Sportster rebuild.

[Patio]

It has been very busy around here, so I haven't been getting time in the shop as I would like. The last couple of days I did get a little time to mess with the flywheels.

I turned the taper in the pinion side flywheel for the final time. I did this to move the hole over .0025". I figure I had moved it the first time I turned it. I took me two days to get through the set up, and check everything a gazillion times. Then I reassembled the flywheels on the Main shaft. I can now get both side to within .0015" of run out. The specs. call for .001" of runout. For me, this is close enough, and I consider it a success! I am happy with the outcome. I do need to take is all back apart, clean the heck out of everything and reassemble. I may be able to get closer, but will have to wait till I get time to try.

I will see if I can get a video made of the indicators showing the run out. No promises on the video though.

The VFD for the mill has arrived. The only let down was, I though that the face was removable, and I could mount it into a control box. It is not! I need to get all the buttons, and potentiometer, yet. I may mount the whole thing in a box and hang it off a bracket on the mill, I am not sure yet.

The one thing I hope for is, that there is, more to come.

[Patio]

I got some time in the shop today to work on my bikes flywheels. Things went really well, as things just seemed to fall into place, as I went today.

The flywheels are assembled and ready to be installed into the cases. While all the parameter did not end up totally to spec, they are close enough for me. The flywheels are suppose to be perpendicular, to with in .003, measured on the outside edge. The Sprocket shaft side in at .0025 and the Pinion shaft side is at .0045.

When I installed the crank pin between the flywheels and aligned everything, the run out is suppose to be less than .001. The Sprocket shaft side in at .00075 and the pinion side is at .0025.
When I started this, the flywheel were at .015 and the closes I could get the shafts were .005.
While the shaft are only have as good as they should be, they are twice as good as they were.
I am going to leave things as they are and see how things work out.

For me this is a success.
Moving on, with more to come.

[JackF]

Pat,

Thanks for the update, keepum coming.

Jack.

[Patio]

It has been awhile since I have had a chance to work on my bikes, but things are getting back to normal around here, so I should be able to get more time for the WANT to do projects. Since the last posting here, the SO and I bought and fixed up a rental home, which consumed most of our time during the project.

This past weekend I managed to get the flywheels installed in the engine cases. It took a bit of doing, because of an interference issue I ran into. The crank pin's nut, lock plate, was interfering with the right side, pinion, bearing race, flange. I set, the right side case, up in the mill and took about .020" off for clearance. After I had done this, I had a conversation with Harold V, and found that, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, as I had grabbed one of the few solid carbide end mills in my collection, for this job. I have not tested it for run out or end play yet. I will do that once I have it mounted on the engine stand.

Here are some pictures.

This is with the flywheels with the bearing pressed onto the sprocket shaft.

This is the pinion side of the flywheels. Notice the small hole next to the main bearing nut. That holds the locking plate, which is a flat piece of metal shaped like the nut, to keep it from coming loose. It is about an 8th inch thick. I do not have a picture of it installed.

The setup in the mill. This is the right hand side that carries the pinion shaft. The tape covers the cam bearings. The hold downs come through the other two cam bearings.

The cases with the flywheels, primary sprocket with compensating spring and nut. I turned the wood plugs, that keep the rods from beating on the cases in the lathe, with a little cutting in the band saw for cylinder stud clearance.

This is the pinion side with bearings installed.

Next is to assemble the oil pump. That will take a bit of fiddling, to get the right gasket installed to create the required amount of clearance for all the gears. I hope to have this as a running bike by spring. At least that is the goal.

I will continue to post here as it all comes together. Thanks for looking.

[JackF]

Pat,

It's good to see you back at work on the Sportster. Keep it up.

Jack.

[Patio]

I got the oil pump assembled today.
I also made a spacer for the kicker shaft.

I am not sure what part I am going to tackle next. I may assemble the frame into a roller status, so I have a place to mount the motor before it gets to heavy. Right now the heads, transmission, cylinders, and cams are not installed.

[seal killer]

Patio--

I was surfin' the forum and clicked on I.C. Engines. I have never been here before. The first thing I saw was your rebuild project. I was immediately hooked! I read the entire thread and can't wait for more. It looks like you are doing great work. I appreciate the time you spend on setups and indicating.

--Bill

[spro]

Me too, Sealer. Great work seen here.

[Patio]

Thanks Bill and Spro for the kind words.

I got a little more time in, working on the bike.
This weekend I got the swing arm installed and gathered some parts for the front end.

The swing arm bearing set up used a nut with a couple of spanner wrench holes in it. In the factory manual it says to use a punch, in the holes, to remove the nut. And that is what the previous owner did! I prefer a spanner wrench personally. The holes were so beat up, my spanner would not function well. So I made new spanner holes, 90* out from the original set.

Here are the pics.
I first filed down all the burrs that had been raised by the previous poundings. Then I used a center drill to get things started, and on location. I did not have a 3/16" end mill so I ground a drill with a flat tip and used that to drill the spanner holes.

Here the nut is installed.

The blue you see in the pictures is boat bearing grease.

More to come as I get it done.

[JackF]

Good job Pat, nice to see some progress.

Jack.

[Patio]

Weekend before last, I got some shop time in, on the Sportster. This past weekend I went to HF and bought a tool box and a wheel chock. I am now in the process of rearranging my tools.

I worked on getting the front end on the frame. The front forks uses ball bearings and a thrust collar to load the bearings. the collar is then pinched by the upper triple tree to secure it. A nut is then threaded into the top of the collar to plug the hole and keep debris out.
The PO did not understand the operation of the setup, and had install the trust collar upside down and screwed the nut into the bottom of the collar. The nut, was in so tight, I could not remove it, even after a little heat. The collar is made of a hardened metal and has a Whitworth thread on ID. The nut is just for looks and was made of a soft metal. After failed attempts and some think time, while the parts were soaking in PB Blaster, I decided to sacrifice the nut to save the collar. I used my parting tool to remove the shoulder from the nut. Once done the torque force was removed the center part turned out by hand.

Here are the pictures, cause like me, I know you guys like pictures.

This is the collar (on the left) with the nut (on the right).

Here the shoulder of the nut has been removed.

The collar installed. Below the collar is a dust shield and below that is a bearing race.

Here it is with the top tree installed and a view of my small shop.

Here is it from the other angle, so you can see the other end of the shop.

In the two missing corners of the shop are the mill and my road bike.
You can click on the pictures for a larger view.

Next is to install the wheel chock to the bench, make some bushings for the back shock grommets, and install the wheels.

More to come, I hope!

[Patio]

Thanks for the comment Jack. If I spent as much time in the shop as I do on this computer I would be significantly further along.
At one time I only had one bike! That meant long nights working on it, so it would be ready to ride on the weekend. My how things have changed.