Blood, sweat, tears & beers . . .

:witsend::gah:Okay . . . I only feel the pressure once, every revolution of the crank in the same place. The points cam turns a half turn during that time - it always ends up being too far away on either cam lobe. S**t!
Just did a compression test and the rear cylinder is 70 lbs. and the front is 75 lbs. Took a lot of kicking! Does that sound about right for a rebuilt motor? I can see the tops of the pistons as they come close to the plug holes and they look pretty new - no carbon on them.
I have called the welder 3 times today already and he has not answered my calls - was supposed to be here around 8:30 this morning. Can't depend on anybody these days. Last call I asked him to at least call and say he couldn't make it or whatever.

Thanks. I knew that the Harley motor got it's distinctive sound from both piston rods being on a straight crank and since the pistons are 45 degrees apart they fire 315 degrees apart (360 minus 45).
So, the motor actually turns TWO REVOLUTIONS for the 4 cycles to happen, right? As I understand it, just taking one cylinder into account, piston moves down to draw fuel into the chamber, moves up to compress the fuel, fires it just before TDC - this is one complete revolution of crank, then the piston is forced down on power stroke, piston moves up to expel spent gases. Four cyles = two revolutions of crank. Right?
So you think I may be timing the motor on the exhaust stroke? I will try what you said on post #684.
Why do I have to remove the points, set up the timing mark on the flywheel and reinstall the points? Why not just leave them in?

Okay, Chuck, I'll try that. Just came back from setting the front piston with a dowel rod at TDC after feeling compression. Surprisingly, it lines up with the small timing dot exactly. Here's a picture of where the points are - the plate has been adjusted as far as the slots will allow and still the points don't open - lacking about 1/32":
I'm running high performance automotive points & condensor.

HRK, I turned the crank 360 degrees like you said (from the position you see in the pic, dot to dot) and the wide cam lobe is opening the points. (Cam turns at half speed the crank does).

I don't know what you mean by "moving at the right time". So you are saying I should remove the points, (not the plate), find the timing mark or the highest point the piston travels (both the same on my motor), and then reinstall the points? I don't know what you mean by "verify the position" either - the points go in the same exact place on the plate whether you put them in before or after finding the timing mark on the flywheel.

Manual says 90 PSI on a new motor. Mine are at 70 and 75. I think if I had an electric starter I might be able to get more . . . ah, heck, I have compression and the cylinders are very close to each other - I think it will be just fine.
Lucifer sent me a PM with some info on shovel timing. I have a few ideas to try. Remember when I said that I elongated the slots on my old points plate? well, some of these guys on the shovel forum did the same thing. Another says to try and get some OEM Harley points. Someone on another site says to open the advance weights to full advance and then adjust points.
HRK, another guy says to take everything out and reinstall & sometimes it "fixes itself". Similar to what you said.

Took the bike (strapped to my pickup) into town today to get the last bracket welded on. Then took the bike to Tattoo Tony's shop & he decided he was gonna set my timing. He's running points on his shovel now - changed from EI.
We found the compression stoke on front cylinder by kicking the bike over until I felt pressure on the plug hole, then he stuck a screwdriver into the plug hole and we turned the motor a little more until the piston reached TDC. Interestingly, we never even looked at the timing hole. Then he pushed the cam (with a screwdriver!) counterclockwise and moved the points plate clockwise until they opened. That was it. That's how he times his. We also checked the point gap and we changed it to .016". He had his bike there and kick started it. Fired up the first time. He has oversized barrels - I think he said 93 cu. in.
He told me that when I get it running I should rev it a little and adjust the point plate "by ear". I said, "What about a strobe light?" He said I didn't need one. We'll do that "advanced" timing together so I'll know what he means. Right now, the studs are about mid-way between the point plate slots.

