New BD owner seeking technical advice / a few questions

[LA_Dog]

Hello everyone. second post here, I have a couple of tech questions for you experienced owners. Just picked up a very clean, low mileage 2001 Pro Street yesterday. All I gotta say is "wow". hell of a bike.

Here are the details:
Bike underwent a through tear down and top to bottom service / update by Threesome Cycles in Long Beach, in 2010. Since then the bike has had 500 or so miles put on it and well cared for. I bought it with 3700 miles on it.

Work performed:
EHC related issues remedied (circuit breakers, complete re-wire, etc)
Handlebar button controls removed
Drag push button start added
1.4 kW factory BDM starter
manual compression releases added
Hooker header system added
Swapped BD rear fender for different NOS BD fender without built in rear light
Arlen Ness stealth2 mirrors
21" front wheel (I still have the 19" as well)
LA Choppers drag bars riser and bushings
Edelbrock 42mm carb
Custom powdercoat frame and paint / pinstriping (all by House of Kolor)
Drag motor mounts
PM brake rebuild kits
CCI swingarm bushings
Heads / cylinders removed and replaced with new performance gaskets
Custom recovering of seat
HHI clutch hand control
Drag throttle cable / housing
Edelbrock intake manifold
New front / rear brake lines
New clutch, throttle, idle cable
New wiring block
CCI HeadLite
EZ Clutch Ramp
PM 9/16 Hydraulic brake control

...Plus a lot of other small stuff like fasteners etc.

After riding it home some 20 odd miles, when I parked I had a good 4" spread of engine oil under the drive side. I took a good look at everything this morning and this is what I found:

1. engine oil puddle was coming from bottom engine breather, the breather filter was fastened to the bottom skid plate under motor. only leaked oil while running. no leaks while sitting. the filter was wretchedly soaked in oil and grime.

I checked the top engine breather, which was routed straight down and inside the skid plate below the motor. the filter looked clean, no obstructions in hose or filter.

I checked the oil level and there is no dipstick. With bike level, the oil comes up roughly 1/2 way in the tank. I don't know if that is high or low.

2. primary cover was seeping pretty good from bottom length of the cover. Also some slight seepage from the bottom of inspection cover. I tightened all bolts a bit to see if that gets rid of it.

3. slight stumble on light throttle. Does not matter what gear or rpm range. idle is strong, bike runs strong. but has a stumble right when you roll on a slight bit of gas, as you open the throttle further it goes away and then rips like a mofo. feels like a carb adjustment issue off top of my head. this has an Edelbrock 42mm on it.


4. I'd also like to know what type of sissy bar will fit this bike. I can't find anything on BD site earlier than 2002. Ya ya I know... the old lady wants one on there when I take her for a ride. So I'm looking for some type of quick release setup.

5. What type of fender fits the front- I want to pop on a super minimal fender just to keep the slop off during long rides. I have the BD brackets but no fender. I don't mind doing some modification work

Anything else I should generally be aware of on this particular bike, and given the work done above? Thanks in advance for reviewing my post.

Here's some pics:

 

[LA_Dog]

Also looking for a good performance shop in West Los Angeles area. Previous owner told me the bike still needs to be fine tuned / dialed in with the Crane adjustable ignition. Although I cant imagine it being more of a beast than it already is

 

[BigDogRick]

With that new fender and custom struts, the demountable sissy bar and luggage rack setup from the Vintage Classic may not work anymore. Also, the strut mounted tail lights will interfere, although they could be mounted elsewhere. The Vintage has a double space stud that receives both the demountable backrest and also demountable saddlebags. There are several aftermarket kits very much like it. HD has one very similar now. The fender strut should receive such a setup by replacing the through bolts with mounting studs. I would go to a HD dealer and eyeball their stuff and get center-to-center dims to see if they match your custom bolts spacing. If, perchance, the BD setup would match, it seems most every Vintage BD I have seen has had them removed so there should be some un-used demountable systems in a box in a bunch of garages somewhere.

 

[BigDogRick]

Actually, on second look, it looks like you kept the BD struts.

 

[BigDogRick]

As of three years ago, I found the studs for the demountable system available from BD. I replaced mine after 10 years of wear and tear. The BD backrest/sissybar mount is not that different from the aftermarket removable brackets that stud mount that I have seen.

