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1370 Project - My Big Build

21K views 89 replies 30 participants last post by  Albertus 
#1 ·
Hi, well after a few years of collecting various parts I finally pulled the trigger and started my major rebuild. Before this I had done some minor stuff – stage II cam’s, 58MM TB, SE Heads, CRF exhaust, lowered, b-riser & drag bars and a bunch of bling on my VRSCA 2003. The bike itself had about 600 miles when I bought it a few years back in a great condition (lot’s of fair weather riders here in Seattle that only ride for a season or two before mothballing their bikes).

Well, after buying the bike the forum bug hit me, and I spent many a late evening absorbing all the goodness this provides. After a while, I formulated the build that was for me – a 1370 BB using a Destroyer Crank – I know not a hugely popular build lately with the community siding more on rewelds, but this really spoke to me.

So off I went for a few years slowly collecting parts. Not only did I want to do the engine, but the entire bike as well – wheels, tins, rear end size, frame/engine colour – pretty much the “big one” for my bike. During that time I collected a great chunk of gear for the bike (minus the engine), here’s a sample

Front End
Metzer tire
Reactor Wheel
Polished Rotors + bolts
Brembo Brakes + Chrome Bling
SE Stainless Brake Lines

Rear End
Metzer 240
Reactor 240 + Puller/Compensator
Chrome Swing Arm
Polished Rotor + Chrome Rear Brake
Offset 26t + 28T pulleys

Frame/Body
Rizoma Mid Controls
Chin Spoiler
Complete Set of custom painted tins (I will talk about that later) + Custom Short Rear guard
Radiator Mesh guards
Chrome Voltage regulator

So, a lot of work just there itself. But that is only half of it right? Then onto the engine – this is where it was fun (expensive! But fun all the same). Here is some of the things I managed to collect over the years in pursuit of this build (I had already installed Stage II Cam’s, SE Heads + SERT)

Destroyer Crank
Custom CP pistons
Carrillo Rods
Destroyer Injectors
Drum/Actuator + Shift Fork Upgrades
Oil Pump Upgrade
Slipper Clutch
Upgraded Fuel Pump + 5 bar regulator
4.25 Sleeves
ARP Head Studs
ARP Case Studs + Fitzgerald crank brace
All critical bolts + gaskets
New front & rear headers with O2 bungs
Twin Scan II + WEGO IIID Sensors
Cometic 4.250 Head Gasket
Beehive Springs + Retainers from Mike Jones
+1 Valves also from Mike Jones

I also had a 1” extension to the oil pan, but I doubt I will be using it for this build as things will get awfully low.

Ok, there is more chrome bling and all that, but the above is all the cool bits! The plan was to take 3 days off work and pull the bike apart – completely strip the frame and engine ready to ship off to the various people. In my time, I also managed to acquire some random tools which made my life so much easier. Tappet Compressor (thanks to my good friends at Hales), Alternator removal bolt (thanks ebay), and a great tip for the Input Shaft retainer from O2Man98 using cable ties!

Here is what I am starting with



Pulled the engine out on day 1 (after the morning of running errands),



And stripped down the frame on Day 2. Ran the frame out to my local powder coater to be made beautiful gloss black



The third day I pulled the engine down, putting all the various pieces nicely stored on my shelf and those pesky bolts and small items clearly marked in my kiddies lunch bags.



After packing them up and a quick chat to Scott from Fitzgerald Motors, off they go for the 4.25 milling, Bearing Pinning and +1 Valve work

Tomorrow – I pick up the frame from the powder coater and get back to work..
 
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#5 ·
Looks good, I'll tell you a trick with the Rizoma Mid mounts that I had done. Since they are built for the 2007-up models the swingarm exterior dimensions seem thicker then our 180 swingarms and not by alot. You'll end up with a gap on the left side(tranny) Which just so happens to perfectly fit a fork seal between the mount and the frame. Good luck with the build seeing a lot of good stuff there.
 
#9 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 2

Well had a few hours after the kids went to bed and wife with her head in email, so decided to unwrap my shiny black frame and get the front end on.



