So I just got this 89 FXRT

[Dave_89FXRT]

Dreamed about a Harley that suits me for a long time, pretty much ever since I was about 4 years old riding on the front with my dad on his friends FLH, read and read...rode this and that, ended up with what I like to call a "Pariah Glide" needless to say I love It except for the handlebars, the bike itself has 24k miles on It, neglected as It sat under a car port for many years, but maintained otherwise, It's been polishing up pretty nice though, all stock except the slightly bigger carb off a twin cam, have the original, ordered a CD-DVD repair manual off ebay for 12 bucks, figured I would try that before spending 80 on a shop manual. At any rate, I am going to pick the brains of you "FXR Elders" who have experience with these cult classics =D I don't want to change too much, I have one dumb problem, someone messed with the turn signals, you have to hold the button In for the blinker to stay on, they aren't self cancelling, I ASSUME they should just click on with a push, and then click off with another push, I ask myself...why? like you're going to forget to turn the signal off? there are little indicator lights in the fairing that blink, you're not going to notice that? *facepalm* I'm wondering If I need new switches, or I can get the piece they removed to cause it to not click on and off, whatever that piece is? Another thing Is the handlebars suck, but It has those air assisted forks, with a hose that goes to the handlebars, I have NO IDEA whats up with that, Is It a problem to change handlebars, I understand I have to be able to clear the fairing too...also, I DO have the original rear shocks, which are taller than whats on It, one is a standard shock the other Is an Air shock, are they worth putting back on? I have lowered progressives right now, oh...the previous owner bent the kickstand in a press to "help" with the lower shocks *grumbles* other than that though It's been unmolested, OH...this really got me POed it had this UGLY Live To ride ride to live cover plate on the original "Sport Glide" air cleaner, needless to say, it scuffed the hell out of the air cleaner surface...I don't think I'll ever get over that...I love those old original air cleaners...stupid live to ride cover plate, funny thing Is there was a little gold sticker on the inside of that destructive cover plate...said made In Taiwan. DOH! At any rate It's good to finally have an epic bike, and officially be apart of the V-Twin forum.

-Dave

[cwilks]

congrats on your acquisition....the turn signal button has to be held in...post some pics

[Yellerbike]

Welcome,

Don't know if the blinkers are supposed to stay on or not. On my 89 I have to hold in the switch to keep'm blink'n

[Staggie]

Congrats on your purchase. My 91 was neglected for almost 3 years due to the owners degrading health. I'm paying for it now though LOL. But can't compain when I didn't pay anything for it.

[gb1500]

89....sat a while?...prob needs all new oil/brake lines, caliper/master seals, inner pri seal and more pretty easy stuff to get up to snuff...run an air line from the fork fitting to where you want it and forget the air handlebars...stoned on good weed design!!...your blinkers have mucho problems....usual problem is they dont cancel...mine dont but who cares!.. but an easy fix im sure....and remove the live to ride sticker and put a gold plated/ hard chrome one on.

[BigPeet]

cwilks got it right. The blinkers don't have mucho problems, that is how they were made.

You hold the button in with your thumb and they blink. Take your thumb off and they stop. You'll get used to it.

I've always thought the "live to ride" emblems were a little goofy, but gold plated/hard
chromed?

As I found out there is a lot of debate about the anti-dive front air suspension. Some people swear by it, some don't. I'm one of the later. I think it was just a novelty and removed it from my '89 Convertible. Personally I think it's better without.

If I had a 5K mile bike in perfect shape I'd leave the air forks...but's that just me.

[Homesick]

Originally Posted by Dave_89FXRT

Dreamed about a Harley that suits me for a long time, pretty much ever since I was about 4 years old riding on the front with my dad on his friends FLH, read and read...rode this and that, ended up with what I like to call a "Pariah Glide" needless to say I love It except for the handlebars, the bike itself has 24k miles on It, neglected as It sat under a car port for many years, but maintained otherwise, It's been polishing up pretty nice though, all stock except the slightly bigger carb off a twin cam, have the original, ordered a CD-DVD repair manual off ebay for 12 bucks, figured I would try that before spending 80 on a shop manual. At any rate, I am going to pick the brains of you "FXR Elders" who have experience with these cult classics =D I don't want to change too much, I have one dumb problem, someone messed with the turn signals, you have to hold the button In for the blinker to stay on, they aren't self cancelling, I ASSUME they should just click on with a push, and then click off with another push, I ask myself...why? like you're going to forget to turn the signal off? there are little indicator lights in the fairing that blink, you're not going to notice that? *facepalm* I'm wondering If I need new switches, or I can get the piece they removed to cause it to not click on and off, whatever that piece is? Another thing Is the handlebars suck, but It has those air assisted forks, with a hose that goes to the handlebars, I have NO IDEA whats up with that, Is It a problem to change handlebars, I understand I have to be able to clear the fairing too...also, I DO have the original rear shocks, which are taller than whats on It, one is a standard shock the other Is an Air shock, are they worth putting back on? I have lowered progressives right now, oh...the previous owner bent the kickstand in a press to "help" with the lower shocks *grumbles* other than that though It's been unmolested, OH...this really got me POed it had this UGLY Live To ride ride to live cover plate on the original "Sport Glide" air cleaner, needless to say, it scuffed the hell out of the air cleaner surface...I don't think I'll ever get over that...I love those old original air cleaners...stupid live to ride cover plate, funny thing Is there was a little gold sticker on the inside of that destructive cover plate...said made In Taiwan. DOH! At any rate It's good to finally have an epic bike, and officially be apart of the V-Twin forum.

