[Hamza123]

That’s another reason I follow your thread so closely as my garage is nearly setup as yours I too have a pre owned Ninja 650 which I got off from a friend and it was as good as new. I almost landed up buying a super low, and backed out last minute as I found it too good to be true. Was a very few kms very less price bike but had no service history. And now looking to buy my first big cruiser. I agree with you that no matter how comfortable a sports tourer is,it will never beat the comfort of a cruiser.
I was always against buying pre owned but now more than half my garage is pre owned and touch wood have been lucky so far. If patient and with a little bit of luck you can strike a great deal!
Please do keep updating this thread as I would love to know how this goes.

[dkaile]

So back to riding after a hiatus of almost one year, as I was mostly abroad in the previous year, starts with this 200kms ride I did yesterday -

Wide open roads, at last


Quite a gang and plethora of bike brands today


Tea stop


202 kms today


The bike crosses the 15000 kms mark and performs flawlessly as the day I bought it.


Also got a small nick nack in this custom screw holding the pillion seat


Cheers for now...

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by dkaile

Quite a gang and plethora of bike brands today
Attachment 1973084

Cheers for now...

Coincidentally, on my Pune - Bbay run yesterday (Sunday) I saw the exact same color combo silver Thruxton - rider had stopped for breakfast at Lonavla where I had halted.

My personal opinion - the changes the owner of the pictured bike has made (normal handlebar and large flyscreen) have totally spoilt the charm and character of the stock Thruxton. An iconic style has been reverse modified to look more like a normal bonnie with those changes.

Do keep your posts coming. I was THIS close to pulling the trigger on a BS 4 deal Ninja 1000 just from reading your beautiful ownership review on it.

[dkaile]

Rear Brake Pads Replaced - 15,812 kms - 09-03-2021

The rear brake pads were nearly gone and I felt the rear brake feel to be very mushy on a recent ride. So decided to change the Rear Brake Pads and replace as much of the DOT 4 brake fluid as possible of the rear master cylinder.

Odo at 15812 kms



The Brake Pads which I had procured nearly a year back. Part # is 42298-08, MRP Rs. 3989/- for the set



One of them has a Stainless Steel backing plate as the caliper has only a single side 2-piston system pushing in.



First job was to remove the Right Side Saddle Bag and one of the Exhaust Slip-Ons, process for which I had already detailed in my previous post about the rear wheel removal guide.



The Rear Caliper is held in place by 2 x T40 Bolts which were removed



The Mounting Bolt on the left and the 2nd one on the right is the Slider Pin



The next job was to loosen (without removing) the Brake Pad PIN. Also this needs to be done while the Caliper is still mounted although the bolts are removed, because it would be difficult to remove this pin if the caliper was totally removed. This uses a 1/4" 12 point socket head. Normal 1/4" 4 point or 8 point ones won't work. Sourced this tool from a 'Kabari' with great difficulty. Harley and their non-metric based SAE tools systems... uff




After loosening this pin, the brake caliper was finally removed from the rear caliper mount



At this point I felt one of the T40 mounting pins, circled in red, was loosing traction due to the screw threads flushing out on rear caliper mount. Hence while re-assembly I used Loctite 243 (Blue Threadlocker) on this particular bolt.



The old brake pads were inspected after removing the loosened Brake Pad Pin.



The old and the new pads alongwith all the 3 bolts/pins that need to be removed



A comparison of the old and the new pad's surface material left.



Now the Rear Brake Pad fluid Reservoir was opened up to release the pressure on the brake fluid and the Brake Caliper Pistons were compressed with a 'Crow Pliers' also known as water pump pliers while using the old brake pad and some cloth on the lower side (to avoid scratches) to compress.



The pistons fully compressed. Maximum amount of old Dot 4 brake fluid was removed with a 20ml syringe and replaced with some fresh stuff from a sealed bottle, into the reservoir. All the parts were thoroughly cleaned with WD40 while taking care not soil any of the contact surfaces of the brake pads or the brake disk.



