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Hilly's 1999 XL1200S

Hilly's 1999 XL1200S

Retroman
2 months

PS I have stock OEM mufflers for EVERYTHING , except of course 1999 Sportsters.

Typical that.....

Hilly likes this post

Hilly
2 months

Quoting speedzter on 05 Dec 2025 01:43 AM
If you need any advice on Brake fluid, I think we have a member here that has some experience 😁

😁 all good, 5 out and 5 in, needs pads 🤦 how did I not notice before, back ones are near on the metal, no wonder they felt wooden!, fronts inside maybe a mil and a half, everything becomes clearer when the bike is on the hoist, ordered them from EasyR. So no rush to do oils today, will drag my sorry old arse into the big smoke to check out the night market, my Ex and daughter have a stall, daughter has mentioned it so best I have a gander 😁

Hilly
2 months

Quoting Retroman on 05 Dec 2025 02:40 AM
PS I have stock OEM mufflers for EVERYTHING , except of course 1999 Sportsters.

Typical that.....

Indeed lol, they have the stock part numbers on them but they are straight through so I dunno what gives there.

Retroman
2 months

That's the old "Texas-tune" that you could do with 90's mufflers, that had no cat converters from memory.

Just punch out the core plug half way up the muffler, bit of a one way trip tho' haha...

Even the Copper FXR's in Perth were so modded !

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obisteve
2 months

I used a 1" holesaw bit welded on a length of 5/8" rod, worked well on mine. A mate was making non compliant stainless steel mufflers in the 90's, for core he was taking 1 1/8" heavy gauge stainless tube, cutting opposing pairs of slots into the tube every 2 inches, rolling the tube by 90° between pairs of cuts, then bashing in the edge of the slots with a rounded end punch.
The cores quietened things up surprisingly well, even better when they had a lot of stainless steel scourers stuffed tightly around the baffle tube before it was pressed home into the muffler shell and welded at both ends.

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Hilly
2 months

I did end up dropping the oils late this arvo, mag plug from the primary/trans just had paste on it, oil wasn't too bad.
The engine oil filter was put on by a gorilla I'm guessing, had a fair old bow in the breaker bar, oil was black, I reckon this thing has been running really rich.
Cut the oil filter open, chopped about a third of the pleating out, folded it up and gave it a gentle squeeze in the vise to get most of the oil out, stretched it out in the sun for a gander, couple of small shiny bits, nothing to worry about.
No pics today, nothing to see really, will pull the battery box and oil tank out and do these hoses in the next few days.
The bloody Slim decided to start leaking as well, wouldn't believe it but the oil drain hose on it is split at the tank, thought it was the drain bung at first, ordered a new one, two bikes, can't ride either, no fair I say.

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408
2 months

Quoting speedzter on 05 Dec 2025 01:43 AM
If you need any advice on Brake fluid, I think we have a member here that has some experience 😁

Quoting Hilly on 05 Dec 2025 03:49 AM
😁 all good, 5 out and 5 in, needs pads 🤦 how did I not notice before, back ones are near on the metal, no wonder they felt wooden!, fronts inside maybe a mil and a half, everything becomes clearer when the bike is on the hoist, ordered them from EasyR. So no rush to do oils today, will drag my sorry old arse into the big smoke to check out the night market, my Ex and daughter have a stall, daughter has mentioned it so best I have a gander 😁

Where is the big smoke ?

Hilly
2 months

Quoting speedzter on 05 Dec 2025 01:43 AM
If you need any advice on Brake fluid, I think we have a member here that has some experience 😁

Quoting Hilly on 05 Dec 2025 03:49 AM
😁 all good, 5 out and 5 in, needs pads 🤦 how did I not notice before, back ones are near on the metal, no wonder they felt wooden!, fronts inside maybe a mil and a half, everything becomes clearer when the bike is on the hoist, ordered them from EasyR. So no rush to do oils today, will drag my sorry old arse into the big smoke to check out the night market, my Ex and daughter have a stall, daughter has mentioned it so best I have a gander 😁

Quoting 408 on 06 Dec 2025 03:59 AM

Where is the big smoke ?

Tongue in cheek, Currie 😂

Hilly
2 months

Fun job this oil line caper, feel like I'm going backwards here! Got them all off this arvo, started putting them back on, the return one on the front of the pump was ..... challenging, hard bit is over, will finish it off tomorrow morning, body has had enough for one day.

That's not all of them but these were the worst offenders.

Had to pull the exhaust, had the SE exhaust gaskets in it.

