BlueSky

I owned some neat old hot rods such as a 56 Chevy Convertible, 59 Chevy Impala 2 hdtp with the 283 4barrel V8 and 3 speed manual with electric overdrive. The OD rear that year was a 4.11 ratio and that car was surprisingly quick. I bought a new 65 Chevelle with the 300hp 327, 4 speed, posi rear and put 100k miles on it in 4 years a lot of it 1/4 mile at a time. I owned a 69 SS396 Chevelle 4 speed posi, 70 Mustang fastback that I exchanged the 302V8, C4 automatic, 8" rear to a 351 windsor, FMX auto, and 9" rear after owning it 7 years. 79 V8 Mustang 4 speed, 82 TransAm, 86 Monte CarloSS. Later I owned a 95 Mark VIII Lincoln with DOHC V8 and now a 2005 Dodge Magnum with the Hemi V8. I can truthfully say that I would not want any of those old cars today. The 79 Mustang was the first of the bunch to have AC. I like the modern cars much better. Out of all the cars I have owned the Mark VIII Lincoln is my favorite closely followed by my Hemi Magnum. The newer cars are better in every way. They are more powerful, get better fuel economy, handle better, stop better, more comfortable in most cases, and last longer. The new GT Mustang, Camaros and Dodge Chargers/Challengers with the 392 V8 will blow the doors off any of those old cars.

Futher googling reveals more about the nova: "Harley got so far down the line as to have built 30 engines, 12 complete bikes and the die-cast tooling for the production crankcases. .."

So, I googled harley nova engine and read that Porsche developed the engine. I can't find out who if anyone they sold the design to.

Seems to me that raising the forks in the clamps would decrease the rake and make the steering less stable but at highway speeds the lowering of the bike's front end should make it more stable aerodynamically.

As I remember Harley had to get Porsche to design the high hp V-twin engine in the Vrod. I wonder who they would get to design a V4? Maybe Yamaha since Yamaha seems to be determined to abandon all the V4s.

Seems parts would be scarce but it definitely is a cool bike! What size engine does it have? Never mind. I just googled and found out more about it, 600cc.

Lean burn may be one reason Ford is using so many turbocharged small engines in their vehicles now. The 2.7L turbo V6 F150 has the highest mpg ratings of the full size gasoline powered trucks I think.

I and my buddies cut out those warm up butterflies. We didn't want the resistance in the exhaust to keep us from winning our drag races.

That's hard to believe. I wouldn't believe the oil was changed unless it could be proven. Maybe if the oil was the old Quaker State? If that is true, my truck and car are building up a lot of sludge because I change the oil every 5k miles and sometimes I only drive them 3k miles in a year. 150k and 111k miles on them.

At least one engine that I am aware of, a Toyata V6, tended to sludge up with the engine failing due to too small cooling water passages in the heads. This was done to promote clean burning for emissions reasons. But, the oil got too hot, turned to sludge and the engine failed. Toyota denied engine warranty claims for a while even though owners had receipts for their oil changes until they finally realized it was a design problem. Engineers push engine designs trying to achieve lower emissions, better fuel economy, and more hp and sometimes it causes problems. Way back when 1976, I bought a used 74 Ford Stationwagon 400cu in V8 with about 40k miles on it from the chevy dealer. I talked to the second owner who said he bought it with 29k miles and changed the oil every 3k miles. He said the only complaint he had was with the gas mileage, 9mpg. I recurved the distributor centrifugal and vacuum advance and it got 16mpg on a trip. Anyway, it started smoking on startup not too long after i bought it. I thought, no big deal, I'll replace the valve seals and fix it. But, when I removed the valve covers, I found lots of sludge as well as worn out valve guides. I assume the original owner did not bother changing the oil the first 29k miles. After that when I looked at used cars, I tried to look down the oil fill tube to see how clean the head was.

It seems some are using Rotella in their autos too. If I remember correctly?? the reason auto oils don't have zinc any more is because it is not good for the cats and rotella has zinc which a high revving motorcycle engine needs. Auto engines can get by without zinc now because they all have roller cams that don't have as much friction. In fact if you fill a newly rebuilt flat tappet engine with modern oil, it will wipe out the cam. You have to use special breakin oil to avoid that.

From what I've been reading the last few years, Pennzoil is one of the best oils. There is a guy on the F150 forum who works in an oil co. lab and he thinks it's one of if not the best. A member of the LXforum has a 2005 Dodge Magnum Hemi with 375,000 miles on it and he uses Pennzoil Platinum and runs it 20k miles sometimes. He has it tested along the way. I suspect all modern oils will do the job these days.

