Rescued an 883

Hello All,
I am new to the Forum and new to the Harley world. I have own motorcycles sense before I had a license to drive one, but today I bought my first Harley. The reason I haven’t bought one up until now is that I felt like I was not the type of person to be riding one. I knew nothing about them and I would rather send my bike to the dealer to have the tire pressure check then do it my self. This is not the Harley mentality. I have changed my ways and I am now the proud owner of a 2004 883C Sportster. I felt that I had to buy this bike to rescue it from it owner. The original owner bought the bike just before he got into scuba diving and has put 1,000 miles on it in the last four years. That is not the worst part of it thought. For the last year or so he has had it parked about 50 feet from the ocean. He has not started it in about 6 months and there is more rust on it than crome (slight exaggeration). So my question to your all is, WHERE DO I START?

This is going to be a Father Son project, with the end result being a Bike that is part of the family. I will be doing all or most of the wrenching my self. I am looking for all the advice, hints, help, reference material, tool lists, part suppliers, and moral support that you all can give me.

Thanks
Rob Starke
In Japan buying an American Bike

Congrats on the purchase, and welcome to the forum/"biker" world. Just so you know, many people take their bikes to the dealer for service. Anyway, lucky bike and even luckier son. I wish my father would have had similar interests like me, hopefully you and your son will be able to complete this little makeover in a timely fashion and get some riding time in! Just a question for the other guys here, should he worry about the inside of the cylinder walls, before he goes and tries to turn it over?? Good luck and keep us posted!

also when you drain the fuel take a look inside with a FLASHLITE and if there is any rust I would stop and correct that before continuing, when draining the oil and changing the filter look for a milky residue and flush your case before refilling and the salt air and wiring will be your continuied battle the corrosion if it isn,t so bad can be cleaned and re-protected if it is bad running a new harness is a walk in the park. as for the purchase my congrats and welcome to the forum , ask what you want it will surely be answered

Congratulations on a great rescue. I did the same thing a couple of times.

You have some great advice already. I would say that I would flush the oil system. Before you run it, put some diesel fuel in the cylinders (a ½ oz. or so) and let it sit for a day. Drain the oil, put a qt. of diesel in the oil tank, get the rear tire off the ground, pull the spark plugs, stick it in 5th gear and turn the back wheel to pump it through the oil system. Look in the oil tank while doing this to see if oil is flowing, it may just be a dribble. Pull the drain plug and drain the diesel and continue to turn the wheel to pump all the diesel out. Do the same to the transmission/primary(at the same time). Now ready the bike to run with some oil (provided the gas tank, and carb have already been drained, cleaned and refilled) 20W-50, good synthetic oil but don't spend a lot on it. Do the same for the primary/transmission. Run it untill it is up to running temperature, then change the filter and the oil again. Use a good quality Synthetic 20W-50 or mobile-1 15W-50. Now treat it like it was new, change the oil and filter after 1,000 miles and every 5,000, after that. Back to the primary/transmission, same interval and oil except after 1,000 miles, use a good syntheric 75W-90 gear oil (Mobile-1 synthetic). You will be supprised how well the trany shifts.

Ok, the inside of the gas tank is toast (when a flush won't do, looks like the rust boogies set up camp)! There is a product callled Kreem, get a kit and Kreem the tank (read the directions).

The diesel will also show you where any potential leaks will be, It will go through anything not properly sealed. Change your oil a minimum of once a year regardless of mileage.

Disconnect and lube all your cables, check them for binding while disconnected, replace any that don't move in their housings freely. If you are having contact issues with electrical connections, try a little WD-40 on the metal surfaces, pluge them together and disconnect them several times. clean off any excess, don't get it on paint.

Untill you replace the damaged chrome, try buffing it with old shoe leather, the rough side. If it is not to bad this will clean it up, watch out for cracks and chips, these can cut you.

Motors that sit for long periods of time can build up acid in the oil, that's why the flush. Gasoline will evaporate leaving varnish and semi solids behind that are not good for engines. You may also need to do a complete clean up of the carb, get the manuals first (see below).

If you just drained the oil and changed the filter than ran the bike, change them twice again at 200 mile intervals, the last change you dump should be a good quality syntheric. Start the oil change cycle like it was new, next one will be at 1,000 miles.

The paint could probably use a little help, use an extreemely fine buffing compound by hand and a good wax after that. Harley has the best paint in the world, try to save it if you can.

Now, before you do any thing else, get a Harley Davidson factory service manual and parts manual. Not one of the after market joke books.

Enjoy the ride and do your own work, you will know what you've got that way.