I'll pull that primary cover as well, gasket weep.

beaglebasher
2 months

It's amazing what you learn when you're doing shit like that.
I learned I can pull both mufflers off with one spanner and it takes about two minutes.

Hilly likes this post

408
2 months

Quoting Hilly on 05 Dec 2025 03:49 AM
😁 all good, 5 out and 5 in, needs pads 🤦 how did I not notice before, back ones are near on the metal, no wonder they felt wooden!, fronts inside maybe a mil and a half, everything becomes clearer when the bike is on the hoist, ordered them from EasyR. So no rush to do oils today, will drag my sorry old arse into the big smoke to check out the night market, my Ex and daughter have a stall, daughter has mentioned it so best I have a gander 😁

Quoting 408 on 06 Dec 2025 03:59 AM

Where is the big smoke ?

Quoting Hilly on 06 Dec 2025 09:03 AM
Tongue in cheek, Currie 😂

I wondered if you were leaving the island. Thought thats a big deal for a market. :)

Hilly
2 months

All done, buttoned that all up, primary tomorrow, hopefully 👍
Oh yeah, washed the oil tank out, 26 years of gunk goneski.

Hilly
2 months

Had a couple of days of no mojo, pulled the primary cover off today to change the gasket, it was a thick paper one and had seperated at the bottom where the mid controls bolt on, someone had forced silicone up into it to try and stop it leaking.
The new gasket was a multilayer one with alloy in the middle so it should last like the twin cam ones, good for a few on and offs.
The primary chain was way too loose, spec cold is 3/8 to 1/2 inch, it was more like an inch, chain hasn't hit anywhere and the wear pad is only lightly grooved so should be good for many more miles now.
I didn't check the clutch adjustment before I pulled the mechanism apart but it was giving no issues so I suspect it was ok there, lubed the cable while it was apart as well.
The clutch and primary chain adjustments are a breeze, "easy as bro" as a mate from across the ditch was fond of saying.
A parcel arrived this arvo, pads and a shiny petcock, if the body is up to it I'll fit them tomorrow, after I work out why the neutral light stopped working! I'm hoping I separated the harness plug when I zip-tied the wiring to the frame, hope so anyway.
Couple of pics, wasn't much to look at really.

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obisteve
2 months

It's getting there Hilly.
Being so easily able to access the clutch release mechanism through the derby cover on the 5 speeds is one of those small but nice improvements over the 4 speed Sporty.

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Hilly
1 month

Changed the brake pads today, rears were rs, fronts still had a bit left but the inners were pretty low, front wheel bearings feel good clearance wise and spin freely.
Fitted the new fuel tap, the old strainer didn't want to come out, bit of crud around it, flushed the tank out as best I could, will give it another go next time it's off the bike, will modify the top engine mount for a bit more clearance for the tap when it's on reserve at the same time.
Jacked the rear to check swingarm pivots and wheel bearings, pivots are sweet, wheel bearings had a bit of a feelable clunk, pulled the wheel so I can measure the end play somewhat properly.
Remembered I hadn't checked the date codes on the tyres........front 1913, rear 3414, bugga!

Bit of a difference

Inner front

Stuart
1 month

Bit of crud in the tank, eh?

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speedzter
1 month

Don't be overly stressed by tyre date codes.
If the tyres are in good physical condition and not hard, they will be fine to use for now, unless you plan a track day !
There's no RWC law regarding age .
But regardless, I know you will change them, as I probably would 😁

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Hilly
1 month

Measured the rear wheel bearing end float, ment to be between.002" and .006", that equates to roughly .05mm to .15mm, this is at 1.05mm, just a little off, figure I'll get new bearings for it front and rear, no way of knowing how old the fronts are but this way I will have no doubts about them.
Speedzter and 408, I thought I had a handle on tyres but I'm not seeing much available for 130/90-16 dual sport wise, there was next to no clearance between tyre and lower belt guard and the 130 so going to 140 or 150 doesn't appear like a sound idea, can't really cut the guard away, especially as it's going to see gravel roads....... eventually.

Zero

Lol, focused on the ranger taillight

Belt guard in all its painful glory

On, little bit of clearance

Reserve, just touches the bracket and no I can't make em both clear, I shall artfully adjust the bracket shape in the near future, both sides so my ocd doesn't kick in.

408
1 month

Did you have Bridgestones on the Slim ?
And there are Dunlops

Hilly
1 month

Yep Bridgestone battle cruise 50's on the slim, I was chasing something more along the lines of these shinkos in the pic, fronts are easy, everyone makes a 100/90-19 dual sport or knobbie'er, the 130/90-16 is eluding me at present.

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