figure out how to mount the bottom part of the bag to the support. We didn’t want to drill holes so we came up with the idea of using velcro. We used the plastic part of the velcro on the bag side and simply stuck it on. That stuff is super hard to get off once it sets. Not really sure how to explain how I was able to attach it to the support but you’ll see it in the pictures. All were trying to do is keep the bag from rattling against the bottom of the support, the huge bolts hold the bag on very securely. It all worked well and we still got her some very nice bags for a total cost including the new supports and Home Depot hardware for under $300 which I am very pleased about.

Installing Viking Saddlebags on a 2013 Harley Softail Deluxe

Windshield Modification

July 27, 2013 by Margaret Filed Under: Maintenance, Safety

As I have gotten more comfortable on my bike I have had an ever growing issue with the windshield. I am getting a lot of reflections and glare on the inside that is affecting my ability to see the road due to its height. Everyone has their preferences on how tall, short, fat, etc. a windshield should be. Most articles, riders, and accessory places will recommend that your eye site should be just above the top of the wind shield which makes sense to me. Try having a windshield that you have to look through and ride in the rain. No wipers means you can’t see through it and you’ll end up having to crane your neck to the side of the windshield to see the road.

I have mentioned my issues to Scott a few times and he suggested cutting it. We could take it somewhere and have a company cut it for us or try it ourselves. Our decision? HA! Let’s do this! No Fear! We Ain’t Skeerd! The worst situation that could come from this is we could mess it up and have to buy a new windshield. It’s not like we would mess up the bike from improper procedures on this task.

He started by having me sit on the bike in riding position. As corny as this sounds he took a builders level and stuck it close to my eye until the bubble showed level and marked that spot on the windshield. This gave us a good visual reference as to where my eyesight came into contact on the windshield. Then we measured down 1” from that spot for our cut point. This point was exactly 2.5” from the top of the windshield. Scott measured 2.5” from the top center around towards both sides and made a lot of pinpoint marks as he went. When you get to a certain point towards each side you have to begin to taper your measurement to merge your cut line with the side of the windshield. This way it won’t look like you just chopped off the top.

Next he connected all the dots he made using a permanent marker. He did this freehand but had made enough dots to where it came out nicely rounded. Next he took painters tape and ran it on the lower portion of the windshield along the marker line. This helps prevent chipping if the jigsaw blade catches too much. I made sure to put a couple inches of tape to prevent the jigsaw base from scratching the plastic while moving it along while cutting.

For the cut we purchased a Bosch Jig Saw Blade For Plexiglass. This was our only expense on the project since we had everything else necessary.

Scott started at the blend point on one side of the windshield so he could make one continuous cut most of the way around without having to stop and reposition the blade. He didn’t push very hard or force the blade to cut. Just held the jigsaw firmly and let the blade do the work. He also held the windshield very firmly and close to the front of the cutting blade to eliminate any jumping that could happen from snagging. If the blade snags it could cause the plastic to chip in that spot. Snagging will usually occur from a dull blade, pushing it along to fast trying to force the blade to cut faster than it is able, or a blade that is not fine toothed enough to cut the material. I held the windshield from moving around so he could focus on the cut. Just follow the tape line around and try to keep it as smooth as possible. You might not get an absolute perfectly rounded cut but you’ll be sanding any points or other imperfections afterwards.

When you get about ¾ of the way around you’ll want to stop cutting. Your gonna want to cut the big rounded piece you’ve been working on off. The reason for this is to prevent the plastic you’ve already cut from snapping off due to the weight which could cause damage to the windshield. After you do this continue your cut on the remaining small piece until your done.

We took off the tape to get a better view of the cut and began sanding the edge with 100 grit sandpaper using an electric sander. We used the 100 grit to smooth any areas that might not have been rounded well or any points that needed to blend. When we were happy with the shape we moved to 400 grit and used this one to begin rounding the edges to match the original cut. We finalized the sanding with 600 grit without using the electric sander. Doing this allows you to feel any rough spots with your hand that you might need to go back to using a courser sandpaper.

Before Sanding the Edge

After Sanding the Edge

And that’s it! The whole job took about 2 hours and came out well. I’ve ridden with the shorter wind shield 3 times and am very happy with the results. One of the keys to riding safely is making sure you bikes fits well and that you are able to see properly, thanks to my modified windshield I am no longer bothered by the reflection I saw having to look through it.

« Previous Page