Cameron Pass
I wanted to send you a picture of the second annual Four Seasons Run held on April 28, 2007. It was our second year. We doubled the amount of bikes, from 22 the first year to 43 this year. Mother Nature was sure on our side this time! Last year, it rained and snowed 80 percent of the ride. This year, it was over 70 degrees, 65 on top of Cameron Pass, Colorado. This ride is 255 miles of twisties and fabulous mountain and canyon scenery. It extends from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Laramie, Wyoming, to Walden, Colorado, up over Cameron Pass (over 10,000 elevation), down through Poudre Canyon, out at Wellington, Colorado, and back to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Roger Holderman
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Starter Switch Recall
This is in response to a letter from Dale Hunt to Hog Helpline regarding the ignition switch on his ’95 Ultra. There was a recall on those switches sometime around (I believe) 1997. The switch on my ’94 went south when it was still under warranty. Then we bought a new ’98 Ultra and shortly thereafter received a recall notice covering the years 1994-98. The exact dates are a tad fuzzy, but I’m sure that Dale’s Ultra would be covered under the recall.
Chuck Westlake
Bozeman, Montana
Cranking Colorado
I agree with Sam Whitehead (Cranking Colorado) that the Black Canyon of the Gunnison is one of the most thrilling sights one could ever hope to see. However, for an even greater thrill, I highly recommend experiencing the hairpin turns and 16-percent grade of the East Portal Road leading down to the Gunnison River.
Ron Clayton
Apopka, Florida
Pro PowerPlus
Chris, I just read your article on the PowerPlus motor in the June issue and I was happy to see P&M Powertrain and Blackhawk Motorworks get the recognition they deserve. I'm a member of the Iron Indian Riders Association (IIRA), and these two gentlemen are very well respected (and recommended) by IIRA. But, I'd also like to point out that there is another person who is equally respected by the Indian community, and that is Joe Malfa of Jam Consulting (
Untitled Document). He services the West Coast riders, since he is located in Nevada. I'm not sure if that would be of interest to you, but on behalf of the IIRA, I just wanted to share with you that there is one other highly regarded mechanic who can turn that "dog passing a peach pit" motor into the power plant it was meant to be. No other persons outside of P&M, Blackhawk, and Jam have gained the respect from the Indian riding community.
Michael Moore
Via Internet
Enough With The Pipes
As soon as I read Buzz Kanter’s Quiet Down Out There article in the June issue, I grabbed my computer to compose a response. I could sling insults like, “Yuppie, you quiet down,” and “dumb” is a big word used by a distant little man. I will not resort to such tactics, though. What I will say is that your lack of understanding does not give you the right or authority to pass judgment on someone by calling him dumb. I take personal offense to the comment and would suggest that you should not have anything to do with American Iron Magazine. I’d say 90-percent of the bikes shown in American Iron Magazine have short/straight pipes that I bet are the dumb loud type that you described in your article. I just can’t believe that you would insult the very thing AIM promotes on almost every page. Please take a look around and get an experienced motorcycle enthusiast to write your articles, not some guy who owns a few bikes and has some cash.
WMJ
Via Internet
Geez, at 52 years old aren't I too old to be called a Yuppie (Young Urban Professional)? Sorry you take personal offense at my opinion and feel I am lacking understanding because I wrote, "straight pipes are just dumb" in my column. As for getting "an experienced motorcycle enthusiast" to write my articles, who do you recommend? I've been writing in and editing this magazine since 1991 and been riding motorcycles since 1974. - Buzz Kanter, Editor-in-Chief Lifter Lore
Thanks for putting out a great Harley magazine every month. I particularly find the technical articles quite interesting. As well, they provide a great reference for information when I'm in the midst of a new project. Currently, I'm installing a new cam in my 2002 FLSTC and needed to remove the lifters to do some clearancing work. I noted in the factory manual that it states the "oil hole in the lifter should point inward." Odd, I thought, since I believe that the holes were outboard when I took them out. So off I went in search of American Iron Magazine articles to help me out. I actually didn't find much. No one mentioned this on any of the assembly instructions I found. In your June 2006 article on Speed's 95" kit, it looks like the oil hole is outboard. So, all in all, I thought it might be a subject for an article. I'd like to understand why the lifters need to go back in their original bores, as well as learn about oil hole orientation, why and when you should upgrade lifters, how they work, pre-lube for assembly, etc.
