The journey back to life for one fine 1989 FXST/S. It sat idle in a garage for around 10 years. The classic springer Softail chopper was basically stock with a few classic mods, like the bars, and new seat with a backrest. It belonged to Ray Wheeler’s longtime friend, Rusty Hawk who recently passed away, but the bike could not stand idle any longer. “He would have wanted to see it on the road again,” said Rusty’s wife.
“His military patch from Vietnam is in the Ranger Hall of Fame,” said Ray. “I couldn’t give up on this one.”
If you wanted a bike checked out for a race or a long run, you couldn’t find a more persnickety, thorough mechanic in the world. Ray delivered the faded blue moon springer to Willie’s garage and stood back. Willie doesn’t like suggestions, just rapid-fire resources.
“This clean ’89 FXST/S was delivered to me last April, 2015,” said Willie. The first thing he tackled was the front and rear wheels. He yanked them off the bike, inspected the axles and installed new Timken bearings and races just before taking them to the tire shop for some new rubber (Metzler front, 100/90-21-inch, rear 140/70-16-inch). Bearings were greased and installed with new seals. He set the endplay at .004 to.010.
He also checked the stock H-D springer action and rocker bearings. The bearings are the same used in the swingarm, which he checked for ease of movement and no flop.
“During that lull in waiting for the new rubber, I removed the springer fork and replaced the Timken neck bearings,” said Willie. “The bike sat in one position too long and there was wear or a ding in one spot. They had to be replaced.”
He moved to the primary drive case.
“While the wheels were at the tire shop, I tore into the primary case and removed all oil lines and oil tank for a cleaning,” said the good doctor. “The primary chain and adjusting shoe were the first parts to go. I converted to a ’94 and later primary drive system. The ’98 model shifted to different diaphragm spring. The ’97 and earlier models need a tool to remove the diaphragm spring and pressure plate.”
Ray wisely chose to alter his gearing significantly for the long cross-country haul.
Engine: 25-tooth (stock)
Basket ’94 and later: 36-tooth (stock)
Trans: belt pulley, 32-tooth
Rear wheel pulley: 61 from 70
“I discovered the clutch hub held a broken bolt, so I removed it,” said Willie, “and while Ray C. Wheeler was visiting, we discovered a cracked clutch hub straight through to the keyway.” After discussing the problem, they decided to find a late model 5-speed gear set, with the roller detent shifter mechanism and splined mainshaft. The roller detent offered smoother, more positive shifting.
The spline shaft ducked issues with the historic tapered shaft. “If they are installed with a torque wrench and not an impact, they are fine,” the Doctor explained. First nine years of 5-speed transmissions used tapered shafts. If installed properly, they were fine, otherwise, too easy to split.
For the price of a new clutch hub and mainshaft, Ray C found a complete transmission gearset with all the shifter pieces, complete minus the case. Even though it’s an ’89 case, they are adaptable.
So, in went a fairly new trans and late model shift assembly from a 2003 Bagger trans, from of all places, just across the state from him near Miami. He also found a 1998 and later clutch-basket assembly, a longtime friend had in Kansas. “So, all of those pieces were on their way to me via UPS all in the same week,” said the doctor.
During the wait, Ray C asked Dr. Willie to install the 61-tooth rear pulley. He used it on his hot rod twin-cam Dyna. They also installed a new and shorter belt from BDL Belt Drives, to up the gearing a bit.
The Softail wasn’t without performance aspects. It contained a .540 lift Crane cam and flowed/ported heads. The heads may have been shaved to up the compression.
After the bike rolled for its first test ride, the doctor realized the straight up-swept fish tails seemed way too loud and obnoxious for a cross-country trip. “I talked Ray C into letting me install one of my many sets of FXD, Dyna exhaust, with Screaming Eagle tapered mufflers. With a little shuffling and fabricating a bracket for the rear header pipe, the engine had that familiar H-D sound, plus equal back-pressure with the crossover.”
Ray C sent the SU carb to Rivera-Primo for a rebuild and new air filter assembly, with new down-swept intake manifold to easily clear gas tanks. Also, the Doctor installed a new Compu-Fire, Elite-1 ignition system and reused the original Crane single-fire coil and plug wires.
“I performed all of this in house, in my humble back yard garage,” said Willie the mechanical mastermind.
He also upgraded front and rear turn signals, with early classic Shovelhead styled lights, to dual element sockets with bulbs by riveting in new sockets. “Now, there are running lights when lights are on, with turn signals when needed,” said the good doctor.
He also added a power outlet, attached below the coil, to the cover bracket, to power up phone and other electronic accessories, including Ray’s GPS. Plus, he added a charger battery connection for easy charging.
The good doctor ran a couple of other helpful elements, the VOES switch. Under load, it will retard the engine to prevent pinging. It retards the timing four degrees. Sportster VOES switches are more aggressive, up to seven degrees. VOES switches can be adjusted but must be resealed.
He also installed one of his famous crank vents in the return oil line. It’s a one-way PCV valve. Pistons going down push the air out. It shuts off when the pistons head back up the cylinders. The free-floating, non-spring valve closes off, and lets the pistons create a vacuum in the crankcase. ET Performance makes them. “Automotive crank vents don’t work,” said Willie. Umbrella valves in the heads of Harleys only last 50 miles. One simple ET crank vent can add seven horsepower to an Evo engine.
Ray clocked over 5,000 miles on one run from Los Angeles to Washington state, and then Sturgis before peeling East to Sarasota, Florida. “The bike used oil,” Ray said. “The plugs and exhaust look cool, but it went through quarts. I’m going to go through the engine, but it still runs like a bat outta hell.” Could be oil rings or valve seals. We will keep you posted and Ray C keeps Ranger Rusty’s bike alive and on the road.
–Bandit
Sources
Rivera Primo
Compu-Fire
https://compufire.com/
Crane Cams
cranecams.com/
ET Performance
www.et-performance.com/
