Dual Sportster build

[fabiodriven]

Lol you're a riot Glam.... Err, Mr Bunghole!

Today I mounted my most current sprocket and spacer from Sprocket Specialists. I grabbed my chain to install, but I completely spaced and never ordered a 520 front sprocket to replace the 530. I totally dropped the ball on that. I'll be calling Sprocket Specialists tomorrow to get that sorted.

I was planning on checking my chain alignment once I got the chain on, but even though I wasn't able to mount the chain I could still tell my sprockets are not aligned. Rather than ship it all back to Utah again, I'd really like to find someone local with a lathe that can help me out. There's a chopper place not far away and I've been in there before to buy a used axle spacer. I'm going to visit him and see if he has a lathe. If he doesn't, I'm sure he'll know who does.

I messed around with some miscellaneous hardware and mounted the right foot peg. This particular bike has female foot pegs, and that's the actual term. Basically Hardly Ableson made the footpeg mounts backwards for whatever reason, and it's stupid. Because they're so uncommon, there are about two styles of footpeg to choose from in female mounting configuration. I figured I'd use the pegs the bike came with even though they're ghastly, but I was just figuring maybe I could get away without that added expense for now. Then I stripped it out by accident. Oopsie. It's a really strange footpeg, way over engineered. The Japanese save their over engineering for where it matters and don't sweat the small stuff. A footpeg is a pretty simple piece of engineering, or should be at least.

Anyhow I ended up ordering a set of peg adapters and some pegs, so the wait is on for those lol. I got held up tonight by a single 1/4" bolt. Working at night I can't go to the store. I have to go to the store during the day and get what I think I need for that night. It ends up costing me huge amounts of time building in a situation where I'm not at my own place. Any parts or hardware I need I have to source. As I said, it's getting tedious. It's so close but it's getting so frustrating now. I question my motives when I get to this point, so it's not like I want to do this. I have to. This is what it takes to get something very special and something done right, because "done right" doesn't exist if I don't do it. Paying someone else to do this sounds pretty good right now, but it's just wrong. It's against my principles. Built not bought.

Thanks for reading guys.

[86T3]

[fabiodriven]

Hahaha I'll take some pictures of what all is going on tomorrow.

[fabiodriven]

No pictures yet. It's been slow going. My entire rear sprocket and spacer are scrap. Back and forth it went and I still needed to get it machined again locally. I went to put the chain on to look at the alignment when it dawned on me that I'd completely forgotten to get a 520 front sprocket (bike comes with 530) to go along with the 520 I made fit the rear. Well after all that time, money, and effort on the rear sprocket, I found out there is no 520 front sprocket for this bike. What I'm stuck with is the factory 21 tooth 530 and that's it.

I got frustrated and needed guidance so I went down to the local chopper shop, which I did go in once before and he had helped me tremendously with an axle spacer. Well he ordered me a 520 front sprocket, but that turned out to be wrong once it arrived. The catalog was wrong so it wasn't our faults. That's when we realized it has to be 530. So the guy dug out a few rear sprockets and they were all dished! Perfect! They were all 51 tooth which is better than my 48, but I bet the gearing is still going to be too tall. I increased the size of the rear wheel too so...

So with the dished sprocket I'm closer than I've been yet. I'm about 1/16th or 1/8th off. It would technically work as it is, but it wouldn't be good for the chain. I'm going back to the chopper place tomorrow to see what all he's got for spacers.

Wiring is not going well. My buddy was able to help me at the car shop where I'm building it today, which was great because before he came over I was ready to wire the spark plugs in the gas tank. I get angry working on stuff sometimes, it just happens. On the plus side the wiring really started to improve once my buddy came over with the power probe but it's still doing weird stuff. The handlebars need to be grounded we're pretty sure, but they're rubber insulated. There is a ground wire going to the bar mounts but I think my new black handlebars are not allowing for a clean ground. Hopefully we'll mess with it again tomorrow. A lot of people are getting antsy in the pantsy to see this bike go and it is close, and that's a big part of my drive to finish. My buddy is more anxious than me, hahaha. I'm certainly looking forward to riding it but the speedbumps are getting to me. Very few things easy are worth doing though.

[fabiodriven]

Should just be a matter of a couple days now until the bike is done. The three remaining things were wiring, waiting on a 530 half link for the chain, and foot peg adapters.

This will be the fourth bike in my stable which requires a half link, so I wasn't at all surprised. Because of the combination of longer shocks and lift blocks I am no longer able to use the rear axle chain adjustment. The axle has to be slid as far as it can go forward in the swing arm and it has to stay there. Someday I'll lengthen the swing arm and fix this issue, but I don't have access to a welding machine right now. Instead I built a chain tensioner myself. I used the chain slide from a junk CRF250 that's laying around the shop.



The wiring has been a bit tricky but we're getting there with it, slowly. I wasn't making any headway by myself and it started going really well with my buddy helping, I may have already said that. I thought I was pretty good with wiring but again, it's tricky for me to keep a cool head anymore when I'm working on stuff and it's not going well. There's really nothing much that translates over from working on Japanese motorcycles.

At this moment it seems like it should be riding in the next few days. There have been many surprises leading to many delays however, and we're not out of the woods yet. The way this bike has been fighting lately I considered naming it "Tooth and Nail". I had two other ideas for names though and already have decals for both of them. Tooth and Nail sounds kind of cool though I guess.

