2000 Softail diagnosis help, please.

[fbn ent]

Happy girl!

Real nice collection of tools in the background too.

Get on the next project real quick....Spring's coming.

[rageglide]

A great way to start the New Year!   

[HarleyFranco]

Great thread Ken,

You might recommend some LED running lights and a LED headlight for her if she does alot of night riding.  Overall you did a fantastic job!

Frank

[Tynker]

Ken ,Happy New Year !! I have to say that was the best  of the best, of all the post I have ever read.You did a fantastic job, of pictures, and info sharing. Great job !!!!

[les]

Before taking the crankshaft to the welder to have the balance sprocket welded to it,  I did a little experiment with the two balance wheel sprockets that were to be replaced anyway.  I wanted to see if I could effectively MIG weld them.  If successful, I might have endeavored to do the sprocket-to-crankshaft welding myself. 


First, I  simply welded the two balance wheel sprockets together and then tried to separate them using a large flat-blade screw driver on the opposite side from my weld.  SNAP!  They broke apart rather easily.  Then I hit the weld on the one sprocket where the metal stuck and it broke off.  The first picture shows the two sprockets with the missing weld and little craters where the weld used to be.


Well, what is welding doing to the base metal?  The wire and base metal are certainly not becoming one.   Going for broke, I then just welded a big spot on one of the sprocket's teeth.  But the sprocket in the vise and tapped the weld with a hammer.  PING!  The tooth broke off, along with 3/8" of the sprocket on both sides.  See picture #2.


Now, I'm really concerned with welding the sprocket onto the crankshaft, even by a certified TIG welder.  Took it to a welder, anyway.  I asked  him to put three little spots no longer than about 3/16", equally spaced around the sprocket where the sprocket meets the crankshaft.   I watched as he did it.  Wish I had a TIG welder.  Such clean welds, no spatter, no slag, just pretty little welds. 


I'm not a metallurgist, not even close.  So this is all a little learning experience for me.  I'm darned good at welding mild or rolled steel with proper penetration and good looks.  I do a lot of that type of welding.  But the sprocket metal is not what I'm used to. 


This picture shows where I welded the two sprockets together (after breaking them apart and knocking the weld off).  The base metal looks crystallized. 





This picture shows where I MIG welded a sprocket tooth and then knocked it off with a hammer.  The tooth is gone and you can see the change in the metal where it was heated/welded; along with base metal for about 3/8" on both sides of the tooth.   The metal is very brittle.

Ken, I'm not quite clear on the conclusion to this posting.  You mention that the person who did the TIG weld laid down a nice looking weld.  Is your point that the reason you had trouble getting a good strong weld, with your experiments, due to MIG welding instead of TIG welding?  Did the TIG welding not crystallize and weaken the sprocket metal?  It seems you left out a little bit of explanation about why you feel his TIG welds are superior to your MIG welds.

[Ken R]

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a TIG welder.  Having fun learning how to use it; almost at the point in the learning curve that I could have TIG'ed it myself. 
But to answer your question:  I think that MIG or TIG would produce the same results.  The TIG is just more  controllable in the confined space.  And, the welder has a better control over how much filler material to apply.  With MIG, wire is coming when you pull the trigger.  The speed is pre-set. 


I wish I had more education on metals and all, but with my limited education, I believe that the sprocket material itself doesn't take welding very well.  That, and the sprocket has been in oil for the last 15 years.  It probably would have been a good idea to heat the sprocket to burn out oils before welding. 


All by themselves, the sprockets are very brittle.  A tooth can be knocked off fairly easily with a hammer; leaving a grainy wound.

[les]

Would you please do another destructive test on those old sprockets with your TIG?

[Ken R]

Would you please do another destructive test on those old sprockets with your TIG?

Yes, I plan to once I feel that I get the confidence that I'll be able control the spark and the feed well enough.  I have the two sprockets out of her motor right here on the office desk as they have been since I took the original pictures.  I'll report back when done.

[les]

Would you please do another destructive test on those old sprockets with your TIG?

Yes, I plan to once I feel that I get the confidence that I'll be able control the spark and the feed well enough.  I have the two sprockets out of her motor right here on the office desk as they have been since I took the original pictures.  I'll report back when done.

