Snaggletooth

I have a question as I know little about current HD bagger model bikes. I ran up behind a rider last night on a great looking bike. I can only assume it was a custom paint job as I've never seen one the color he had but the thing was I noticed the saddlebag lid on the right side was bouncing up and down pretty bad while I was following him. When we came to a traffic light I pulled up on his right side and tried to get his attention at the stop light. I yelled over to him and pointed to the rear of his bike and he just turned away and took off when the light changed. At the next light I got right next to him and told him again that it was loose and at that point it cocked up like and air scoop in the front and sitting crooked. When I pointed to the bag he looked down and pushed the lid down and it popped right back up again as he took off. All I got was a rather unfriendly gesture for my affort. So my question is do the HD saddle bags have a retention system to keep the lids from leaving the bike when they come loose? My first thought when I saw the loose cover was "that is gonna cost him some painting money." After the second time and his attitude it was "hope somebody runs over it." But I figured there must be something that kept him from being concerned about beating up or loosing the bag lid. And I'm not a big fan of following somebody with loose equipment. Just curious.

Very cool Brian. It's a good cause.

Yeah, the HF Tag-a-long I bought had me chasing my tail to. Nebraska requires that the trailer be registered and plated. I bought the trailer, brand new and already assembled by the original buyer. Never pulled and never registered anywhere. He had put it together so badly that he couldn't hook it to the ball hitch and couldn't figure out the lights so he traded it with his bike to a local car dealer for a pickup. Both the bike and trailer were brought to the dealer on a flatbed trailer. When I saw the dealers ad for the trailer I went and looked at it. Still had plastic on the body and even the VIN tag on the tongue had plastic film over it. Clearly brand new and the dealer told me the PO had never registered the trailer because he had so many porblems with it. I asked if he had provided the MSO with it and he had not. They called him and he said he never got one. I understood that HF mailed those out after the purchase was made. So I figured the dealer sales invoice would cover the registration needs. I weasled for a while on price because of the "problems" on the trailer and they sold it to me for $250.00. Fair enough. When I took the bike down to pick it up I remove the coupler bolts and slipped in a couple of washers to spread the coupler and dropped it on the ball. Jumped a couple of the 7 wires added on by the PO and patched them into my running light harness and I was good enough to roll. I think the saleman felt like I burned them on the price. Hey! Know what you're selling guy. LOL! I stopped by the local HF store just to find out if I could get them to send me a new MSO on the trailer and showed them the Bill of Sale and told them the story on the deal. The manger made a call and was told no, not to anyone other than the original buyer. That is understandable. I went home and straightened out the wiring harness and hooked the lights up right. Next stop was the State Inspection station. Got there and waited for an hour and got in. The inspector walked around the bike and trailer and asked me what I needed. Explained the story and I needed to get a title so I could register. Told me to go in and show them my Bill of Sale. Don't need an inspection. Head inside and show them what I have. They ask for the title. They sent me back to the inspection lane to get a form filled out. The guy here just shook his head and said meet me inside. He talked to clerk inside and they had me go to the window again. Took my BOS and started working up the registration. The VIN number on the BOS sale was hard to read so they sent me back to the inspection lane. The guy there just laughed and wrote the number again on the BOS. Back inside they asked me if it was a home build. err.... no,,,, it's a Harbor Freight kit that was put together by the original buyer. Had them look at my BOS again. They poked at the computer for a while and told me they were not aware of the maker. Sent back to the inspection lane. The guy there rolled his eyes and said follow me. Back in we go. After a powow with the clerk, himself and a supervisor we were back at the window. I ended up with a registration for a HF Tag-a-long and a plate. I asked about the title and was told "we don't issue titles for that kind of trailer." Go figure. After all that I could have simply walked in with the BOS and paid the fee without the trailer being looked at or ever seen at all. I could have given them any number I wanted and been done with it. The whole process seems kind of pointless to me. The State got their money so that was the important part right? But I got a good price on the trailer so what the heck.

It was a long time ago a friends young son had been wanting to get a motorcycle. A Harley to be exact. Bugged his dad, his mom, his uncles, (none of them pro bike) and then me. Sure, I'll do what I can for ya..... not expecting a lot of support from his family. When his birthday rolled around he got a package from me. Inside was a HD (maybe, it had a HD logo) mirror with my note. "Here's the first piece. I found it on Highway 30 Eastbound side outside of Carroll. I saw a few more pieces between there and Cedar Rapids. Drive slow and keep your eyes open." I didn't get a lot of love from the kid but I still get along great with the rest his family.

