Nov 2008 Letters

[Buzz Kanter]

Chris, at the urging of some friends who think some of my story should be shared, I am, with a bit of modest reluctance, going to finally comply with their requests.

On a drizzly August morning in 2005, while driving my pickup to the custom wood-floor business I owned, a drunk driver with a blood alcohol content of .275 drove directly down my lane at over 70 mph and plowed into me head on. For a long time, I considered him to be the lucky one, as he died instantly from the impact, and I unfortunately survived to face a physical and financial nightmare. After over a year of various surgical and rehabilitative procedures, and the loss of nearly everything material I had spent two and half decades working for, I decided it was time for a ride.

What began as a simple 3,000-mile trip to Los Angeles for a visit with my sister turned into an 18,000-mile, 26-week journey across North America with my best friend and companion Rusty, a Lab mix I adopted from a shelter shortly after my release from the hospital. Like modern-day vagabonds, we drifted through 28 states and two Canadian provinces. We watched the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean and set over the Pacific Ocean, skipped stones across all five Great Lakes, found abundant life in a seemingly lifeless desert, and mostly lived out of a tent. We witnessed the poverty, despair, and hopelessness (and friendly curiosity) of the inner city, and, through a squinted eye, witnessed the cold indifference and self importance of the super rich. As Billy Lane once said of Indian Larry, we “spent a lot of time in the deep end of the thought pool and asked ‘why?’ a lot.”

We ended up, fittingly, resettling in the heartland of Kansas. I am now, at 46, starting my second semester at The Harley-Davidson Technical Training Center, and am also a Pittsburg State University student majoring in Vocational Technical Teaching. I’m hoping the combined sum of Education plus Harley-Davidson equals Cool. There are no mistakes in life.
Rich Watkins and “Sidecar” Rusty
Via Internet


Twin Cam Retro Fit
I ride a 2000 Electra Glide with 42,000 miles on it. I’ve been lucky to have no cam chain problems. I know it should have been checked prior to now, but I failed to do so. Reading August issue’s Hog Helpline I noticed a question regarding this issue. The article refers to an article by Donnie Peterson on roller chain conversions using ‘07 Dyna parts and Andrews cam kit. I’ve searched my back issues and cannot locate this article. Can you identify where I can obtain this and the process to self-install?
Ronald Tworek
Via Internet

Donny discusses this conversion in the October 2007 issue’s Techline feature.


Lingerie Liability
I recently became a subscriber after years of picking up the magazine at the local book store. While I consider myself a fair, open-minded individual, I don’t always enjoy the articles from Genevieve Schmitt, but as I began to read the August article, I thought that there must have been a mix-up. It read like a story that should be reserved for Cosmo or Good Housekeeping. I understand that her articles are targeted just to appeal to the female market that reads the magazine, or an attempt at some slapstick humor for the men that read this great magazine, but in my opinion it was a waste of an entire page. Does she really expect us to believe that several pieces of women’s lingerie would somehow attach themselves to a few cars after flying out of a saddlebag? That type of thing only happens in the movies. I would imagine that Genevieve’s friends would be of a stature that the size of their lingerie would cover the entire car, and not just hang off the windshield wiper.

The story about the coonskin cap makes me wonder what part of that story makes her mentor/friend a bigger idiot. The fact that she actually bought a coonskin cap, or the fact that as an “experienced” rider, she did not know that it would blow off her head at 60 mph. I won’t even refer to the bikini top incident, as I don’t imagine Betsy having the perfect set that would make up for the rest of the images the story was intending to create.

Of course, all of this is just my opinion, but I often read the comments and suggestions from your readers and felt that I should at least offer my own.
Mike Cicutto
Via Internet

One the reasons I ride a motorcycle is because of the amazing adventures and stories that come from spending a day in the saddle with friends. Motorcycling is all about fun. It's too bad you can't appreciate the humor in my true road tales.


Ethanol Error?
I read your magazine every month and enjoy it a lot. I’ve noticed over the years that you’ve been very helpful in answering a lot of questions for people, and in doing so have helped me with some of my questions. I’m hoping you will do the same for others by answering my question today.

I was looking through my H-D Heritage Softail Classic owner’s manual the other day. I noticed under fuel that I can use a mixed fuel, but instead of E-85 (85-percent ethanol to 15-percent gas), which is becoming popular, it has to be 90-percent gas and 10-percent ethanol. Which, from what I’m seeing, is impossible to find. I know from what I’ve found on ethanol information that it is as high as 105 octane, which is better than any gas that is recommended for H-Ds.

Why would it not be okay to use E85 if the bike will run on it? My ’04 Dyna Super Glide did and I had no problems. I had ridden to a spot where that’s all I could get. I wasn’t out of gas, but I had to fill up with the E-85, and it did well (though the gas mileage went down for obvious reasons). When I called the dealer and asked him, he was unaware of the bike even being able to run on the mix.
EZ
Via Internet

Our contact at H-D said to not use E85 in your bike. The ECM will not adapt to the different fuel mix and the bike will run poorly. That makes sense to us since ethanol burns at a different optimum air-to-fuel ratio then gasoline. We also had a problem with a high ethanol mix a couple of years ago when traveling through the Midwest. We’re surprised your bike ran as well as you say. We also think the seals in the fuel system are not going to like the mostly ethanol mix either. If you or any other readers use E85 let us know how you make out, Okay? But, as it stands now, we agree with H-D and recommend you do not use it. Harley-Davidsons are not designed to handle that fuel mixture.