The caliper mount and the Torque Clip were inspected and cleaned with care with WD40



New pads ready to be installed. Little layer of lithium grease was scuffed on their rear (non-contact) surfaces to prevent rattling and screeching.



New Pads in place



All cleaned up. Brake Pad install complete. The brake fluid reservoir was topped up after a few pumps to the rear brake pedal till it re-acquires it's firmness and the reservoir cap was cleaned and tightened with it's 2 Philips head screws. I went for a short test ride and found everything to be working perfectly and no ABS light error.



PS -
Since I had felt one the T40 caliper bolts flushing out, I called for the rear caliper mount from Capital Harley dealership at Gurgaon/Mathura Road.



Luckily they had the part in stock. Part # is 42895-08A and MRP is Rs. 4012/-, just in case I had to replace it in the near future. Although the Loctite 243 blue threadlocker was working perfectly for now.



Here's a look at the rear caliper mount in details. This requires only the rear tyre to be removed (already detailed before) as it tightens with the rear axle rod.





And the Bike is ready to Rock and Roll



Cheers...

[dkaile]

Update 26-04-2023 - 16894 kms

The Heritage Softail is chugging along just fine and today stands at 16894kms. Due to multiple bikes in the garage mileage remains low -



Getting some TLC



Battery was nearing 5 years since I last replaced it in June 2018 and was showing some end of life traits like a hiccup before starting. I had a Interceptor 650 Battery lying around which I tried testing on this bike. It's a 14Ah unit compared to the stock 17.5Ah one. Besides that the terminal orientation is also reversed. Here's a look at both of them side by side -





It however fitted nicely into the battery compartment under the rider's seat. I was also able to stretch and join the terminals to the correct polarity without much issue as is visible in the picture below. The bike started in half a crank without any issues! I tried it multiple times and the the result was the same. So I was a happy man as the stock battery costs almost 4 times this Interceptor 650 battery, and this one can do the job. However the stock battery still had some juice left, so reverted back to it with my trusted, 10 year old, trickle charger still working perfectly and doing a fine job maintaining the stock battery into it's 5th year -




On a recent 100km Sunday Ride, marking it's territory... lolz (it's just water btw) -



Cheers for now...

[dkaile]

Harley Heritage Fuel Line Leak - 15-02-2024

So one fine day I was about to go for a ride and started the bike when I noticed that fuel had started leaking from the Check valve -



I removed the fuel pipe by raising the check valve and releasing and some fuel was still leaking (which ideally should not).



It is a common issue with Harleys as the O-rings (3 of them in the whole line) go bad over the years. Now instead of just giving us the O-rings of the exact size, Harley wants us to replace the entire assembly consisting of 2 parts - a Quick connect valve which goes inside the tank and attaches to the fuel pump inside and a tank to intake Fuel Line. I decided to first try to repair it with O-rings, if possible.

1 O-ring was fixed in the intake fuel line -



And 2 more inside the Check Valve -



My assortment of O-rings-



The Fuel Leak stopped for the time being under pressure from the fuel pump. Will have to see how it holds when the pressure diminishes itself when the bike is left unused for a few days.


Cheers...

[dkaile]

Harley Heritage BATTERY & Fuel Line purchased - 29-02-2024

So the fuel line fix of the O-rings was working but after release of the fuel pump pressure, I could feel a very slight bleed when I touched the check valve. Perhaps, if we got the exact size of O-rings needed from Harley, this could have been a permanent fix. Not willing to take a risk, as this bike will be a keeper for my grand kids, I decided to get the fuel line changed. Also the OE BATTERY was last replaced in 2018, so it had served me well for 6 years. So I decided to bite then bullet and get it changed with the OE one (which costs a arm and a limb) rather than do the experimentation with the Interceptor one (which BTW was working perfectly in my BMW 1250 GSA, as it was a exact fit and current rating for that bike as the OE BMW one).

So the parts were received. First the OE Harley Battery (17.5Ah rating) -



Now being imported by Hero Motocorp directly from the US of A at a princely sum of Rs. 11,508/- !!



