Everything HD-FXR

My motorcycle maintenence diary

As noted on my homepage  I recently acquired a 1982 FXRS with some 41,000 miles on it.  My rational analysis of the impact on my life of this purchase revealed that I would be spending more of my time in the garage until I had discovered any deep dark secrets my baby had in store for me.  She ran strong right off the trailer.  There were a few obvious things that had to be addressed right away

1. The motor shook quite a bit in the frame.
2. The front brake caliper on the left side was leaking fluids onto the rotor.
3. The front brake master cyclinder was leaking at the brake line connector.
4. The exhaust mounting system was inadequate to the task.

I ordered an aftermarket motor mount made of polyurethane polymer instead of rubber.  A much beefier unit than the OEM part (which was not only hard and worn out but was very loose in its connection to the frame.  Seemed that I was starting in the right place in my repair process.  Installed and correctly torqued the new motormount.  Big improvement in  item #1 above.  Maybe this is what was causing the exhaust pipe clamps to break as well?  Excessive shaking will do it.

Ordered dual disk front caliper seal kit to rebuild the front calipers, replacement brake pads and front brake master cyclinder rebuild kit..  I am a true believer in front brakes!  When I got the bike the front brake was so weak I couldn’t hod the bike on the trailer while trying to load it on the tilt bed!  Installed the seal kit.  Cleanup up the nasty rotors.  Then I pulled the master cyclinder apart and rebuilt it with all new seals and components.  After bleeding the air from the system I had some stopping power in my right hand.  Big improvement.  NOTE: if you order seals for a dual caliper system it will actually contain seals for both calipers – same is true for the pads themselves.  No need to order one for each caliper.  I now have a spare set for the future!

Next, replace the broken clamps on the front and rear exhaust pipe with a vintage pair of brackets left over from my 78 1/2 shovelhead.  Kind of ugly but they are strong.  Shaking pipe under better control now.

Change all fluids and filters so we know where everything stands in terms of lubrication.  Let’s ride and see what I’ve got.

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