1994 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail--Transmission Removal

So today in the shop class, our class group removed a whole transmission case from a 1994 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.  It's a nice looking bike for it's age and with a little bit of work can be turned over for a little bit more profit, if the owner decides to sell anyway.

The bike starts up and runs but it winds real loud and chippy through 1st and 2nd gear almost identical to the sound of a car going in reverse but with more obvious notion that something is wrong.  

It wasn't too much of a process to remove the transmission itself but more so trying to get to it.  We had to take the exhaust pipes off with all of the bolts, the primary drive casing, and some of the bottom suspension components to make room for a clean removal.  One thing we noticed while in the process was the ball bearings around the input shaft was half broken and busted, and we assumed the rest of the ball bearing pieces were located inside the transmission case itself. 

Once we got the transmission out of the frame, we split the casing and noticed some of the gear teeth were chipped and broken off.  This is the result of the ball bearing breaking and busting loose.  Kind of like throwing a bag of marbles into a food blender.  The result, noisy and not too pretty to say the least.   Like a dominoe effect, once one thing goes, everything else goes with it.  There's no such thing as the weakest link on a motorcycle as everything works in conjunction with each other.

The transmission is rebuildable with new ball bearings and new gears to replace, but it might cost a decent amount of money at new retail pricing, so we might see about getting a cheaper used transmission to put it in.  The good thing about it is that it doesn't take too long to put back into the frame and in running order, and that the frame and engine is compatible with other Harley Davidson models.



   

My Love for Riding Motorcycles

I've been wanting to get a crotch rocket for the longest since I was a kid. I remember when I was 14, me and my buddies would be looking through cycle trader to look at all the available candy.  We had a set plan that we would get jobs and work until we saved up enough money on our own to buy a motorcycle.  We figured since you have to be 16 to get a license, that we would save up an adequate amount to buy what we wanted.  But of course as years went by, some of us including I procrastinated on saving up.  It was either loaning the money out or buying video games. 

About 3-4 of my friends all got bikes in the summer of 2011.  They either sold their cars, or saved up.  I had just bought a car prior 4 months until I finally gave in and decided to trade my car for a motorcycle.  This was right in the beginning of winter as well of December.  Everyone but my friends thought I was crazy for trading my only piece of transportation for a better love to ride instead.  But I didn't care about the cold or the fighting temperatures.  My hunger to ride has thirsted for years on end and when the opportunity rose up, I left no hesitation to go all in on the deal.  I didn't care thought what others thought, I wanted to ride for my own happiness.  And even if it was 30 degrees or below, I had fun riding either way.   

There is no better feeling in the world to me than riding my bike, other than jumping out of an airplane which I hope to do in the near future.  But when it comes to motorcycle riding, especially at high speeds, every stress and mingle just seems to disappear for a moment's notice.  Driving a regular car for transportation just seems boring to me and not as life fulfilling as riding a motorcycle.  Almost like a airplane on wheels to me, except with limitations of course.  If you haven't rode a motorcycle before, you're definitely missing out on 2-wheels.   

If I won the lottery...ZX-10R?

Let's face it, if we won the lottery you probably would buy everything and anything.  New car, new house, clothes, jewelry, anything you dreamed of anyway.  But for me, as an avid motorcycle rider all season long, I'd buy a motorcycle right off the bat before I bought anything else.  If it was for a japanese bike I would jump on and buy a 2013 Kawasaki ZX-10r.  I wasn't too enthralled with the new front end design but it slowly grew on me the last couple months and I like the new design altogether as far as looks go.  The front end reminds me the face of a dragon, maybe that was intentional.

Has a electronically controlled steering damper that automatically adjusts the rider's speed when accelerating and decelerating upon the riding environment and situation.  More linear power delivery with the new engine and chassis design.  New Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) brings efficient and optimal wheel spin to the rider's control speed.  To help better control corner handling, Kawasaki has implemented slipper type back-torque limiting clutch to avoid wheel kick out and less chances of sliding while downshifting thru a turn.  Happens to me on my own bike when I forget what gear I'm in while taking a corner.

The big 998cc liquid cooled inline 4 cylinder engine proves to be a beast nevertheless.  The new engine design is compact, lightweight and narrow.  Some of these new liter bikes are looking more like 600's nowadays, just right.  Chromoly camshafts, pistons, crankshaft, large intake valves, stronger connecting rods all but contribute to the power of this bike.  If programmed right, the bike itself can top out at 202mph.  That is some ferocious speed.  But hell who need's to go that fast?.... ME!

        

Motorcycle School

So I recently started going to Chattahoochee Technical College for powersports and motorcycle technology, with the end results of hoping to become a certified motorcycle technician.  Most of the motivation really though is to be able to fix my own bikes without having to spend a fortune and a nickle at the local dealership.  After being referred to a local race shop, I was quoted nearly $3,000 to rebuild and remount my 2002 Yamaha R6 engine.  After working at a warehouse for a couple months and getting that quote, that was enough motivation for me to quit my job and look into going to a motorcycle school.  Although getting a job as a technician would be nice, I'd like to buy project bikes, fix and repair and resell for a profit later on in the future when I get to that point.

Since my loans didn't go through this semester, I was only able to afford a couple classes which is better than nothing honestly.  I go to class once a week, 2pm-10pm for two classes back to back.  It's pretty ideal as well because it fits my work schedule for my off day.  It's already been nearly a month and I've learned a good bit per class.  My instructor is pretty great and knowledgeable, and teaches things with a sense of humor all at the same time so you don't catch yourself yawning especially if there's something you don't understand.

My first class is "Intro to Motorcycles," which really is all about motorcycle theory.  It's a good size class with about 20 people in it, and we all pretty much shoot the shit about everything and anything motorcycles.  Almost like a club get together so to speak without the dress code.  We're a big friendly group though with plenty of stories to share, as well as my instructor.  It's really fun though.

My second class is "Motorcycle maintenance." Since I've already mentioned I only go to this class once a week.  My instructor has stated that it'll be mainly about motorcycle service like oil changes, tire change outs, anything relating to bike fluids, and to focus on valve train adjustment.  That's the one thing I'm pretty excited about, because I've haven't a clue where to start when it comes to valve train adjustment.  Because I'm pretty sure my bike with 50k miles definitely needs one.

The last class we had this week, my instructor demonstrated how to change oil on a 2007 Harley Davidson Ultra Glide.  There wasn't much hands on since it was his own bike but the demonstration proved quite to learn from.  Unlike my 1997 Honda CBR600f3 which has a single oil drain plug, where the engine, transmission and clutch share the same oil...My instructor's Harley had 3 different compartments for oil containment which was the primary drive, transmission and the engine itself.  1 quart of oil for the transmission, 1 quart for the primary drive, and 4 quarts of oil for the engine.  I thought that was pretty interesting.  I quickly noted to the professor that it sounds like he's got to spend quite a bit per oil change if he needs 6 quarts of oil compared to my 3.5 quart amount on my bike.  But he mentioned he usually gets a good deal on his oil.

Hopefully next week I'll be able to get more hands on wrenching in the motorcycle shop whether it be changing oil or whatever.  Right now I'm having issues with my charging system on my bike with my stator and rectifier so hopefully I'll be able to get a closer look into it next week.