Oils well that ends well… perhaps
After a lengthy absence from the pages of Bike the Shovel makes a welcome return and true to form it is failing to proceed…
THE SWEET, SICKLY SMELL of burned oil is unmistakable. You wonder if it’s actually you. Maybe it’s that van. No it’s not. Then you see the smoke: rear cylinder. Most likely valve guides, the bores and new pistons are only five thousand miles old. Should have done the heads. Didn’t. They come off easily enough. Plugs out, exhaust off, carb off, get the piston at TDC both valves closed, out with the pushrods, five bolts and the head lifts off. You can’t do that with an Evo, or a Twin Cam, or a Milwaukee Eight. But then you don’t often have to. They’ve got other issues though. Sure enough the combustion chamber shows all the signs of burning as much oil as air/fuel – black gunge everywhere. And a helicoiled exhaust port thread repair has worked loose too. But it’s all fixable, and there are no ride.nd other horrors. Not for now. Shovelhead: ride to fix, fix to
1982 Harleydavidson FXR Shovelhead
TYRES: Avon Cobra
COST: it never ends
MILEAGE: 32,000
MPG: 43