Way back in 1971, I bought a 59 Chevy Impala 4 dr hdtp 283 cu in engine for $100 mainly to have a car to work on and as a second car. Anyhow, when I bought it, it smoked like a freight train. It had about 105k miles on it and the PO had used non-detergent oil in it the last 50k miles. Then he switched back to detergent oil. He said it leaked oil at the valve covers and he had not been able to stop the leak. So, one of the first things I did was to remove the valve covers in order to replace the gaskets. Oil gushed out when I removed the covers. The valve cover was almost filled up with sludge from using the non-detergent oil. And the oil drain holes in the heads were plugged causing the oil level in the valve covers to get higher than the valve guides and run down the valve stems into the combustion chambers. Switching back to detergent oil had started breaking up the sludge which caused the plugging of the drain holes. I removed the intake manifold and removed a bucket full of sludge from the heads and under the manifold. Afterwards, it didn't smoke any more. I highly doubt that any modern day oil will not keep an engine clean if changed regularly.

My first wife's father was a mechanic and if you mentioned quaker state oil, he would go on a rant about how it sludged up engines. I'm sure it isn't that way now but I've heard about quaker state sludging up engines many times in the old days.

According to my 07 RSV owners manual, there is 0.92 gallon of gas when you hit reserve, 5.94 gallons when full. However, you can't fill it all the way easily. Like I said, mine held 4.5 gallons after going to reserve and riding about a mile.

One reason I buy old bikes. I can't rationalize the money for a new one with the expenses that go with it. I just buy liability insurance so if I crash it, I dispose of it if it costs too much to repair. But, I'm also not a serious rider like some of you.

Yep, bleeding would be the first step to determine the problem. Also check the brake lines for swelling.

there is about a gallon of gas available on reserve.

I don't remember the details but I remember Condor posting information about a bleedback hole in the master cylinder that if clogged the pressure on the slave cyl can't be relieved. Might be worth checking.

Just don't make a spark when you punch the holes or it might be a bad day.

Welcome to the forum! I'll be following your build with great interest!

Harley Davidson Closing Plant Due to Declining Sales Apparently the Baby-Boomers all have motorcycles. Generation X is only buying a few, and the next generation isn't buying any at all. A recent study was done to find out why. Here are the reasons why Millennials don't ride motorcycles: 1. Pants won't pull up far enough for them to straddle the seat. 2. Can't get their phone to their ear with a helmet on. 3. Can't use 2 hands to eat while driving. 4. They don't get a trophy and a recognition plaque just for buying one. 5. Don't have enough muscle to hold the bike up when stopped. 6 Might have a bug hit them in the face and then they would need emergency care. 7. Motorcycles don't have air conditioning. 8. They can't afford one because they spent 12 years in college trying to get educated. 9. They are allergic to fresh air. 10. Their pajamas get caught on the exhaust pipes. 11. They might get their hands dirty checking the oil. 12. The handle bars have buttons and levers and cannot be controlled by touch-screen. 13. You have to shift manually and use something called a clutch. 14. It's too hard to take selfies while riding. 15. They don't come with training wheels like their bicycles did. 16. Motorcycles don't have power steering or power brakes. 17. Their nose ring interferes with the face shield. 18. They would have to use leg muscle to back up. 19. When they stop, a light breeze might blow exhaust in their face. 20 It could rain on them and expose them to non-soft water. 21. It might scare their therapy dog, and then the dog would need therapy.

I went for a ride today on my new to me 07 RSV. The gas gauge was on 2 or 3 bars when I started it. It took a while to warm up and after riding it a few miles the low fuel indicator light came on. A few seconds later, it started sputtering and died. I coasted to a gravel driveway and stopped. After looking at the fuel valve I switched it to reserve, allowed a few seconds for the carbs to fill up and rode to a gas station. It took 4.5 gallons to fill. It will be nice to know in the future what to expect. I'm undecided whether to keep the fuel valve in the reserve or on position. With the gauge and warning light I suppose there is no reason to keep it in the ON position.

Great to hear from you! The MH sounds like a great project. A MH is on my list of desires but as long as the wife still has a job, I can't justify one yet. Take care and keep us updated. It's great to have members with your skills.

While driving by the Honda motorcycle dealer today in Wilmington NC, I noticed a white RSV sitting outside with their used bikes that are for sale. Wonder if someone traded it for a new wing?