Aftermarket frame

[Burnout]

Please do yourself a favor and do not buy the cheapest frame available.

There is a reason they are cheaper.

Brand new Ultima 200mm Softail frame

Motor and trans will not bolt to the primary

Rear motor mount .060" low
Front motor mount .060" high
Motor position is rotated back, since the motor bolt holes line up I'd have to assume that the fixture was not properly installed.
That's just for starters. I have not checked anything for square.
Welded in trans plate so there are less ways to adjust.


"You can pay me now, or pay me later" or ride junk!

[Hossamania]

Well that sucks!

[Ohio HD]

I always stuck with Paughco way back when. I assume they're still decent quality.

But you're unfortunately right about getting what we pay.

[Burnout]

What bugs me is, what happens to the poor guy who doesn't know any better and leaves everything loose so he can get the bolts started.

Then just cranks it down....

If I did, I'm fairly sure it would break the primary cover and maybe rip the lip off the motor, if run like that.

Here's another one. How much spline engagement is needed, recommended? I've never seen a spacer that thick needed....

[Ohio HD]

Yeah, that would be very bad. I remember needing to shim the motors and transmission plate "slightly" with 0.005" to 0.015" shims. And even the old OEM Pan frames needed a little shimming.But 0.060" is a bit much for sure. 

[Deye76]

Like Ohio says, back in the day before CNC machines, anytime I switched motors (Shovel & Pan) between frames it required shimming, but it was always minimal. I installed a Ultima motor in a FXR frame with no heartburn, but that's rubber mount, not solid like yours. You might consider a different frame, although it seems there are not many mfg's as there used to be.

[Burnout]

I believe what happened is, the front mount (a 1" square bar) should have been hand fit to the frame. This left the front mount .120" high.

Raising the back .060 almost leveled the motor, but then I had to pull up on the primary cover.
So the front needs to go down ~.120" that will lower the crank center so the cover drops on nice and the motor will rotate forward to line up the primary bolt holes.
That means I have to machine down the front mount or cut the front mount out and replace it in the correct position. I'd prefer the builder take the frame back and provide me with a frame that can be used without modification.

OH yes I have been around the block a couple of times shimming some motor/trans packages. I don't like breaking primary covers, or oil leaks and belt alignment issues.
My standard is that the inner primary cover has to fall off/snap into position by hand and lay flat on both with no gaps after the motor and trans are tight in the frame.
If you have to pull the cover on with bolts there is a problem.