My fast bike lives again...

hootmon · March 30, 2013, 10:27:56 AM

Not that anyone probably really cares, but my fast (yellow) Magna is alive again...
Because my regulator is down on my red Magna, it gave me the incentive to get the the yellow bike fully back together..
I started it up last night (I had drained the carbs before starting to take it apart). After a few seconds of cranking to get fuel in the bowls, it started right up... I wad getting ready to take it for a ride when I noticed a puddle of fuel on the ground...
Put the bike back in the garage with some disgust...
Went out this morning, started it back up, and no leaking... I guess the seals in the carbs just needed some soaking time to swell a little...
Looks like I have a little seeping of coolant on the top of the block where there is the Chrome tube that runs across behind the front cylinders, I'll probably have to re gasket/o-ring that...
Otherwise, the bike runs Great!
I'll ride it around until the red one gets back in the road... Then I will put it up for sale...

TLRam1 · March 30, 2013, 01:11:29 PM

1. I didn't know you still had the Yellow bike.

2. Never knew your regulator was out on the Red bike.

3. Yes, O Rings in that tube will fix the leak, I think I put a little oil on mine to help it slide in.

4. Something good came out of something bad, Good deal!

hootmon · March 30, 2013, 02:36:42 PM

Terry,
I put the regulator failure under the proper thread..
It actually looks like it is the gasket under the cover (that the tube fits into) on the right side... If I have to do that, I might as well do the gasket and the o-rings at the same time...

hootmon · March 30, 2013, 08:17:23 PM

Well, good news / bad news...
Good news, looks like the coolant leak stopped...
Bad news, the radiator fan is not working... Project for tomorrow...

lragan · March 30, 2013, 08:56:38 PM

I am sure you are experienced with the radiator fan function, given where you live and ride, but I have noticed on my 3rd gen bikes the fan seldom comes on. They have to idle at standstill for several minutes before the fan kicks in, even on the hottest days.

hootmon · March 30, 2013, 11:54:23 PM

Quote from: lragan on March 30, 2013, 08:56:38 PM
I am sure you are experienced with the radiator fan function, given where you live and ride, but I have noticed on my 3rd gen bikes the fan seldom comes on. They have to idle at standstill for several minutes before the fan kicks in, even on the hottest days.

Well, since the temp light came on, and the fan was not running... I took that as my 1st clue!
Looks like the thermo-switch is bad...

Easy test, just ground the wire that connects to the switch, if the fan comes on:
Fan good
Switch bad

$40+.... I bought one for my wife's bike and it turned out not to be the issue...
Now if I could only find the one I took out of her bike (same part #)...
Or did I throw it away?... Hummm.

Magnum Magna · March 31, 2013, 02:51:03 AM

That is great.

filstoy · April 05, 2013, 06:55:24 AM

Just thought I would pass on a little bit of (maybe useless LOL) information. When I worked for GM I noticed that some of the temp sensors, and various sensors for the fuel injection or emission systems were the exact same parts on many of the cars that Harley used on many of their bikes. Back then I had access to Delco specs and part numbers so if I was helping a friend work on a Harley I could often figure out which car used the same part since Harley used Delco as a supplier. Then I could go to Autozone or somewhere and get the part for about 1/4 of what it cost from Harley. A couple of years ago I ran into the same thing on my Magna with one of the horns and found out they used the same one on an older Civic or something. I was able to find the actual suppliers part number by digging around on the internet and ended up getting the horn brand new for about $11 where it was about $50 from Honda motorcycle dealer. Just thought I would throw that out there. The trick is finding out who actually made the part and coming up with the right numbers which isn't always easy to do but if you can, sometimes you can save a few bucks.

hootmon · April 05, 2013, 07:13:08 AM

I did see a reference on the thermometer switch to a Nissan part at Auto Zone..
But when I looked up the part, it was not the same ( it was two wire)...
Could I make it work, probably, but for a few $ more, I'll go with the correct part.

I did find an aftermarket t-stat for my wife's VT Sabre at half the cost... AND it came with the o-ring that is required...

filstoy · April 05, 2013, 10:13:50 AM

Yeah, that's why I only tell that to people who KNOW what they are doing such as yourself. I've found a few times where stores like Autozone, Oreilly's, Advance etc don't have very accurate cross references. I was mainly talking about how to get the EXACT OEM part. I probably shouldn't even have mentioned Autozone. My bad

Geez, if I'd have used the bushing their books showed for my trucks transfer case yesterday, I'd be stranded on the side of the road today !

drkngas · April 05, 2013, 11:30:32 PM

Quote from: filstoy on April 05, 2013, 06:55:24 AM
Just thought I would pass on a little bit of (maybe useless LOL) information. When I worked for GM I noticed that some of the temp sensors, and various sensors for the fuel injection or emission systems were the exact same parts on many of the cars that Harley used on many of their bikes. Back then I had access to Delco specs and part numbers so if I was helping a friend work on a Harley I could often figure out which car used the same part since Harley used Delco as a supplier. Then I could go to Autozone or somewhere and get the part for about 1/4 of what it cost from Harley. A couple of years ago I ran into the same thing on my Magna with one of the horns and found out they used the same one on an older Civic or something. I was able to find the actual suppliers part number by digging around on the internet and ended up getting the horn brand new for about $11 where it was about $50 from Honda motorcycle dealer. Just thought I would throw that out there. The trick is finding out who actually made the part and coming up with the right numbers which isn't always easy to do but if you can, sometimes you can save a few bucks.

Yup! I bought part for my son's Chevy Colorado a few weeks ago that at Chevy you had to buy a whole $370 assembly but if you knew the Hummer part number it was $30 at Napa!

filstoy · April 06, 2013, 08:17:35 AM

Holy cow, that's a big chunk of change