-Dave

I wanted to join the fun, but I (there're actually a few of us here) have a hard time reading long, run together posts.

If you'll break 'em into smaller paragraphs, I'll put you on my Christmas card list and expedite your FXR secret decoder ring.

Thanks
joe

[jgc89]

my 89 flh has self canceling turn signals.

[cwilks]

until he posts some pics it's just a LOT of words on a page...dont forget the broom

[gb1500]

hold em in?....thats new to me Bigpeet....the air plug got put on the end of the lfet hand grip end and by now most are gone for new ones and no hole??...i guess you could drill one....i re mounted mine to a perfect spot and they surprisingly hold air at their age.

[BigPeet]

Originally Posted by jgc89

my 89 flh has self canceling turn signals.

I believe the big bikes came out with the self canceling turn signals in '89...not the FXR's

[BigPeet]

The handlebars were just used as an air tank. Since air compresses easier than oil, the more air you have the more adjustable the compression.

The forks themselves are the same as the conventional ones, the difference is the air space in the top of the fork is under pressure, especially when you hit the brakes. Hence the anti-dive feature.

[Dave_89FXRT]

Thanks for the replies! I'll try to keep my ramblings spaced out for an easier read.

At any rate, that's kinda strange with the turn signals having to be held In, I hope I can get used to It, I really don't like It, wonder If I could hook up some self cancelling?

As far as the Air Dive suspension, seems kinda gimmicky...It does need fork springs...If I change the bars though...I guess I would just plug the air dive?

My fairing bracket Is bent and my one bag is cracked, those clamshells are junk compared to the Krauser bags my Airhead had=)...wonder If I should attempt to bend the bracket back or just get a new one, before I got the bike I was checking out parts on Ebay, This Elvis guy man...he may want all my money and my first newborn child as sacrifice just for the parts I need. =/

pictures pictures pictures....1 video is worth 1000 pictures?

You Tube

You Tube

[Thermodyne]

Originally Posted by BigPeet

The handlebars were just used as an air tank. Since air compresses easier than oil, the more air you have the more adjustable the compression.

The forks themselves are the same as the conventional ones, the difference is the air space in the top of the fork is under pressure, especially when you hit the brakes. Hence the anti-dive feature.

It's a little more than that. Under normal conditions you have the ability to compress all the air in the system' bars and forks. That gives you a soft ride. Under braking, the solenoid isolates the air in the forks. So you only have about 1/2 the volume of air, and with less air to compress it becomes harder to compress the forks. Back when these things were abundant, people used to drop wooden dowels down the insides of the fork springs to reduce the volume of air in the fork. It was supposed to make them really stiff under braking.

As to the forks, they have different spring rates and different valving. But as forks go, they are still really poor. That's why the air assist makes such a difference. And few riders can tell if an old fxr has the correct forks or not. The factory can't really tune forks without using adjustable valving. All they can do is insure that the forks will work at the all up weight of the scooter. Think about it. With two well fed riders, the weight of an FXR almost doubles. How do you design forks for that?

Of note here would be that all the people that are missing the air system and just air the forks up by adding air valves, are riding on forks that are much stiffer than intended. Even if the amount of air pressure is kept low, the rate of the fork is off. To use the forks with out air, you'd need to use the springs and valves from a set of non air forks, and some spacers as the non air forks are shorter.

[BigPeet]

Yep Thermodyne, I meant what you said. You explained it a lot clearer than myself.

I don't understand the part about using springs and damper from conventional forks. I took my convertible forks apart, cleaned the crap out of everything, replaced all bushings and seals, and put 11.5 oz of 20wt fork oil in each side. I replaced the top caps with the ones with hex head plugs in the center. That way you don't have to take the caps off to change the fork oil.

Everything I read about removing the anti-dive is you adjust the amount of fork oil to change the stiffnest. More oil, stiffer. Less air to compress.

I believe you are right about two well fed riders. With the air you have infinite adjustability. Fat guys like me use more air, skinny guys less. Every situation is covered.

That said, since I removed the anti-dive, they now are the smoothest forks I've ever had.

The 11.5 shocks in the back are what I feel on big bumps. And those will be replaced eventually with 13" or 13.5" shocks.

They are so nice that I'm going to remove the air system on my '98 RK Classic. I'll read up on it a little more, but expect it to be nicer then it is now.