Next was the new Fuel Line - tank to intake for Rs. 3886/-



And then there was the Quick Connect Fuel Valve for Rs. 3475/-. This goes inside the fuel tank and connects to the fuel pump -



A close look at the Quick Connect Check valve



And the 2 O-rings inside which go bad, in my case after 12 years! One is visible in the middle and one on the top -



And the O-ring inside the Fuel Line -



The battery was tested and the voltage was found to be perfect -



A princely sum of Rs. 18,869/- was paid for these 3 parts, main cost being the battery -



Now since I was not comfortable with opening up the fuel tank, I asked for the Harley technician to pay a visit to Meerut. since the price of the visit was quite reasonable, I decided to get the bike serviced also, as all these parts were already lying with me since last 5 years -



Also got my lift ready, in case he needed it -



More to follow...

Cheers...

[dkaile]

3rd Service - 16000km (10000 miles) Service - 01-03-2024 @16987 kms

So after nearly 8625kms and 8+ years, it was time to once again to service the bike.



My trusted technician was called in from Delhi and was all ready to get started -



The service, as I had mentioned earlier is a 3 hole service...lolz, as it involves draining oil from 3 separate hole. 1st is the main crankshaft or engine oil - takes in 3 quarts, 2nd is the Transmission or gear oil - 28 ounces or approx 1 quart and 3rd is the Clutch or as is called in Harley terminology - The Primary which again takes in 1 quart (1 quart = 32 ounces = 946 ml). So a total of 5 quarts oil of is needed. I have already attached procedural videos in my previous posts, as to how to do the same.

The main engine oil drain plug cleaned up and O ring changed -



Engine oil being drained -



Primary or Clutch Oil being drained -



Gear oil is changed and gear oil dipstick (of full chrome) is cleaned -



Oil Filter is being opened by special tool that I have -



The old Oil Filter after 8 years. The oil condition was black but not to the extent that I or the technician thought. That's the quality of Harley OE oil -



New Oil being pre-lubricated in the new Oil Filter. This oil was in sealed storage for over 5 years and you can see the quality is exactly like fresh which was again confirmed by the technician. So don't always go by the urban myths.



The Chrome Primary cover is cleaned and orange seal is changed with new -



1 quart oil being filled in the Clutch/Primary by desi jugaad (though there exists a special spout for the same from Harley) -



Now the next major job to tackle was to open up the fuel tank to remove the fuel pump and to it attach the new Fuel Quick Release Check Valve that was bleeding (which had already been procured with the battery as mentioned in my previous posts). So it involves first opening up the single nut as shown by the red arrow -



To reveal the Fuel Pump which needs to be opened by the 10 torx screws visible in the photo -



The fuel pump was lifted carefully -



To release this old fuel line going to the Quick release valve -



The fuel pump dismantled after release of the fuel lines -



New Fuel line was attached and the fuel pump put back in place -



And finally closed up again -



The spark plugs were changed. A view of the old and the new -



The 2nd fuel line attachment was a simple plug and play. The Air Filter was also changed with new. The new battery was also installed under the seat. Photos of all these I have posted several times in the past. Finally the bike was serviced and ready to rumble for another few years -



A 100kms ride was undertaken shortly after to check everything was working OK -



The technician had mentioned that the Front Brake Master Cylinder has aged and the O-rings inside had deteriorated. The options were either to replace the whole unit at a exorbitant cost or to have it rebuilt at a fraction of the cost (Rs. 3278/-). So the Front Brake master Cylinder Rebuild Kit was called upon from the dealership -



Made in the USA -



Turned out to be just a small plastic piece with spring and O-rings. How they overcharge for these small parts. But came with a detailed instructions -



The Rebuild kit and Instructions -



Luckily the technician was again in town for some other buddies job and he came to replace the kit. Bike crosses the 17k km mark -



Both front and rear brake oil was also pretty old and grimy and was replaced by OE Harley DOT 4 oil -



MRP was 1670/-, got it at a discounted rate however -



Now the Service was truly complete and bike back to pristine fit and finish. Can you imagine this bike is now 12 years old!! Such was the build quality of the true Harleys of yolk -



Cheers for now...