Hi all, I am wondering what fuel we should use in pre 80 bikes. I have read that we should be using leaded fuel however we all know that this is not around in Australia. I was told that I should be using BP 98 oct as it has the best bang! I have also read that you should be putting in an additive but I cannot find what is best. So I am just asking every one to post what they use in the tank and if they use an additive. Regards, Troy
If the bike is still stock the pre 80 motors need lead or a substitute to suit the valve seats so If you are unsure then it's better to use a substitute.
I use premium fuel as that is what "Super" used to be but without the lead and it's a lot easier than adding octane booster.
I used to use (don't use it now as current bike is 82 with hard seats) nulon lead substitute available from supercheap etc.
Any lead substitute should do the job. Read the bottle as a lot of sales guys will mistake octane additive for lead substitute.
Hi Troy,
Just a couple of things for the old Shovel. 1- Spark plugs. I , like many others used to use Champion Plugs (RN12YC) until I struck a batch that gave me trouble. Changed over to NGK and swear by them. The Shovel (pre 82) uses the same as the Evo (NGK BPR5ES-11). 2- At a point in time when riding a Shovel was a wonderful adventure, ( during long runs you always had that delicious uncertainty as to whether you would make it without something breaking down, and you always wondered if you were going to be able to fix it.). One thing that drove me mad for about 3 weeks early in 83 was the bike dying every now and then, and then having to spend 15 to 20 minutes kicking till she fired again. I reckon my knowledge of the English language was greatly developed then. F*** became a verb, nown and punctuation mark for all to hear!!! Went through the usual, check Carby, plugs, wiring for shorts, NOTHING!!!!!!!. Took me 3 weks and I finally figured it out. Bloody circuit breaker!! Ignition breaker would get hot and do its job, go on strike. 15 minutes or so and it would cool down enough to work. ( By the way did I mention one of the first things I did when I bought it was to get rid of the lecky starter as it never worked well anyway, and I converted to a Phase 3 11mm belt primary at he same time. Saved heaps of weight, so that 15 minutes of starting was by kicking the bastard. Boy, I was a lot fitter in those days.) So my advice is, carry a spare in your toolkit (and what Shovel rider doesn't have a toolkit? or if it happens switch wires with the lights breaker ( same amps) . 3- If you are able to swap your front brakes to 11.5 discs as per the Evo's do it. The dual 10 inch which came as standard are bad news, specially in the wet. A lot of Evo's convert to 4 pot front brakes and sell their standard stuff on Ebay . Hunt around and you could find a bargain. And yes, that single 11.5 disc and stock caliper are far better than the twin 10's. Your rear brake looks to be standard, there is a product to support the rear caliper, it bolts to the akle and it reduces the caliper bouncing up and down on the front pin of the mounting bracket ( it may wear to the point it brakes and all hell brakes loose Pun intended) . Harley corrected this desing fault by changing the caliper bracket in 81 to a Y shape that supported the caliper front and rear. You can either get the caliper support or if you can find a Y caliper for sale cheap buy it.
Waffled on for long enough.
Regards,
Cris
NIl Desperandum ( Don't let the bastards get you down !)
Hi Troy, Yep, I’ll agree with Kiwidave, the throwout bearing is a problem on 77’s on. The good news is that the old style bearing is available aftermarket, and it’s only a matter of removing the kicker cover to swap it over . I did this within 3 months of getting my Shovel in 82, so I’d kinda forgotten what a pain the new ‘wafer’ style can be. I was low on bucks so I didn’t even swap pushrods, just used the stock one with the circlip groove on it and that was it for 19 years on (aside from changing oil.) without a hitch. Now, about the tool kit. 1 Allen Keys. 1/8, Handlebar switches, don’t use the metric equivalent. It’s just undersize and will strip the screw. 5/32 Brake and clutch levers, primary inspection cover and derby cover. 3/16 Numerous covers and drainplugs. 7/32 Clutch pushrod adjuster. 1/4 Handlebar bolts. 5/16 Triple tree clamp bolts 3/8 Tranny filler bolt and crankcase timing inspection plug. 2 Screwdriver combo, one that has Square blade and Phillips in a couple of sizes. 3 Spanners, ring one side , open end the other. 1/4 Lifter blocks 3/8 Circuit breaker nuts, brake bleed nipples and master cylinder banjo bolt. 7/16 Oil pump 1/2 Numerous. 3/4 Front axle nut. 13/16 Spark plugs. 15/16 Rear axle nut. 10mm Only metric one as Kiwidave says, Battery. 4 Sockets. 7/16 Regulator, can’t get to it with a spanner. 1/2 Tank bolts 9/16 Primary chain adjuster, spanner wont fit. 11/16 Clutch pushrod adjuster nut, spanner wont fit. 5 Adjustable wrench with a good opening range. 6 Long nose pliers with a cutter. 7 Insulation tape. 8 Superglue, holds all sorts of things together. 9 A small mutimeter and a couple of lengths of wire with small alligator clips in the ends. 10 Torch, I use a small diving one, super bright and I can hold it in my mouth . 11 Spare circuit breakers (15 and 30 amp) 12 Spark plugs (gapped ), and a set of points and a condenser if you run points. 13 Letterman tool, as Kiwidave suggested, very handy. Leave the small nose pliers out if you have this. 14 Chain breaker (small roadside type) and spare master links. 15 Not essential but handy to have Zip ties, a length of fuel line, a small bar of soap(like motels have) handy to temporarely seal your fuel tanks. a couple of small hose clamps, a couple of rags, a couple of small zip lock bags and a larger thick plastic bag. 16 First Aid Kit (for you) make sure it has a space blanket. The Don
More waffle Troy, Are you running points?, not that there is anything wrong with that. I did too, the stock electronic gnition in the 81 was a pain in the a****. I retroed to points for a while and then began tinkering. Eventually settled on a Dyna S set up, single fire electronic but used the stock advance weights. There are better alternatives now and I've got the Dyna 2000i in the Heritage. The point of the matter is , if you can, go to a single fire ignition. The old girl ran beautifully with it ( together with a much modified adjustable mainjet Bendix carby). I had her tuned so I could easily hand start it when warm. Shocked many a yuppie on an Evo in the 90's when Harleys became an "accesory" to a lot of W*****'s. You know, walk to the bike, sit on it, casually reach back and flip the kickstart out and push down slowly and Ta-thump-Ta-thump she'd start. (one of the advantages of a single-fire ignition is no Kick Back!) That was at a time when I got sick of the Yuppies asking of the old girl " Is that a Harley?". The way I timed her was by ear. Now this won't work if the bike's not running well (like no carbie problems, crap plugs etc.) What you do is get into the timing cover, loosen the adjustment plate ane re-tighten 1 screw so it doesn't move. Start the bike and let it warm up properly, increase RPM till you get full advance then loosen that 1 screw and move the timing plate clockwise slowly till the engine justs starts to break up, back the plate up about 1/16" and tighten the screws properly. Take it for a ride, if she backfires during deceleration go back and back up the plate a little more. Once she's running well mark the timing plate so you've got a reference point. Reason for all this is the factory set the timing marks at a point where all their production would run well. Not at it's best but well. You want yours to run at it's best. Bugger, got to go back to work, will waffle some more later. regards, Cris aka The Don.
