Primary chain adjustment and fork seals.

[shoveltrouble]

Hi all, I'm going to adjust the primary chain on my ol' girl, What amount of freeplay should the chain have? 3/4" sounds familiar?
Also she's well overdue for a pair of fork seals (unknown year drum brake flh forks) Have done many sets of fork seals on a wide range of bikes over the years but never on a Harley, are they as straight forward as most bikes? Any tricks?
Have been slack / broke and havn't bought a decent manual yet
thanks in advance.
Doug.

[neten-o]

Primary chain must be adjusted at tightest point..(you knew that)..I have just done the forks on my FX  'not Showa' ..straight foreward.. :teeth

[Dawgtired]

Doug,
it's 1/2" play midway between sprockets. Fork seals are the same as most bikes.
Good luck.
Dawg.

[MMOCGuy]

What both previous posts said.

1/2" at for the primary chain (at the chain's tightest point). Once you get the forks off the bike, the seals aren't much more difficult than adjusting hte primary chain! As with anything else, patience is the key.

Hope this helps.

Norm.

[pappyfreebird]

i aways do the 3/4 at tightest spot cold chain,,,my book sez 3/4 -7/8ths,,i know i seem ta go look fer sure evo time a touch a primary  pappy

[76shuvlinoff]

 Since Pappy brought it up, I tend to run my primary on the looser side at 7/8 minimum 1" max.
I found I get better clutch release and (maybe) a bit less vibration in my feet.

For what it's worth I run a solid front sprocket, no compensator.

[Old Crow]

For what it's worth I run a solid front sprocket, no compensator.

If this shows up twice, sorry...'puter had a brain fart(surely not *my* fault)

Anyway, how's that solid sprocket working for you.
I just did the same mod to my stroker Shovel(4 3/4" S&S wheels), but I ain't got it running yet.
Back in the day my wife had a '72 Sporty with the solid sprocket and I couldn't tell the difference between it and my '74 with the compensator.
I know the motor should wind up faster with the loss of rotating mass, but what does that loss of mass(and subsequent flywheel effect)do for engine vibration?

[76shuvlinoff]

Old Crow
The only time I noticed the lack of a compensator is down super low luggin at parking lots speeds, if I feather the clutch and bump the rpm a little then it's a non-issue for me.
I got rid of the compensator when I was running a 74" mill, now running a 93" for the last 21,000 miles and I'm still happy with a solid sprocket. I've run her stripped down and I've run her loaded like a dump truck.    All I can say is it works for me 

Mark