A lot of that depend on the age and condition of the battery. 1 year, maybe if that's right, and what type of battery. Lead/acid or AGM can make a difference. Running the headlight and/or radio can produce quite a drain over even a short period of time. I've seen guys run a battery low enough to not start a bike after running the radio for less that 2 hours. If the bike was slow to crank the first time around then shutting down and trying to start the bike again after only a few minutes of running.... well, that last start dragged the battery down and the few minute running is not enough to bring the battery back up. More than likely the battery will be fine after a day on the Tender. If it's a servicable L/A check the fluid levels in the cells. Once you get the bike started you might want to check the charging rate with a voltmeter to make sure that is working properly. Or even another step is have the battery load tested to see the overall heath of the battery. Needed? Not really. But it helps you know if the battery is in good condtion so you trust it. Worst case, a new battery.... if needed..... DEKA AGMs are the hot ticket for bikes right now. But I doubt if that is going to need to go that way this time. Let us know how it works out. Mike

Dang.... so that's the turn I missed!!!

:rotf: You might be onto something. Don't say "Condor". Shhhh!

I've developed a method for that. Not always popular with cagers but I try to avoid getting in anybodies way when doing it. Works great when I'm dragging the trailer. I watch for a parking spot on the other side of the street ahead of me. When I get a decent gap in oncoming traffic I swing across the other lane along the backs of the parked car until I can swing back out so I'm straight inline with the spot and blocking the lane (for short period of time). Then I only have a few feet to back straight up into the spot and keep my nose close to the lane so others can see the bike before that try to turn into the spot. With the trailer on it's not all that hard to back straight in that way. A lot easier to let it roll backwards on the grade getting in than trying to wiggle backwards while turning at an angle with traffic behind ya. I try not to cut anyone off while doing it, or put mysrelf in a bad position with other traffic. I've had some local LEO's watch me do this and haven't had any problem with that... yet. Legal..... probably not. But it's quick and slick to pull off.

I've seen that go down a couple of times. Betting the seller didn't get what they hoped so it's' "Oops." Lost my butt. Just my opinion but.........

I've had that happen a couple times. All appears good at send reply but it looks like it hangs up. Then I send another one and see the first one went out. weird glitch

Received and standing down.

Sorry to hear that Dan. Sometimes things don't go like we hope for. Hate to see it happen between members.

Well dang! Glad you are in one piece. Hope all the stuff ends up working out in your favor and you heal up fast. Mike

PM or call Earl. skydoc_17. He will probably have the gasket in stock and can help getting the shift sector for you to. Earl runs his own shop and is one of our own vendors.

Those folks have huge amounts of data available at their fingertips. If they would only learn how to use it.

This thread should help you out. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=61890&highlight=shifter+pins

Or shoot skydoc_17 a PM. He proably has some in stock.

Yep. I've had my hands on several of the 41R's over the last few years with series numbers all over the place. I have a 41R-09 on hand right now that I bought as NOS still in the package. I've plugged it into eveything from the '83's, which it will run in but with a little lack of power up to an '89 with no problems at all. '84-'89 all work the same.

If you're going to spend the time and money on a starter you need to change from the 2 brush starter you have to a newer 4 brush starter. It will solve several problems you have or are going to have, like hard cranking and the problems with hot starts that are the demon within on these older bikes. You should search for info on the 4 brush starters on the site. A lot of info here on the subject. I can't say which starter is the right one as I did mine several years ago and haven't kept up with the latest info. But I think the V-Max starters (or at least the later early years) and the 2nd gen starters are all 4 brush. You don't need to spend big bucks on it. They can be found for $40.00 and up. You just need to be sure it's a 4 brush. From my experience rebuilding a 2 brush is a waste of money. Been there, with poor results. If you're going to be pulling the starter be sure to get new gasket and o-ring for the thermo housing to. You will be removing that to get the starter out. Might as well throw in a new thermo as long as you're in there. There is a cheaper replacement from NAPA that works quite well. Let the fun begin. Mike

Actually it's the middle gear cover, or some call it the secondary cover. That DOES have to come off.

The pic shows the part causing the problem, the shift sector. The one on the right of the pic is the OEM part you have in your bike. The one on the left is the new upgraded sector. Some, rather than just reset the pin in place install the new part.

Good to see you back. I thought you might have just worn yourself out setting the deal with SCI on the diaphragms. You made a lot of people happy with that deal. Me included..... twice! LOL. So thanks again for that. Hope you can get back into the saddle comfortabley real soon. Mike

Morning Kevin, I think you're right on the early version idea, I see the one Randy has is off an '83 and from the pic it looks like it has the round ends. Clamps to fit that could be fun to find to replace missing ones. From the hitches I have looked at they had the bolt on clamps which are common and easy and cheap enough to pick up at about any bike parts store or off the Internet. The hitch I got was missing one of the bolt on 3 piece clamps. I don't see those outrigger bars being anymore than a simple anti-sway system but given enough twist I could see the round clamp types slipping. Not a critical point, but useful. Makes you enjoy the simpicity of the MKII hitch. LOL! It aint' gonna wag its tail.

Now I got a question for you. On the outrigger arms that go the crash bars,,,, are they round with the type of clamp that Prairiehammer showed or flat tabs on the ends that the clamps bolt to? I'm seeing differents ends between his and mine.

Yep those two clamps are needed. Either the style he shows or the 3 piece like I showed will do. What ever clamp is used it HAS to line up with the center of the crash bar. "P" style clamps won't line up.