Thanks for reading.

[schlepp29]

It would be cool if you're able to bring it to kisers and we can do some riding. I'm pretty anxious to see it! I think it's a cool build. ��

[fabiodriven]

It would be cool if you're able to bring it to kisers and we can do some riding. I'm pretty anxious to see it! I think it's a cool build. ��

That's what I'm aiming for Brent. I'm really hoping to have this in Ohio next month with me.

[kiser]

I hope you can bring it also! I'm very excited to see it in gravel!

[fabiodriven]

Welp remember when I said we weren't out of the woods yet? Phuckin POS continues to fight and yes, it has gotten to me. I'm angry when working on stuff like this which is part of the reason I work on it when nobody is around. Honestly I'd like to smash this thing with my maul and put it out by the curb at this point.

So the good- Today we learned that the turn signal system on this bike is designed from the factory with momentary switches for each signal after it baffled us for the last few days. I guess I should expect Harley to build something so asenine at this point. There is a button on the left bar and a button on the right. Each respective side activates the corresponding turn signals, but because the switches are momentary, you must hold the button for the turn signals to work. That's how they came from the factory, and that's how they're supposed to work. Strange but whatever the phuck I guess.

Once we figured that out, we moved on to the problem of all four turn signals blinking when you depress either turn signal switch. The following article will explain this phenomenon, because God knows that a phuckin Hardly Ableson has to be built completely different than any other motorcycle on the planet, and not in a good way. Just about any other motorcycle would respond to a load equalizer, but no, not this bike.

https://www.customled.com/blogs/cust...d-turn-signals

I tried adding load equalizers into the equation and that did absolutely nothing, so I ordered those stupid diodes mentioned in that article. Time to wait again...

Aside from that everything else went pretty crappy tonight. I cobbled together the wiring and was able to mount the oil tank finally, which is a lot of progress at this point. I was super excited to mount my exhaust, so I broke out my little doohickies that ATC King suggested I buy.



Well they looked great in my hand. Too bad the phucking goddam gaskets are too phucking large in diameter to fit the exhaust port.



At this point I'm fuming, and I said you know what? Seriously, phuck it. Just phuck it all. Phuck this bike, phuck these gaskets, phuck the exhaust, and phuck you too. Not caring anymore, I figured I'd do the best I could to straighten the donut and just cram the cacksucker together. I figured I'd at least get the exhaust system on the bike for the first time ever, and at least I'd have something to hang my hat on today. Just one small victory.

NOPE! No wins for me today! I went to mount the exhaust and there are no goddam mother phuckin flanges on it. How in the actual phuck am I supposed to mount the exhaust with no goddam mother phuckin flanges? Were they supposed to be put on before they completed the exhaust and they forgot to do it? Am I supposed to use two piece flanges? Was this exhaust supposed to come with two piece flanges? I have no phucking idea. A search of eBay and Google netted me exactly zero results for two piece flanges for a Hardly Ableson. So that tells me what's next; They're either going to be something that doesn't exist, or they're going to come in multiple sizes and the size I need won't exist or will take forever to get. I don't know. I just do not phucking get it. Note in the following picture there are exactly zero flanges on these pipes. It took everything I had to not stomp these pipes into oblivion while they were laying on the floor like that.



So here's your update and there's your pictures. Phucking choke on em.

Edit- don't really choke on em. I'm capturing the emotion. Thank you.

[fabiodriven]

I have to say, the exhaust by Gallup Cycles looks awesome. I still can't mount it unfortunately.

Anyhow Gallup just responded to me (which they always do in a timely fashion) and informed me that I need their flange kit. Honestly their customer support has been better than any other place I've dealt with for anything, great communication, but I feel like they could have mentioned this to me seeing where I was purchasing their exhaust but not a flange kit. He said it's in the listing too so I'm the one to blame actually. I have been making more than my fair share of mistakes lately but I'm working on that.

Now yet again we find ourselves at the mercy of the mailbox, which is par for the course here. It wouldn't surprise me if this wasn't the last time this happens either. I am grateful to be able to do this all in all, but it is tough. I guess the feelings are a quintessential part of a person building their own motorcycle. This bike might be a bit angry.

[fabiodriven]

Donut gasket solution- put the cack sucker in the freezer. Wish I'd have thought of that before I left the shop.

[tripledog]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Davi...cAAOSw42dZCNA8

[fabiodriven]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Harley-Davi...cAAOSw42dZCNA8

I appreciate that TripD but the only way you can use those is if you put them on before you weld the pipe together. I need two piece flanges like you'd find on a properly engineered Japanese motorcycle.

[tripledog]

The key is the retaining rings that are better illustrated in this link. https://www.ebay.com/itm/CHROME-EXHA....c100290.m3507 Put the flange on the pipe, and then spread (twist) the snap ring to get it on the pipe. Slide the flange against the snap ring and onto the studs and install the nuts. Being that your exhaust is custom made, the flanges to mount it may in fact be proprietary, facilitating the need to buy the flanges from Gallup.

[fabiodriven]

I see how those could work, but I'm thinking the same thing as you are about waiting for the correct set from the manufacturer. I'm willing to bet they're proprietary as you're guessing. I appreciate you sharing the knowledge either way so I can learn about these two wheeled tractors, ha! That certainly seems like an odd way to make a flange to me, but if it works it works!