Bad shot, but it's the horn all blacked
out and still grimy.
A shot of the spacer made to eliminate
the rear shift lever.
We were getting stoked by the changing
appearance of the King. The black was giving
it unity. I re-greased the shifter shaft and
installed the back linkage in a vertical position
then tightened it. We eliminated one of the
shifter pedals for my big feet and installed the
remaining one with Loctite and a 1/4-20 Allen
or socket head fastener. We cut a 3/4-inch
chunk of 1-inch O.D. mild steel tubing for a
spacer to eliminate the other pedal. The main
part of the linkage to the transmission we had
powdered but sprayed the flexible links and
fasteners at each end.
We powder coated the center section
of the shift linkage, but had to spray paint the
flexible adjusting links and fasteners.
We assembled the kickstand by putting
the jiffy stand in place then hooking the spring
to the tab, then all four blacked fasteners were
unscrambled and slipped in place. The two
short 5/16 bolts went toward the front. A long
one with a nut fit in the top rear bracket hole
and a long one without a nut screwed into the
rear footboard bracket. Then the footboard
was replaced.
We had one element left to complete. We
still needed to put the front end back together.
I cleaned the interior of the lower legs with
solvent to insure we would have a solid seal
at the bottom since there are no gaskets. We
had to slip the fork tube out of the trees. We
replaced the small aluminum collar and
inserted the tube into the lower leg. Then the
socket head bolt was replaced and carefully
tightened.
I must apologize for not taking shots of
the front end assembly. I get caught up with
wrenches and forget the camera.
Here's the black Street Stalker front
fender in place using new H-D brackets. The
new mag also adds to the black along with the
black center floating rotors. Looking Sharp.
We turned the leg over and with a seal
tool carefully tapped the new seals in place
and added the retaining clip. We removed the
seal tool and slid the fork tube up through the
bottom tree, passed the pinch bolt, added the
fork stop rubber (don't forget it!) and pressed
the tube into place in the top tree. Nuttboy held
it firmly while I torqued the pinch bolt. Lastly
we added 11.1 ounces of fork tube fluid in
each leg and then tightened the fork tube cap
with its rubber washer. We torqued the rotor
Torx fasteners to 25 foot pounds and broke off
our Torx tool. I think I was over doing it. The
new fasteners came with locking goo in place,
no Loctite necessary.
We noticed that one of the new
hydraulic brake lines was rubbing the fender,
so we adjusted the position.
We lowered the King until the axle was
lined up, then slipped it through with spacers.
Had to check the manual and discovered that
one of the spacers (on the left) was longer
than the right. I instructed Nuttboy to hold the
axle in alignment and started to install the
collar below it (on the right leg) with the two
metric nuts. I torqued the axle to 50-55 foot
pounds, then Nuttboy tightened the fork cap
fasteners on his side to insure the wheel was
square with the forks. Finally we tightened the
Allens that held the new jet black Street stalker
front fender in place and bolted the calipers in
place. I used plenty of Loctite, not those damn
stock locking tabs.
I held up my side of the Nacelle and
Nuttboy did the same. They didn't fit. Could
the coater have switched components? Could
they have been bent in shipping? Didn't
appear so. Perhaps the metal shields flexed
in the 425 degrees of heat. We were stuck. I
called Steve at Custom Powder Coating.
There was no way the nacelle was damaged,
but maybe, just maybe the 425 degrees of
heat allowed one side of the Nacelle to flex.
We may never know.
The next day, in the mail, I discovered the
new Harley 2003 Genuine Motor Accessories
and Genuine Motor Parts Spring Supplement.
On the cover was a fully blacked out King front
end. I ordered two new nacelle covers.
A couple weeks later the new nacelle
covers arrived. They don't come with the
rubber headlight fasteners. You need eight
and I ran to the local H-D dealership. They
were an inexpensive 4.97 for all eight. They
slip right into place. We replaced the rubber
cable guides and the nacelle was ready to be
replaced. With it held in place with the side,
stainless, dome nuts we slipped the blacked
riser cover down over the nacelle lip, which
held it in place. Then I replaced the two
Phillips screws in the riser cover with blue
Loctite, then popped the plastic fork lock guide
in place. I was then faced with the most
awkward screw on the King. The thin Phillips
screw that holds down the front of the riser
cover. I had to slip a massive washer in under
the top of the nacelle and line it up with the
screw. I rocked the bolt to hold the washer
while slipping the 5/16 nut in under the
nacelle and lined it up. With Loctite on the
screw I tightened it down carefully holding the
open end wrench with one finger while
working a Phillips screwdriver on top while Sin
Wu pressed the Nacelle halves together. Quit
a trick.
After the bike was assembled I
touched up fasteners with good old
Rustoleum. I've used it all my life and still can't
spell the word.
Last motion was to replace the nacelle
trim before the headlight. The still-chrome
trim hooks in the riser cover then one stud
slips between the nacelle halves. Another
Loctited 5/16th nut spun into place.
Then I started the headlight ring. I almost
forgot to plug the headlight in, but caught
myself. All eight black Phillips screws rolled
into place carefully. They're a unique fastener.
A brass nut is buried in rubber which slips
through a 1/4 inch hole in the nacelle with a lip
toward the outside. The screw slips into the
rubber grommet until it reaches the buried
brass fitting. As it pulls the fitting forward
toward the back of the nacelle, the rubber
expands creating a bond. Sort of a
rubbermounting process for the headlight.
Finally we replaced the spring in the blacked
out headlight ring and snapped it in place on
the top of the headlight assembly, then locked
it down with a short Phillips sheet metal screw
on the bottom. Done deal.
Not a great shot. The bike was still
dirty, but you get the notion. Wait until you see
the next segment. A few final touches and this
puppy will sing.
--Bandit