Greased up the bearings and assembled the triple tree (will plan to return to do the fall away test when I have the new drag bars I bought back on - my previous ones were pretty straight, looked great but hell on the wrists! the new ones have a 2" pull back which should keep the drag lines, and allow blood to flow to my hands)



Put the forks on and rolled out my new front reactor. Started bolting up the rotors I had polished, and the AlloyBoltz Chome rotor bolts – first snag – the wave washers don’t fit the rotor bolts too well, but nothing a sharp drill bit didn’t fix. Rotors on – had a small moment paying homage to the king of chrome for making such a beautiful setup – polished rotors on the reactor look just awesome, and before I know it the new front wheel is on my bike



Finished up installing my new chrome Brembo brakes on + SE brake lines and called it a day! Friggen wow - with the black frame and the chrome reactors I just keep stealing back to the garage to peak at it.

 
#10 ·
Nice work so far. Can't wait to see what kind of power you get out of that motor - should be a beast!
 
#11 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 3

Today I tackled the fuel system. Pulled the fuel components with my nifty tool (thanks again to Ebay), cleaned the inside and outside of the fuel tank and bolted it back into the bike. Bought a Walbo Fuel Pump (#F10000137) from RSC a while back, with a 190 lph rating (not as much as the 255 lph Walbro’s, so a nice compromise for my new BB). Snag number 2 (2 in 2 days, I am on a roll). Well, a little more than a snag – the bendy fuel pump line on the pump would not budge, no matter what I did. After I took the clamp off, I could get it to move a few mm’s but that’s it. While I was pondering my next move, I was staring at the flange, and wouldn’t you know it, the fuel flange intake was hanging out more then it should. Snap – I recalled a service recall on this exact thing, and yep my flange range is 2 days in the recall zone. Now, I don’t have it in me to fight the new flange fight with the local dealership, so took the original method and plan tap it and put a barb adapter in. Parts on order + a new fuel pump line. Does give me time to scrub the fuel sender contacts :)
 
#16 ·
They were from ebay and look to be re-chromed ones.
Copy that. They look frikkin awesome, I got my chrome pre-Brembo ones like that too but the fronts just peeled like crap in about 3,000 miles. The rear nevertheless is intact, too bad I can't get a hold of the seller I got them from to get my new Brembos chromed so I powdercoated them to match the frame :D

The whole build is getting killer and those polished rotors just finish it up! Again where you got them polished? Nice job, I polished mine some time ago and will install Galfers soon :coff:
 
#17 ·
Chrome Brembo's

Copy that. They look frikkin awesome, I got my chrome pre-Brembo ones like that too but the fronts just peeled like crap in about 3,000 miles. The rear nevertheless is intact, too bad I can't get a hold of the seller I got them from to get my new Brembos chromed so I powdercoated them to match the frame :D

The whole build is getting killer and those polished rotors just finish it up! Again where you got them polished? Nice job, I polished mine some time ago and will install Galfers soon :coff:
Got them polished down in CA at http://www.chromeplating.com/ much cheaper then anything here in WA and I have sent them a bunch of stuff over the last few years starting with my B-riser. The polish job was fantastic and I love that they have a pretty substantial price list on their site for Harley's
 
#15 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 4

Today was pretty light but I did manage to weigh all my CP piston assemblies, and shipped the Destroyer Crank, PA weights + Carrillo info card off the Falicon for balancing. Plus I needed to get a new rear fender to create a custom cut fender to fit the 240 since the one I have does not fit. Ebay to the rescue and a steal at $60 – a few dings but in the section I plan to cut away, so perfect!

 
#19 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 5

The parts for the fuel flange arrived, so I tapped the intake hole an screwed in the barb and we are now all golden. Now I am just waiting on the hose clips and new fuel pump intake house and its back together.



My next task is getting the wiring back together. Slotted the wiring loom back into place (thanks to a number of pictures I took when I pulled it out), and installed a chrome voltage regulator which I picked up a while back. Had to do some minor repair to the alarm system which has seemed to develop a crack (I am guessing from vibration), but nothing superglue and some waterproof gaffer did not fix. I am planning to relocate the handlebar connections + indicator connections into the air box to clean up the wiring so spent the rest of the time I had determining the best way to do this. Think I will tackle that when the top end it back together so I can nail the measurements.

Looks like snow tomorrow so may be the best day to finally tackle the 240!