Via Internet
Though we do have a lifter installation in this issue, and do answer a couple of your questions, we will give the idea of an in-depth study of the valvetrain some thought. Likes It Slow & Easy
Genevieve, thank you for your February column in American Iron Magazine. I am not fond of speed, either. I live in the San Diego area, where just about everyone rides fast. I do speed just to keep up with my "friends," but I do not enjoy it. So I’m riding solo more and more. I’m like the two male riders in your article. I am a 51-year-old male who rides a 2005 FXD. I have been riding since 1981.
Darwin Weidenbach
Via Internet
Speedo RebuildTell your reader to try
Redline Gauge Works.
J. Shain Breland
Via Internet
Magna Charger
American Iron Magazine, your Harley magazine is one of my highlights. My wife usually gets the mail and she lays my American Iron Magazine on the arm of my chair. I read it front to back, lay it down for a day or so, and then read it back to front to make sure I didn't miss anything. In the July issue, Tom Johnson was right on with advice to John M., saying that his cam is too big for a blower.
There are a lot of ways to make horsepower and torque, but some don't mix. In 2001, I got the hots for a blower for my 1994 FXSTC (bone stock). I decided on a Magna Charger, and I called Jim Amiot of Chopperworks, Mount Repose, Ohio. He did the bolt-on and fired it up, and it ran like crap. After several weeks of frustration and many jet changes, a call to Magna Charger was in order. Jim called and told me to bring over the bike and my old CV carb. (We were trying to run an S&S Super E.) After 15 minutes to install the kit in the carb, Jim handed me the old CV and I slapped it on, and lo and behold, the Beast had awakened. Jim fried my tire all the way across his lot, while I stood watching dollar signs fly off the tire.
The bike is very ridable, while also being a hang-on-tight hot rod when I wick the throttle. The blower has a distinct whine, and the exhaust sounds completely different. It draws a lot of attention as soon as I pull into any bike night parking lot. I talked to a Magna Charger rep while in Sturgis, and he told me that the company's blower was designed to be run with a stock cam and CV carb. Stay with the basics and keep it simple. The only problem I have had over the years is that the timing cup has to be turned down on a lathe because it is too tall and rubs the cover. Thanks for the continuing effort of your great mag.
Dion Kiger
Evendale, Ohio
Cost To Build
I think it has been long enough for the missing category on the Tech Sheet page of your custom bikes. I've waited years and now it is time to put back the Cost To Build line. This gives us dreamers an idea of what to expect. I do not see that it would be considered intimidating. Thank you for the consideration. Great magazine!
Jim Panke
Apache Junction, Arizona
Jim, we’ll give it another round of consideration. I fit happens, look for it to start with the January 2008 issue. Sportster Spits
I picked up the June issue of American Iron today and had a deja vu moment when I read about the problems people were having with their Sportsters. My wife and I both have Sportsters. My wife's bike is a really sweet-running 1992 883. Mine is (now) a slightly sweeter-running 1996 883. My wife got hers first; then I got mine.
After the 500-mile service on mine, I started fiddling with it because I wanted it to run as good as my wife's. She could snap the throttle open at 60 and pull out and pass a couple of semis. I had to downshift and let it wind-up like hell to try to keep up with her. Yeah, she's 40 pounds lighter than I am, but I tried her bike and it just plain ran better than mine did. Then I fiddled myself into trouble. My Sportster started fouling the rear plug. I replaced plugs. It did it again. Hmmm. "Must be the carb," I thought. So I pulled it off and cleaned it and checked the float level. But wait a minute -- since when does a single-throat carburetor pick only one cylinder to foul?
I couldn't find anything wrong with the carb, but since I had it off, I put a CC Rider performance kit in it. Sure made the bike snappy, like instant-throttle response and almost no carb farts. It ran better, but the rear cylinder was still running rich. The pipe was dark. The front pipe was a perfect soft grey. The oil tended to get dark on my bike, whereas the oil in my wife's Sportster looked new at the end of our short riding season up here in Anchorage. I decided that I'd live with it one more season, and then in the middle of winter, I'd pull the rear cylinder because I was beginning to suspect a broken oil control ring on the rear cylinder.