Clamps & Lathes
In your article “Caliber True Duals,” (June 2008) you twice refer to hose clamps as C-clamps on page 167. Big difference. I’m a machine shop owner. Also, turn on a lathe at 1000 rpm, then 2000 rpm, and then tell me why you would want to run your bikes at high rpm!
Andy
Via Internet

Andy, we’re not sure if you like running at high rpm or not. Chris’ take is that you don’t, so we’ll go with that. As we see it, it depends on what you want the bike to do: go fast (as in winning the race, blasting through the twisties, and honkin’ down the open road) or cruise easy. And though your lathe may not like going twice the speed, a properly assembled engine does. As for the clamps, you’re right, of course. Our bad!


Squelching The Squeal
It's bad enough when the independent experts like American Iron drop the ball. But it's unforgivable when the Motor Company itself doesn't have a clue on the particulars of its own product. Mark, Via Internet, wrote you with a frustrating problem concerning squealing from the front brakes on his new '07 Ultra. The poor guy replaced just about everything on the bike's front end, except the offending part! About a couple of thousand miles after the purchase of my new VRSCD Night Rod a little over a year old (I'm pushing 21,000 miles now), it developed the most horrendous, fingernails-on-the-blackboard squeal imaginable on the front brakes during hard braking.

After three or four trips to the local H-D dealer, telling three Master Technicians about the problem, which resulted in each one of them telling me, "We live in a dry dusty region (true); the only thing you can do is have us clean up the brake pads as often as you can." So I then asked the absolute best tech H-D has working for it, Hiro Kioshi. Sure enough, the problem quickly became history! It seems that H-D changed the composition of the brake pads from 2006 to 2007. The solution was to simply use '06 pads on my '07 Night Rod. (And my friends wonder why I tip the guy so well!)

Please contact Mark, Via Internet, and save the poor guy a ton of aggravation and expense, and relate the foregoing to him! And keep up the good work with the mag, but let's get a better grip on what works and what doesn't.
Steve Catalano
Las Vegas, Nevada


Going Through Changes
Both the owner’s and shop manual for my 2007 FLHR recommend changing the transmission fluid after the first 1,000 miles, then every 20,000 thereafter. My local Harley dealer (I live in Central Florida) recommends changing it every 5,000 miles thereafter for "cheap insurance." A quick survey of various dealers around the country (including some in regions hotter than Central Florida) found that some follow Harley's 20,000 recommendation and some recommend 5,000. Am I naive in assuming that the Motor Company did sufficient research to feel confident enough to prescribe 20,000? I know 5,000 was the norm for earlier Harleys, but is it really necessary now that we have synthetic fluid? Changing the fluid four times more than recommended, plus the cost of shop time, is no longer "cheap" insurance.
Ron Clayton
Apopka, Florida

I don't know if this helps you Ron, but I personally do it after 10,000-12,000 miles of normal riding. For me, 5,000 is too soon and 20,000 is too late. – Chris


Plugging Along
You may wish to address a basic spark plug characteristic in a forthcoming issue. Having decided to try platinum spark plugs, a Harley dealer sold me a set of Screamin’ Eagle plugs suitable for my ’04 Road King. However, a standard 5/8" spark plug socket did not fit them. An 11/16" deep socket fits, but a regular spark plug socket is preferred. Upon inquiry, the dealer’s parts person was unfamiliar with this odd size and stated that Harley doesn’t provide a spark plug socket for it, advising that I go directly to Snap-on!

In the 1950s, I became closely associated with spark plug problems as the Air Force Project Engineer for Aviation Gasoline. The larger aircraft required 115/145-grade fuel, having up to 4.6 ml/gal of TEL. Lower grade fuels used up to 3 ml. Strategic bombers had a loss in availability due to spark plug fowling despite the use of platinum plugs. The problem was solved by a fuel additive that reduced the unscheduled spark plug removal rate by 80 percent in the worst case, that of the B-36 aircraft. Accordingly, a special grade of fuel was procured for the Strategic Air Command.

A related flight safety problem was similarly alleviated in certain twin-engine airliners. An instrumented engine cylinder experienced over 150 spark plug misfires during a takeoff run. These engines had dual plugs, of course, but it was treated as a potential safety hazard. At the same time, the Shell Oil Company introduced similar fuels to the motoring public.

I enjoy Harley-related articles in AIM and find Donny Petersen’s particularly helpful to me as a new Harley and converted BMW owner. Love that torque and Harley service availability. I am 85 years old and have ridden motorcycles almost 200,000 miles since 1970. Last year I rode to the BMW rally at West Bend, Wisconsin, and the Rally On The River in Ironton, Ohio.
Frank Zeek
Big Stone City, South Dakota