now for the problems

[Little Al]

I have a few minor problems and only a few solutions:

1) Something is shorting out in the dash. Everything is fine until I put the dash cover on. Frustrating, but I'll figure that one out. Thanks guys for suggesting the fusing of the negative side of the battery, might have saved me here for a fire or burnt wires

2) the float/needle/seat in the S&S "E" must be sticking or in bad shape, or mis-adjusted because gas drips out of the vent at the top of the bowl. Serves me right for not doing a complete rebuild on it before I put it on. This should be an easy fix even though I'm pissed at myself for letting it happen.

3) The through the tank style petcock is leaking. When I snug it up by turn in the thumb "cap" gas doesn't flow out of the hose at the carb, but it does drip. I need a bit of help on this one, it seems like a simple enough arrangement but I played around with it a little with no improvement

4) this is the most serious problem and what's preventing her from starting. First off it seems to kick through too easy, like no compression or like the kicker is not actually turning the motor. I adjusted valves as suggested, I have solids with aluminum pushrods so cold I adjusted them on the tight side. Got them to zero lash then like another 1/2 turn or so to where I could just barely turn them with 3 fingers. I can't seem to find my compression tester but pulling both plugs and having someone else kick I can feel suction and good compression, good as determined by feel, I'm pretty secure in this assessment. My first thought was a tight valve adjustment but it seems not based on  the suction  & compression I feel with my finger at the plug hole. I pulled the timing plug again had someone else kick and the crank is certainly turning. I mention this only because my sense is that it's something in the primary or kicker gears my impression is it's just WAY too easy to kick. I'm leaving it alone for tonight. I wanna hear from you guys and my frustration level is way too high to make rational decisions, lol

[Reddog74usa]

1. check the screws at the sw to see if they are making contact with the dash. To many wires on a post will cause this so see if you can space the dash so it doesn' come down quite so close.

2. check the needle n seat and float adjustment on the carb.

3. take the petcock apart and clean it up and check the fuel line for debrie.

4. your valves are adjusted way to tight allowing the compression to flow right past the valves. with the lifter all the way down adjust the pushrod until there's no up and down play and they spin very easily with one finger just rubbing up against it then lock it down. DO NOT give it any extra turns like you did.

[Deye76]

1.For the dash, screw one or two nuts on the stud so dash won't come in contact with switch screws.
3. Make sure if your tanks were beadblasted that they were flushed  properly. May help with #2 if blast media got into the carb.

[vern]

for your dash cut a plastic washerthat fits around your switchand covers your wire screws

[moose]

) The through the tank style petcock is leaking. When I snug it up by turn in the thumb "cap" gas doesn't flow out of the hose at the carb, but it does drip. I need a bit of help on this one, it seems like a simple enough arrangement but I played around with it a little with no improvement

there's a special tool that is used for the gas shut off. If you don't have one Nicks will do it for you at a low charge.

[Pynzo]

I have the shutoff alignment tool if you need to use it. Bring down some Brooklyn Ale.

[PNSHR]

Al
An absolute beautiful ride, and the buddy-seat and foot clutch is really a "statement". "No compromise" bike.
For the #3 issue, leaking pet. For what it is worth, When I had my tanks painted I had the same issue. What I needed to do was scraping of paint at  the tank around the pet connection. Used a razor blade and was really meticulous. I also put on a tiny bit of gasket sealer.  It still leaks very very little, and my next step  will be to heat up the brass gasket, dipp it in water to soften it up and put it back. (winter thing I think)

[jellero]

I've had the short problem when installing the dash cover. When you tighten the screws on the left side the contacts tend to pivot out and can short so keep them tucked in. I also covered mine with electrical tape which only will help during installation. I still cringe when putting dash or battery cover on... J

[Little Al]

On the valve adjustment, I've been told by multiple reliable sources that the aluminum pushrods coupled with the solid lifters they need to be pretty tight cold due to the different expansion rates once the motor gets hot. pretty much the advice is zero lash then smooth turning without any binding with 2-3 fingers. that's they way I have them adjusted. the 1/2 additional turn was just a easier way to state it then the long explanation I give here.

I think Pnshr is on the right track with the fuel valve problem. I know those through the tank valves can be a pain to get right. The reason is I probably made the problem  worse by adding 2 O-rings to the assembly. I didn't feel the brass washers would seal well. So now I'm thinking that the when I turn the thumb screw the rod is not seating in the valve because of the extra distance I created. The thumb screw seems to stop at the collar on the top of the tank before the rod seats. I'm gonna take the thumb knob off and see if the rod will screw in more and enough to seal the valve. if it does, I'll remove the O-rings.

I had to shim up the dash base to get the cover to fit so maybe I went to far, I'll take off one of the tanks and remove one of the 3 washers I used for a shim and see if that helps. Maybe I'll also make a rubber gasket "donut" to fit around the switch to cover & insulate the screw tops from the dash cover. I'll see where that gets me

Pynzo, supposedly the tank holes were aligned by the guy I bought the tank from (I know him to some degree and don't think he'd lie to me) the rod does operate smooth with no binding which is what I assume would happen if it wasn't aligned, BUT you'll still be seeing me soon with some Brooklyn Ale!

Carb/float deal is a simple fix, I'll just do what I should have done from the start and go through the needle & seat & check the float adjustment

it's been suggested to me that my clutch may be adjusted wrong and I'm not getting a good spin on the motor when kicking it. I'm sorta leaning that way since it reall does seem to kick through too easy and I do get decent (subjective but obviously I think I'm, good on this) compression when I get it. Could be the pushrod adjustment, could be a hanging valve, bad seat, etc but gotta go for the easy stuff first and I'm pretty damn sure that stuff is good so I'll start with finding my compression gauge, then go from there, but I gotta say, leaning towards a clutch problem.

Now that the bike is outside and it's raining and I got home from work after dark all this may have to wait a day or two but I will report back promptly once I can go over it all.

Thanks guys, yet again!

[jellero]

I've dealt with a slipping clutch that felt like it was rolling the engine over when it would hit compression then slip. It just took a bit of adjustment is all. J

[Little Al]

jellero, that sounds like what I'm dealing with. sometimes, if you kick it just right, I get good compression

I've been working late hours and been raining here the past 2 days. I'm anxiuos to get at her, but nothing is cooperating at the moment. I'm off Saturday so if not before then, certainly saturday!