Can Anyone Give Me Some Info on My First Harley?

[pauln]

I just bought my first Harley. It is a Softail Heritage 2001. It has 2150 miles, was stock. I put a carb-hop and screamin' eagle exhaust before I picked it up. The bike seems to run good and the service manager gave me the thumbs up, but I have some questions. 1. It runs hot. I know this is normal, but how hot is normal? It has no gauges, so I am not sure. 2. I have an annoying rattle from the front end somewhere. No idea where? 3. It could be my imagination, but it seems the front fork leans right. Is this normal? 4. the engine is noisy. I know it is 88CI and very powerful, but is it normal to be noisy? Mostly I here allot of air, no knocks/pings...etc. 5. Is it normal to sound like it is missing and going to stall? As soon as I throttle a little it smoothes right out. 6. What is a carb-hop, and how does this effect performance and engine sound? Thank You

[otterbob]

i put a oil temparature dipstick in mine. that gives you a good indication. my has never gone over 195 degrees, even when it was around 100 degrees outside and 2 hours straight riding. im not sure of jetting on the 88, but ive got 185/45's in my stage 1 bike, 95 heritage. by the way, beautiful bike. the heritage is the sexiest bike made by any manufacturer period (my opinion).

[jefro]

My 02 Heritage is my third Harley, and I am no expert but I do have some good practical experience . Get the oil tank temperature gauge, and don't mess with a pressure gauge(it will only scare you at stoplights). The oil temp will be roughly around 200 when hot, depending on air temp, how fast and hard you've been running. The bikes are designed to run 185 to 215 normally. Regular oil starts to cook above 250, so most people use Mobil1 15-50 synthetic or equivalent after a few thousand break-in miles. It holds up to extreme heat best. Dealer wants to sell you regular oil, but the synth is way better for the motor and will not void your warranty.
The balanced softail twin cam motor makes a lot of mechanical type noises cause there is a lot more things inside spinning than the dyna unbalanced motors. You will get used to the sounds.
As far as your carb mods, it is urgent that you go to the dealer and find out from the mechanic exactly what he changed, what jets he used, where he set the needle, and what type of air cleaner you have(stock paper or hi-flow K&N). This is important fot 2 reasons. Thanks to the federal EPA the stock carb is jetted very lean, and a air cooled motor likes a rich mixture(cooler motor). If the carb is lean and you have a free flow air cleaner and you have free flow pipes, you will probably cook your valves and do long term damage to the motor. When you have the K&N and aftermarket pipes you must re-jet your carb to flow more fuel to match your stage one mods so your motor will be cooler, but the down side is you lose a little gas mileage.
You will probably see lots of threads about re-jetting carbs on this site, because it is a critical part of a good running motor. And stay away from drag pipes cause you will lose all the low end torque below 4000 rpm where you will spend 95% of your time. (but they sure sound good though). For more info check out j-pcycles.com/forum/forum/9/
Later, Jefro.

[Texxen]

Depends on ambient air temp. 95-100 will result in 220>250 oil temp if you bother to watch the gauge,if you had one. But some people don't know there oil temp and don't worry about but don't have any problems either? It's up to you if you want to risk it. Shouldn't have much motor noise...depends on what your used to. Most newer Harleys (Twin cams) are pretty quiet. Twin cam motors run hotter. Definately run synthetic oil!! Mobil1,Amsoil,Red Line.......and Harley oil filters,haven't found a better one yet.......
Sounds like you have running problems...whoever did the "carb hopup" should fix it!!!

Get rid of those ulgy ass reflectors and stock air cleaner!!!!!!!!!