Continued From Page 3

We were down to two portions of the project. Sweat was rolling down my temples in streams. I peered at my watch constantly. The Screamin' Eagle exhaust and a new speedo for a King that included a tach needed homes. Unlike most elements of this project the exhaust demanded extra parts be removed before the exhaust could be installed. First Alan drained the oil from the tranny. The tranny cover had to be removed in addition to the engine oil fill components, to reach the bolts that held the stock touring exhaust transmission bracket in place. A new black unit was due to replace it and hold a different sized clamp for the SE system. The process was an out of the way procedure but quick. The tranny cover was replaced and fresh fluid refilled the tranny (20-24 ounces).

The tranny oil level is checked with the bike upright and the dip stick stuck into the transmission until the threads touch. On the other hand the engine oil is checked with the bike on its sidestand and the dipstick down in the closed position. Wacky.

If Snake knew what he was doing; we would have a crystal clear shot of the new black bracket behind the clamp. I'll dock his pay next week.

The new exhaust didn't come with manifold rings or clips and the old clips were removed with a transmission tool, otherwise they are a bastard to remove and install with pliers. The pipes were installed loose and the muffler clamp slipped into the muffler shield area then the muffler slipped over the pipe. Then the isolator bolts were screwed into place without tightening them.

"Get everything happy," Alan said, "before you snug the system down." When the entire unit was in place he tightened the exhaust manifold rings first then moved toward the rear of the motorcycle tightening clamps and brackets. Finally he knocked the rear footboard bracket back into line and replaced the footboard. The King was taking shape.

With the Screamin' Eagle EFI tuner kit CD rammed into his computer he looked up the various timing and fuel delivery options. Our particular performance formula wasn't listed, but under the Softail category a concoction included the Screamin' Eagle performance heads and the SE-203 cam set, except it also called for the big bore heads and pistons bringing the displacement to 95-inches. There was no other tuning option close to our performance mixture, so we gave it a shot. I plan to take the King back to the fleet center for another dyno test and tuning session.

A laptop and this kit can change the timing readily.

Finally the Tach/Speedo needed to replace the stock unit and Alan pulled the dash, turned it over and popped out the old speedo. I was beginning to see a candle lit at the other end of the tunnel. If a special order had been made to the factory the new speedo would have been ordered with the existing odometer reading in place. Since we didn't order it in that form it zeroed out our odometer reading from a mere 1,600 miles. Alan popped out the gasket for the speedo, unplugged the existing unit and plugged in the new one after wiping down the rubber gasket with a polish like substance to make it slick and slip into place readily.

One wire had to be run out from under the dash behind the massive wiring loom into the nacelle to be hooked to a pink plug that is stashed in the nacelle for an accessory tachometer. A number of accessory connections hide in the nacelle for various uses and prevent new wiring when paraphernalia is installed.

Alan wiped the bike down with brake clean then a Pledge like polish, and it began to take on a new look. He dropped it off the stand and ran it directly to the dyno for a comparison test which resulted in 68 horses, an 8 horse increase and 76 pounds of torque, an 6 pound increase. It wasn't as if we had rocked the world, but the job was done and in a couple of days I'd be on the road to Arizona.

We discussed other options, but I had to hit the road. Perhaps some high compression pistons will be tossed into the mix in the future. In the meantime, it was time to ride. We had survived the 24-hour flu, bad photography, and shaky part orders. As I peeled onto the freeway the scoot felt tight and I still had 30 hours before I would meet up with the gang and head for the border. I was cutting it close, but the key element was under my ass and running fine.

--Bandit