Thank you, sir.

[Ken R]

Sandy called me about a week ago.  She had been riding over the weekend and took "Roxanne" (the motorcycle) to a dyno.  I think it was at the Harley dealership.  They set it up from time to time to give free or inexpensive dyno runs for those that want to see how their motors fare.   The  operator snapped this picture and sent it  to me in a Txt Msg. 


So far, over a thousand miles on the motor since the rebuild.  She says that it's awesomely powerful; gets  up and goes when it's time to accelerate to pass at highway speeds.  Sandy is a light girl and the motorcycle is a really light-weight Softail.  With over 100 ft pounds of torque in that RPM range, I guess it does git up and go!


By the way, it's has the TW-44G cams, 96 cu in, stock ignition, really loud 2:2 exhaust, and jetted a little richer than stock; needle pulled up as advised in an earlier post. 


I don't understand the AFR graph except that it  seems to like 2,500 through red line OK.   I'm certain that people here can analyze that better than me. 


Another couple of thousand miles and I'll quit worrying about the engine work I did.  She's planning a trip with other friends  to Yellowstone  this summer.  I'm betting  on it making the trip without engine problems.  It should, everything except the crank and cams is new. 

[Ken R]

I do have a question about carbureted AFR. 
With fuel injection, when you apply 1/4 throttle, the butterfly only opens a little.  I assume 1/4 of its 90-degree rotation.  If you go WOT, it opens fully. 


But with a constant-velocity carb, the slider regulates the actual air passage opening, independent of the butterfly.  Is that correct?   And does this mean that even though you are WOT through the RPM range, the carb really isn't WOT because the slider only opens as much as necessary? 


I'm trying to wrap my brain around carb jetting.  On EFI, the tuner holds the throttle at  different settings to precisely read the AFR at each throttle opening and RPM/load.   I'm under the impression that a WOT dyno run with EFI only shows the WOT AFR.  Is this true with carb'd engines, too?  Or does the slider  reduce the throttle a predetermined amount depending on RPM and load, even when the grip is fully twisted. 


I'm not even sure I'm asking a valid question.  Sorry.


Ken

[1FSTRK]

Ken That  bike needs a bigger main jet.
It really deserves a full tune on a dyno. She saved enough money with the build you did for her that she should protect it with a proper tune. I know those cams and if she still has the stock ignition she has to much timing in the mid range.


Added:
This should have been my original comment with the above part added at the end.

GREAT JOB on the build Ken. She could not ask for a better outcome regardless of who built it and for your first complete build you should be very happy and proud. All the time and research certainly paid off.

[rageglide]

I too would guess a bigger main or different needle is needed.   

But that hump is so big I'd say it's got the light spring spring from a Jet Kit, probably has the slider drilled too.    Slide is opening too fast and staying open too long.

[Karl H.]

...But with a constant-velocity carb, the slider regulates the actual air passage opening, independent of the butterfly.  Is that correct?   And does this mean that even though you are WOT through the RPM range, the carb really isn't WOT because the slider only opens as much as necessary?...

That's basically correct! The carb feeds only as much fuel/air mixture as the engine demands. Over time there isn't a missmatch between butterfly and slider opening. The slider follows the butterfly with some delay to prevent a hiccup caused by sudden velocity changes in the venturi ("constant velocity").

Karl

[Smarty]

Way to go Ken. I just picked up on this thread and it was excellent! Great job and great detailed description along the way.

[Ken R]

Sandy came by for another oil change and general maintenance the other day.  She now has about 8,000 miles since my work on the engine.  She does love it.  So far, no engine problems at all.  Only other old parts are wearing out (like the fuel tank breather adapter tube, rear tire, horn relay, ignition switch,  etc.)   I'm quite relieved.   


I'm so thankful that it went well and that she's happy.  It was really stressful, going so deeply into someone else's engine like that.  When I was a Honda mechanic at Homestead Cycle 45 years ago, making mistakes and doing harm wasn't even on the radar for me.  I was young.  Now I'm old and have learned to question everything I do. 


Thanks, all, for the good feedback. Looking back, it was a fun job and the forum saved me from making mistakes. 


Ken