PS - Heard from Scott and my engine parts and heads are on their way back! so this build will start getting serious and I can finally put the heart of this beast together
 
#24 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 6

Tonight I was brave and it was time to tackle the 240 mod. I have been reading about this mod for 18+ months now and feel like I know it like the back of my hand, but my heart was beating just a little faster when I decided that tonight was the night to try it all out. Unpacked my spanking new angle grinder (great excuse to finally pull the trigger on this and stop bugging the guy next door), loaded up the cutting wheel - marked out the 7/8 measurements and went a cutting. Worked out quite well - and after some buffing with the dremel looked like it belonged. Spent some time on the other side of the swingarm cleaning up any casting flash and smoothing down any potential area of contact. Ok onto the 240 reactor, which I recently had the tire mounted.

Lets take a break here and talk about that. You know sometimes Harley dealerships really suck. Don't get me wrong I have dealt with some brilliant ones and still do on a regular basis, Newcastle HD, Hales and Latus down in Oregon are super brilliant. But here in Seattle, things are very very lean. My closest is Eastside Harley, and I don't know why I keep going back - they are simply useless. One thing their spare parts dept is decent to deal with - friggn pricey (I just paid $15 for a oil filter for my 48 where I could get this from Latus for like 6 bucks) but have helped me on a few parts I needed quickly. However the sales and service departments are just incredibly awful (I have has a few dealings with both). So a few weeks ago I rock in with my new reactor rims and wheels, on a friday afternoon and half their team is standing around looking for something to do. I ask them simply to mount the tires on the rims - that’s all - happy to pay what they think it's worth. Nope - sorry we cant do that. I am like, you have guys standing around - I am sure they can kick this on in like 15 mins and make a quick $50 bucks. Nope - can I sell you a tire? Really - Can I sell you a tire .. that was his answer to the problem. Anyways, half a mile down the road is a Kawasaki dealer - he had no problems mounting my tire onto the rim - even used specialized tools they had so the chrome was not in danger at all - he had no problem taking my money, and even sparked up a conversation on my project which ended up being a few beers with the service boys as we swapped stories - amazing..

Anyway, I have rolled out the new 240 reactor and Metzer, unpacked the chrome compensator and pulled out the new reactor pulley. The night before I put the pulley bearing in the freezer to shrink it just a touch, Armed with my trusted huge bolt, nut and a few washers (which is used to drive on a bearing and sleeve for the swingarm a few months back), the pulley bearing slid right in with a few turns of the spanner. A few more light whacks with a large socket and rubber mallet and it is sitting nicely in place. Time to measure all this up and see where I am.

I took the advice and slipped the brake onto the rotor before screwing it into the wheel, and duct taped the brake onto the rotor while I got the other pieces into order so I had no accidental slippage and chrome gouging. New compensator +bowl bolts onto the wheel, and on with the pully. Looking good.

Taped the hell out of the pulley with some thick painters tape to ensure no scratching and rolled the wheel in. You know, even then I knew something was wrong. It just did not feel right. Pulley was pulled askew, and it just don’t not seem to fit. Even trying to get the brake spacer in looked like a task. At this time, I measured the entire width of the setup vs the width of the swingarm space and wouldn't you know it - my wheel combo was a touch wider. Frig me .. I then started thinking what could it be - and looking at my old tire. You know, I think I screwed up here and maybe bought the later compensator bowl instead of the 06. Yep, quick look at the box and voila, and 09 part. So, just to humor myself I pulled the one off my 180 and connected it up - slid the tire in, a few stock spacers and presto, instant 240.


My test run with copious amounts of blue protection


View with the polished rear brake rotor


mmm .. that is very nice. Size does matter!


looking good, even with the old compensator

Well tomorrow I will order the 06 bowl but tonight I am super happy with the ease of the 240 setup and it looks great, even in the bare frame.
 
#26 ·
1370 Project - My Big Build - Part 6

While I await the new compensator, the parts to complete the fuel flange & pump have been sitting on my bench, so had a hour up my sleeve to tackle this. Slipped the fuel line over my new barb and secured it nicely, also installed the new bendy hose and screwed it all back together



Sited the position of the fuel filter in the tank to ensure it had no blockages and within a few minutes I had the tank back together, all nice and tight and connected up.



While I was on a fuel roll, I also replaced the stock regulator with a new 5 bar regulator, as well as swapping the stock fuel injector for the Destroyer ones. With the new fuel pump, 5 bar regulator and destroyer injectors I doubt I will have any fuel delivery issues!

 
#27 ·
and thanks everyone for your comments and encouragement. I am stoked I can post this to this amazing forum which has helped me so much through the year and to prepare for this one. I guess we will see some day soon when I turn that key and hit the button hey!
 
#30 ·
5 gallon gas tank?
 
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