Ken's latest find - a new project begins

craigslist is your best bet... if you can get through the crapola..

kenfused hows the sporty comming apart(along)?

Just a little bit to update on so here goes.

I ordered a new ignition, an Ultima programmable ignition (same as the Dynatek 2000i) that is both single and dual fire. It arrive the other day and I got it installed last night. Pulling the old wiring out took longer than anything else the way they had it bound by zip ties every 5 fricken inches :cussing:

Even though it came with a single fire coil I wired it up to the original old dual fire coil just in case I had any issues getting it timed out the gate. That wasn't the case at all. The bike fired first time and the timing seemed perfect without touching a thing.

Now for everything that DIDN'T go right.

1. Fuel petcock went bad and gushed a gallon of gas onto the garage floor... while my back was turned of course.
2. While tightening the battery terminal the post cracked, even though its brand new.
3. Realized one of the shocks have a broken crown where the coil spring is held.

Tomorrow I'm going to clean up the wiring and at least get er road worthy enough to test for any engine or trans issues. This should give me a good starting point to know what all I'll need to add to the growing shopping list.

sounds like your comming right along!!!! i think with all the other stuff ya doin your making pretty good time!!!!! keep us informed!!!

yep sounds like your fun is just starting

A little more progress to report (not much). Got it running good enough to take a little ride. For a stock 883 that's 22 years old and 33k on the odometer she runs strong. Of course I put one of my own built carbs on it to help, but the drag pipes weren't doing me any favors without baffles. Feels like it's shifting just fine though only being a 4-speed means I have to wind it up pretty high. While I already swapped out the ignition I'm still running on the original coil. Once I break it down for the other mods I'll put it back together with the new single fire coil, however I may need to fabricate a new motor mount as the one there isn't shaped to squeeze a coil in the middle.

Already removed the majority of chrome stuff.

Which brings me to the next phase. Received a set of touring air shocks that I'm going to retrofit the bike with, and staying with that all-black theme I have someone powder coating me a set of valve covers, cam/primary covers, and fork lowers in gloss black.

Still haven't decided on the bars. I had a couple of different buckhorn and cruiser pullback bars but none really float my boat. I've debated between apes and drags but I guess I just haven't thought that far into the project yet to make the decision. I am however going to go with a sprung seat.

amen on the sprung seat!!!!!!!!! i like drag bars also.........with short risers..

Where are the pics Ken ??????

Not much to show because it doesn't look any different... yet. But as I tear off all the covers I'll start getting more pictures.

The next thing I'm on the fence about is the choice between engine and wheels. It runs just fine but I wasn't exactly feeling that 883 in the seat of my pants. The wheels on the other hand are in decent condition but black rims with chrome spokes have been on my mind for a while. So what it comes down to is, do I want a putt-putt that looks good or something fast enough that it doesn't matter what the wheels look like... hmmmm, so many choices, so little money. Doing both a 1200 conversion AND wheels isn't exactly in the budget.

if the spokes are in good shape, you could get the rims powdercoated. shouldnt be very expensive, then if ya a mind to you could re lace the rims yourself......not a favorite project of mine!!!!!

Yeah for me lacing rims is up there with removing wallpaper. Plus the original spokes are over 20 years old and would need individual polishing, which to me would be like removing the wallpaper only to find another layer of wallpaper underneath.

:roflmao:I know that feeling ken ,I have a set of factory mags ,PM me your axel size if you want a pic ,I'll double check the bearing # 's I already know there to small for a 2000 S glide

polish the rims,
powdercoat the spokes,

be different

Sure there are a lot of folks that do that, as long as they don't put a thick coat

Or, you could scuff them up, then tape off the hub and rim and paint them with a
gloss enamel paint from lowes or home despot

I like spokes too, however there are some killer retro mags that look good

on a long bike the Invader is bitchin...

Those are some cool looking wheels, might even look good on my street glide. For this project I'm staying with a traditional spoke setup, I've just always liked spoked wheels. Here's what I've settled on, a simple 40 chrome spoke setup on powder coated gloss black rims. The picture shows a satin finish but I'm having them done in gloss. The rear will still be a 16", up front I'm moving up from the stock 19 to a 21".

So yesterday I had some spare time (very rare) and decided to take a closer look at the shocks. While riding I had noticed that the rear was mushy and figured the shocks were bad and would be going anyhow. One of the shocks appeared to be beat up with the top cap looking battered and not sitting straight. Pulling the shocks revealed why.

REALLY??? SERIOUSLY?!


They were both like this, obviously a DIY lowering job.

I have a new pair of Road King air shocks. They came off a bike at the dealership with zero miles. Others have had success using these on Sportsters so I figured it was worth a shot. I really like how they look and the ride feel is firm. Screwed some schrader valves into the air inlets so I can add a couple psi as the shocks wear in. I could probably install an actual airline kit used on touring models but I figure why add more stuff, less is more. The RK shocks barely fit but also lift the rear a little higher than I'd like.



Turns out the 87-88 XL has a shorter top shock stud which is the next stumbling block. Rather than using lowering blocks to get the back fender down over the tire I'm thinking of welding in a new stud higher up through the strut. Not only will it give more threads to grab but move the shock out a 1/2" for better clearance. BTW the chrome fender strut cover is still there only until I get the state inspection, need the signals in place until then. Hopefully have all that done next week and then I'll really start tearing into this project.