 

[LA_Dog]

Thanks for the information on the sissy bar mounts. Yep just the fender was replaced for a different BD fender that did not have the built in tail light. the struts are unchanged. I don't particularly like the rear lights on it so those will be ditched for something better.

 

[BigDogRick]

Hey, by the way, love the bike. The blacked out 2 into 1 exhaust is great. Love the 21" wheel too.

 

[BigDogRick]

Do you have that original racing 5 speed baker?

 

[LA_Dog]

Thanks- the SS 107 engine / baker trans is all original and unmodified, but it is a 6 speed baker. damn I love how this thing launches and shifts. Effing zero to 80 in a blink of an eye.

The black theme is what drew me to the bike. it was originally a silver frame with some sort of silver paint scheme. House of Kolor re-did the frame and paint after the bike was torn down. Really nice job. photos dont do it justice- the black satin paint has some type of light pearl / iridescence in it. stunning in the light. hand painted pinstripes are flawless. sort of has a bit of a rat bike look that I like. The Hooker pipe has a really nice sound to it. absolutely nothing I'd change here except maybe those weenie plastic tail lights..

 

[BigDogRick]

I started to answer your question on the oil fill level but I see your reservoir is different. Is the filler under the seat? Anyway, heads up on the 107 with the Evo type breather setup. My Vintage has a reservoir that holds way more than it needs. It has a nasty habit of letting the vacuum suck the excess oil up the breather to the air intake and blowing out any excess oil all over the right rear of my bike. Fortunately, I watch it carefully and always tell a tech that under no circumstances fill past the bottom weld of the throat on my HD style oil reservoir. I can't help you know how to detect the max level correctly but I can tell you that a oil soaked air filter may be a sign that the oil is overfilled more than that the breather connections are bad. Turkey baster some of that oil out of your reservoir and see if it is blow by. I have that same 6 speed but did not change my 5 speed out until 40K miles. It cruises at highway speed like a dream now but that 5 speed would kick it back then. Yeah ...zero to 80 in third on an on ramp ... feels pretty good.

 

[LA_Dog]

Rick- Thanks man, so my oil reservoir is different for the year of bike? Interesting. yes it is under the seat, single threaded cap (is that HD style?). It just had all fluids changed a few weeks ago so would not be surprised if overfilled. I'll suck some out.

Breather connections look good, I took off everything except the bolts at heads for the top breather. it is all new stuff / barely even any residue in there.

Did 2001's come with 5 speeds on some models? I have the original papers for the bike (I'm now the second owner), it shows six speed (5 plus overdrive) as OE on this bike, has the BD logo on the trans with 'baker six speed' on it. Is that unusual for the year?

 

[BigDogRick]

Ahhh, that was the Baker 6 speed I almost got. I think the true overdrive would have been really interesting to try. When I made the decision, Mike from SW V Twin in Grand Rapids Michigan had just come back from a trade show where the Baker guys were. They were talking up the "new" speed that is 1 to1 in 6th and we went with that (although I was torn between the two). My version came out in 2004/2005 or so as I remember. I had my bike in having the frame replaced under warranty by BD and we thought it was the ideal time to change the tranny. I like cross country rides and felt like I was always looking for another gear at 70 mph. We switched it out during the full parts switch from frame to frame.

 

[BigDogRick]

On the oil reservoir, mine is the HD horseshoe tank that came on all softails from late 90's on. The filler tube is right side under the seat with a large 1-1/2 dia capped throat. I am really unfamiliar with the one on your bike but could see from the photo it was different.

 

[LA_Dog]

cool- i have yet to get out and really make use of that 6th gear - this next weekend for sure. nice weather out here right now.

I'll snap a shot of the oil tank under the seat and post it up

 

[LA_Dog]

attached are pics of the oil tank. the right side showing lines coming from tank. the top of tank under the seat, filler hole is smack in the middle about 1.5" diameter.

Sorry the pics are turned sideways- damn iphone piece of crap.

 

[LA_Dog]

This looks like a cool idea for a sisy bar. the bottom plate would probably fit with only minor massaging.
http://www.kuryakyn.com/products/772/plug-n-play-sissy-bar-mount

 

[LA_Dog]

So I ordered one of those Kurakyn mount plates - got it on ebay for a good price. If it works out I'll post up my DIY in one of appropriate forum threads.

 

[Five Five]

Nice Ride ...

 

[LA_Dog]

Thanks 55