Okay, now onto the next problem. I'm ready to put my brake lines in, but . . . they won't fit over the barbed fittings. I got this stuff from the Harley dealer. I told them the lines wouldn't fit over the barbs and they said to heat them up. Heat them up? Sounds like a bad idea to me. But I got a heat gun and attempted to heat the end of a line and it wouldn't stretch over the barb. I heated it up some more and no dice. I heated it up some more and the line started to distort but it still would not stretch over the barb. I'm beginning to think Harley sold me the wrong size line. So I called them and they said that the 3/16" was the only size they sell. WTH? Something's not right here!
Here are the specs of the line with a photo: The line is Parker Parflex 3/16" o.d. x .039 wall. The chrome fitting in the pic seems to have a 1/8" barbed end. Does anyone know anything about this stuff? Should I even be using this type of line? I only have one brake, the rear one, a banana caliper. I have banjo bolts coming off the caliper and master cylinder that this line is supposed to fit over (see pics).
The pic in lower right shows the bracket I had welded in yesterday and the brake tee installed with the fittings mocked in.
Anyway, it seems to me that I should be using 1/4" line instead of the 3/16" ??? BTW,The parflex website I found was not helpful.

Couple new wrinkles today, boys. First, I get an email back from the Parker Company and they say that the line I have is not intended for hydraulic brake lines. It is never to be heated.
Next, I got the fella's phone number who rebuilt my motor and we talked for maybe an hour about all sorts of things Harley Davidson. My motor has NOS pistons and most of the internals are also. The motor was rebuilt stock with solid lifters. He also says that 70 - 75 PSI on the compression is very good for the motor because the rings haven't set in yet. He recommended I keep the butterfly Keihin on the motor for now and see how it runs. Sometimes they run really good and he says he thinks they are better for a kick start bike because of the choke. Gave some advice about the timing and he says to advance the timing cam all the way over and then adjust the points to the high end of the gap range: .020 to .022". He told me .016" is good for magneto's but that it's better for the points to open up more for my set up. Has something to do with dwell.
About the "brake" lines - I'm taking all this stuff back to Harley and get my money back and get different connectors and lines, but not from them.

And tell them what the Parker Co. told you...could have lead to a bad situation if you got them together,installed them, needed them and they failed... JMO... I prefer to buy complete brake lines with ends installed from the factory and install them....hate to have a failure in an emergency because of something I didn't do quite right...

Good advice and I'm taking it. There's also an indie near Raleigh (Biker Barn) who sells Parflex for brake lines also. I sent the Parker Corp. all the codes on the tubing and was surprised that the line wasn't designed for hydraulic brakes. A lot of people are using it on their brakes because it's practically invisible. Tattoo has it on his front brake and says it works fine. I just can't figure out how they got the line to go on the fittings. I suppose Harley could have sold me the wrong fittings. It doesn't matter - I am definitely going to change to factory made stainless lines for my rear brake - no thermoplastic for me! One will be 21" and one 30" and they screw right on the fittings - no installation problems. Of course, I'll have to buy new fittings as the ones I have now all have barbed ends and Harley said they won't take them back since I "used" them. That's okay, I'll just give all the stuff to Tony and get myself some new stuff. I can get Goodrich stainless lines & fittings for around $100. Cheap insurance if you ask me.
In other news today . . . I'm putting my pipes on and will try to start The Beast this morning. I don't need brakes for that!

Been trying all morning to start it . . . got a little fart out of the back piston just once. Rechecked the motor timing & points setting, seems to be alright - .018" on one lobe & .021" on the other - well within factory specs. Checked for spark at plugs and I'm only getting a faint spark at the front cylinder & a slightly stronger spark at the back cylinder -but none of the sparks are "hot" or "blue". Maybe I ought to look into geting new plug wires. Battery was charged a couple days ago and all connections are tight. Lights are bright. Plugs are not fouled or wet when I take them out for inspection. Plugs are gapped properly.
The new coil is for '65 to '79 big twin equipped with points and rated at 5 ohms. Could I have the wires going to the coil backwards? There are no = or - marks on the coil. Probably made in Bumf**K, Egypt for all I know. I have the battery connected to the top post and the bottom post is connected to the points. I'm going for a walk to let off some steam . . . . . . I'm thinking of reversing the wires to the coil. Mac the Wife says that would be a bad idea. We'll get 'er, boys, I hope sooner than later . . . . going back in the shop and tinker . . . .