Dont you wish you never started.

[StormingHonda]

Thought I would service the Harley today, just an oil and filter change with brake fluids, anyway I thought I would change the carburetor over, the old ones been pissing out oil and petrol.

discovered the new one is different but no biggie, changed the cable arm over, new choke cable fitted, then found out that there is no overflow on the new one, spoke to Harley club and Harley shop its not a problem and if it does become a problem in the future I can just change the float bowl over.

Anyway along the way the return cable decided to snap

Then when I went to try out the Harley, the friggin battery which is just over a year old is screwed and I couldnt start the bike

I havent got the receipt, and the Harley shop said if I did, doesnt matter where I got it they could have sorted something out, ontop of that the shop that sold it to me didnt stamp the dates on the battery, which again they would have tried to sort it for me if he did

The thing is Harley batteries are usually the dogs nuts, but they rekon the previous shop probably had it sitting about a few year, the shop are only allowed to have 12 at a time and they have to be on constant trickle or Harley wont let them sell them.

So I didnt get to do the service, but all in all it cost me a whole day and £181

[simo]

Aye, now't like a Honda

[spider13]

dont bother with the harley batteries mate get yourself an oddysey one instead quite expensive but will last years
steve

[StormingHonda]

dont bother with the harley batteries mate get yourself an oddysey one instead quite expensive but will last years
steve

The Harley one was cheap, £123 Already ordered one, when it goes wrong again I'll get somethign different.

[StormingHonda]

Aye, now't like a Honda

the old girl is 16 years old, but the thing is with Harleys is that they have a reputation of breaking down, I think its a tad unfair, but owning one does require getting your hands dirty every now and then, and when they do break down its usually something stupid, there not really a lot to go wrong on the evo's.

However I have had basket case Jap bikes that I have had to constantly work on, and I found even with the looked after second had bikes, they will run for ages with hardly a problem at all, but when someting does go wrong its usually shakey hand credit card time.

[sirch345]

Unless you paid for the battery (the old one) with cash, you should have the purchase details on a bank statement.

My brother also has a Harley, he thought a battery around 12mths old had gone again, but it turned out to be the alternator was the problem, not the battery. It was only charging two thirds of the normal out put. So it might be worth checking the alternator if you've not already. One of the three phases had broken down and gone to earth.

Chris.

[StormingHonda]

Unless you paid for the battery (the old one) with cash, you should have the purchase details on a bank statement.

My brother also has a Harley, he thought a battery around 12mths old had gone again, but it turned out to be the alternator was the problem, not the battery. It was only charging two thirds of the normal out put. So it might be worth checking the alternator if you've not already. One of the three phases had broken down and gone to earth.

Chris.

Yeah I was going to check that.

The problem was that I had put the optimate on it for 2 days and the battery was still dead.

[sirch345]

Yeah I was going to check that.

The problem was that I had put the optimate on it for 2 days and the battery was still dead.

If you had the battery on the optimate for two days with it disconnected from the bike, then yes I agree the battery must have given up if the optimate is good.

Chris.

[tony.mon]

I thought I would change the carburetor over, the old ones been pissing out oil and petrol.

That might explain the performance issue.
Most bikes only run petrol through the carbs.

Harley diesel, is it?

[StormingHonda]

Yeah I was going to check that.

The problem was that I had put the optimate on it for 2 days and the battery was still dead.

If you had the battery on the optimate for two days with it disconnected from the bike, then yes I agree the battery must have given up if the optimate is good.

Chris.

The battery has been connected to the bike, but it doesnt have anything draining from it, no alarm or anything. getting the battery on and off the sportser is a trying experience in itself, thats why I put the connector on it, so I can just connect up the optimate.

[StormingHonda]

I thought I would change the carburetor over, the old ones been pissing out oil and petrol.

That might explain the performance issue.
Most bikes only run petrol through the carbs.

Harley diesel, is it?

For Tonys Entertainment

[tony.mon]

Does seem a bit expensive for a battery, is it an odd size?

[StormingHonda]

Does seem a bit expensive for a battery, is it an odd size?

not sure, bigger than the VTR1000 Firestorm Battery, I'm gonna get an odyssey battery next time, there actually cheaper than te OEM.

[sirch345]

The reason Harley bits are so expensive is because they have the Harley name on them, it's the same with certain Ducati parts

Chris.