The Good Dr. Hamster rode his FLH over 200,000 miles before pulling it down for a Pre- Sturgis prep rebuild. It was time to dial in this puppy in from stem to stern. We are planning a FXR ride next year to the Badland, or to Bonneville, or maybe to a Too-Broke for Sturgis Run to Monument Valley, or to a redhead’s pad if she has plenty of girlfriends and a swimming pool. We’ll see.
“The shop doing the work of tearing the bike down, getting all the nooks and crannies cleaned and polished is called Venice Custom Cycles,” said Dr. Hamster. “I have known Javier, the owner, for a number of years. He has always been a class act and stand-up kind a guy. His uncle is the wrench in the shop, an old-timer with about 40 years under his belt.
They got down and dirty right away and had the motor and trans out the day after I brought
“With the whole dresser apart, I decided to do a few more things:
Got a set of 2002 Road King Mag wheels, had them powder coated black, same with the lower legs for the front end. New brake rotors front and back. Once the trans was out of the bike, I threw it into the back of the car and ran it out to JIMS, the premier shop for Harley performance transmissions. “
I encouraged JIMS to kick off a re-man program for Transmissions, since H-D was successful with their engine re-man program and JIMS is all about transmissions and has been since 1967. There’s nothing better than to ship your prized piece to the mecca of motorcycle transmissions, for a rebuild by guys who build transmissions all day long for 40 years. Plus they are the team developing specialty tools for all aspects of working on Harleys. Those tools are used all over the world by rebuilders and mechanics.
JIMS Now offers a transmission rebuild service for Harley-Davidson and aftermarket transmissions. This ranges from your old 5-Speed, all the way through the new Cruise Drive! We all know times are tough. For some that means keeping your “older” motorcycle running good instead of upgrading to a new bike. Or maybe you grew up with this sled, and you won’t ever let it go.
You can now send your old, tired transmission to JIMS in Camarillo, California for a complete overhaul. JIMS will completely disassemble your transmission, inspect all wear surfaces and replace all bearings, seals, and *worn parts that are out of service wear limits. This expertise is now available as an affordable option by industry professionals. For more information, please contact JIMS.
We are going to take you through the entire process visually. We won’t give away all the JIMS tech secrets, but you’ll get a downright complete mechanical sense of the process.
In this article you will see Dr. Hamster’s transmission tear down from the time the JIMS team opened the box. You will see them perform disassembly operation to the bare case, and every aspect of the rebuild until he had a new transmission again with upgraded JIMS components.
*If new gears or shafts are deemed necessary, additional charges may apply.
When you find yourself needing your transmission rebuilt, the experts at JIMS have the answer with their in-house rebuild service. Long known for superior, innovative products, JIMS portioned off a section of their 50,000 square foot facility for a transmission rebuilding area. This makes perfect sense, because JIMS not only manufacturers transmissions, they also make every specialty tools required to service them.
With the amount of parts, specialty tools, and skill required for the rebuild, this is definitely a job for a professional mechanic. Lucky for you the technicians at JIMS can do the rebuild for you at a very reasonable rate. JIMS transmission rebuild service is available for Harley-Davidson and aftermarket transmissions. If you are interested in restoring your transmission back to brand new, simply pack up your trans, ship it off to JIMS, and in a short amount of time your rebuilt trans is back at your door ready for installation. It’s as if you sent your trans away on vacation, and it came back rested and ready for work.
In this case we did as JIMS recommends. We shipped the Doctor’s greasy trans to JIMS Machine.
I spent some time with the staff at JIMS, including Paul Platts and Chad Frank as they walked me through the process:
The first step is an inspection of the outside of the case for any visible damage. The technician then mounts the transmission on a specially designed fixture, and the top and side covers are removed.
The whole process was completed with such knowledge and precision it was reminiscent of a soldier field stripping his weapon. All parts are then thoroughly cleaned, and sent to inspection to identify defects.
The inspection lab is set-up with an array of specialty measuring devices. The one that caught my eye was the “Illitron Variable Involute Profile Measuring Instrument”. This device ensures the gear profile is within tolerance, and it makes me feel smart saying “Illitron Variable Involute Profile Measuring Instrument.”
A multitude of other devices (with names just as hard to pronounce) are used to inspect the gears to ensure they are suitable for service.
The main and counter shafts are loaded in a special fixture and checked for wear and run-out. All other hard parts go through a similar barrage of testing. Any part found to be out of tolerance is replaced with a new part. Each gear is carefully checked by a JIMS Tranny expert.
Once the inspection is done, the transmission goes to the assembly department. Every tolerance is checked while the transmission is assembled by one of JIMS’ seasoned technicians. JIMS replaces all bearings, seals, gaskets, and any worn parts that are out of service wear limits. If the shafts, gears, or other parts need replacing there will be some additional cost for the rebuild.
This was a terrific way to get the good Doctor’s transmission factory fresh again. As a leader in transmission manufacturing it makes sense to have JIMS rebuild your trans. After checking the whole process it is understandable why most riders leave this job for the guys who have the tools and equipment, and handle transmission everyday.
“Wow- what an experience,” said Doctor Hamster. “This place is amazing, way beyond your wildest imagination. It is a huge facility, superbly organized and everybody just super friendly.”
Here is the kicker: “They converted my old 5 speed trans into a 6-speed, using the old housing!” said the good Doctor.
“So an upgrade needed zero fabrication and has no assembly challenges. It just drops into its old slot and is ready to go!”