Then one sunny day while I was alone, I rode out for breakfast. When I got home, I decided to change the oil while it was warm. With the oil changed, I decided to stick in yet another pair of fresh plugs. (I had a whole box of plugs by then.) It was such a beautiful day that I decided to ride down south about 120 miles on open highway for a hamburger. I couldn't have asked for a nicer day. There was minimal traffic through the mountains, so I ran 65-75 mph on the way down. I had a nice lunch, filled the tank, and headed back. The trip back was even faster, usually doing over 80, with several long stretches of over 90. I got back home, shed my leathers, changed clothes, and decided to see how dark the rear plug was. It was white and clean! Well, how about the oil? Clear and clean! So I looked at the rear muffler. Soft grey. What the hey, Batman? Did it heal itself? No, it didn't. A week or so later, the rear pipe was dark again, and the oil was getting dark, too. Crap.
One night, probably out of boredom, I decided to wash and dry the air filter. It smelled of gas. I washed and rinsed it, blew it out, and put it on a heater vent to dry. Just for chuckles and grins, I decided to fire it up with the air filter off and see how the carb slide was acting. I let it idle a bit to warm up and then started goosing it and watching the slide. The slide was acting fine, but I also noticed a fine mist of fuel vapor forming outside the mouth of the carb as the engine ran through midrange engine speed. Holy crap. Beat me with a greasy chain! Slap me upside the head with a sooty muffler and get my attention!
Back in my sports car-racing days, we used to call the little fuel cloud outside the carburetor "fuel standoff," and we admonished the driver not to piddle around at midrange engine speed or it would foul the plugs. We eventually learned what caused it when one day we did a simple pull-the-head ,clean-out-the-carbon, and lap-the-valves job, and put it back together exactly the way it was before. That is, except for some shiny new chrome headers to replace the rusty and dented old ones. We took it out, it ran like crap from about 4,500 to 5,500, and then it really went like stink.
We started tearing into the carbs and the distributor but couldn't find anything amiss. Then someone asked about the new headers ... And we all agreed that couldn't be it, but, luckily, the old rusty set was out back. We'd tried everything else, so we put the old set back on. It was like someone had thrown a switch. That thing ran like it used to, which was very well. We noticed that the new headers and primaries were just a little shorter and a bit larger in diameter, with a slightly larger collector. We stuck the new headers back on, and we got carb farts and fuel standoff again. The new headers were doing it. We didn't use them again. They had a bit more absolute top end, but it wasn't worth it.
So back to the Sportster. I rev it and there's this little cloud outside the mouth of the carb for a certain rpm range and then it disappears at upper rpm. Just like the English Ford did. But my exhaust and the exhaust on my wife's bike were identical, weren't they? I got to looking. I'd drilled holes in the baffles of both bikes. There were eight 1/4" holes in the baffles of my wife's bike and 10 in mine. Hello. My wife didn't want hers as loud as mine. She liked it as it was and asked me not to change it, so I didn't.
Well, fuel standoff is the symptom. Fouled plugs, cylinder wash-down, and diluted oil are the results. The cause is exhaust reversion. An open tube is a resonant cavity. Like an organ pipe. I put in some torque cones and plugged one little hole in the rear muffler and my problem went away. It wasn't the carb and it wasn't a lack of backpressure, either. It was the specific length and size of the rear pipe/muffler combination that caused a reflected pressure wave to move at the speed of sound and actually puff some carbureted air/fuel mixture back out of the carb. This mixture was then sucked back in and carbureted a second time, resulting in a double fuel mixture being fed to the rear cylinder at certain rpm. The plugs now run clean, oil runs clean, and the air filter doesn't get fuel soaked. It also runs very nice. Yes, I can out-drag my wife's bike now, even with a weight disadvantage.
A little farther along in Sportster Corner, someone complained about clutch drag. Been there, too. When I had my bike serviced, someone put too much lube in the tranny. I thought he'd adjusted the clutch wrong. He swore he didn't change it because it was good. I double-checked it myself. The adjustment was good. But Sportsters have a wet clutch. Put in too much lube and the clutch drags. I lowered the oil level to where it should be and my clutch drag went away. Neutral is now easy to "find," too. It wasn't the clutch, the cable, the handle, or the adjustment. Too much tranny oil can do it.
Frank Branzuela
Anchorage, Alaska
September 2008 
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