I know how you feel...I bought a bike that was 9 years old & had 3300 miles on it.....In great condition but Jeeze man.....Im thinkin the longest trip this guy took was to the end of the driveway & back

Questions, Questions, and More Questions

1.) Where do I go to get the Harley Davidson factory service manual
and parts manual?
2.)Is Custom Chrome and good supplier of parts?
3.) I was planning on doing the 1200 conversions as part of the rebuild. Kind of like the $6,000,000 man, "we can build you stronger, fast, better" (or something like that), is this a good idea?
4.) If yes to 3.), What advice do we have for me on this.
5.) Before I moved to Okinawa I had to get rid of my tools, so lucky me I get to buy more now, What tools do you suggest I get?

here a few pics of my rust.

I didn't realize that the rust was that bad, you may need to sand blast the parts and paint them or replace them, black is always nice, it kind of says "don't fu<k with me". Good luck, don't forget to read the articles at Sportster.org and join the board.

Best wishes,

Pixs
:cheers: :biker:

This is the second time I wrote an answer to this, I hope it doesn't get lost in cyber space, again!

Rob,

Did that thing get dredged up from the ocean bottom ?!! Man, I've never seen rust so bad on a scoot before,... er' at least on a newer bike like that!
I'm going to suggest new parts / good used parts replacements. If the pictures serve fairly accurate, you're gonna have some SERIOUS pitting, which on most of those parts, will never be removed without taking chances on safety by going thin on some of the parts. uke:

About the rust, I have seen it all too often when I lived in So. Jersey. Being close to the ocean, around 2 blocks can do a lot worse to a bike that is not cared for. Both of the restorations I did on neglected Sportsters were on the West coast, and not nearly as bad as the photos. I only suggested blasting and painting as an economy move and to give him experience with disassembly and assemblying different componants. Before I forget, don't blast the rotors for the breaks, replace then.
:cheers:
Biker Jim has a good point, make sure that it has not been submerged; if it has you are looking at a complete tare down and inspection.

Yo Pixs, where bouts in So. Jersey were you? I live in Hunterdon county.

rob,

how lucky your were to run across this forum,(as was i) looks like like you got a neat little project going on. i live on a tiny island as well, about 300 yards from the beach, and i gotta tell ya, no matter how often you clean the bike rust is gonna get on the chrome. i know, i clean my bike alot, just for that reason. but the salt air is the worst enemy bar none, i suggest powder coating, or just painting them black.
are you gonna show this bike??? or ride and enjoy it.
if your gonna ride it, do what the guy's say,as far as changing the fluids and so on. do all of those things for sure. and forget about the chrome!!!!
the #1 thing on your list............
should be to aquire a "harley davidson service manual", for that year and model.<<<<<<< no compromise's!!!!!!
how old is your son??? gotta bunch of dads on the forum.
TRG

My plan

I will be striping my bike down to the frame. Once I get it to that point I will have the frame painted and then I will replace parts as I put them back on. While the engine is out I think I will convert it to a 1200.

This bike will be mine while I am on the 60x6 mile island. I will drive it just about everyday. (that's what bikes are for) The traffic is bumper to bumper allot of the time so the smaller HD will be an advantage for now. Once I get back to the states I will be giving this bike to my wife and hopefully be riding a Fatboy.:devil:

My son is 16. He is really excited about this project.

I also have a local Magazine that might be doing an article on the restoration of the bike using the resources the military offers. There is an Auto Hobby Shop the caters to motorcycles here on Okinawa.

Who has an opinion on the method on painting? On Okinawa there doesn't seem to be anyplace to get it powder coated.

soft smile. my island is smaller 1 mile wide by 30 miles long.....
they are guys out here that can tell ya how to prep it , and paint it.
on certain parts that i have painted on my bike, i just stripped them down with sandpaper, clean it real good ,used spay can primer, and krylon high heat engine paint, also in a spray can. i find that the engine paint doesnt peel or flake after long peroids of time, and is unaffected by chemicals such as fuel,oil and so forth, some of these parts were painted a couple of years ago, and still shine bright when i wipe them down.
i know there are people on here that can tell your the propper way, thats just what i did.......

lucky son.......


TRG

Lived in Wildwood and N. Cape May. Had a bike shop in Cape May Court House, late 60's early 70's. :cheers:

!6 huhu, jumping out of his skin is he?

Plan sounds really good. Try Harbor freight for a powder coating machine. Cheep but it will get you through. I don't know the cost or the shipping. You're going to have an "old lady" with a big grin. Think about the thank you you will get, do a good job. Have fun.:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: