| Author | Message | ||
     Preybird1 |
OK guy here's the deal if you have the billet base's from American Sport Bike and you have black tubes on your bike they will not work!!! I had the stealership and myself check these and also called NRHS and these only work on chrome push rod tubes! I thought i was installing these wrong and fiddled with them for hours and it was a joke. So i had the stealership try and just put the seals in and i did all the tear down. And i get a call from them and this is what is the problem is. So now it's either buy chrome push rod tubes or go with a stock base seal until i buy the other parts What would you guys do.....I would rather ride! | ||
| Littlebuggles |
That sucks. I'll bet those shiny tubes are the same as the sportster though, so close to a dime a dozen, maybe not even that much from the dealer? Maybe I should just tear mine down and trade you, I really want to cut down and black out my cam cover anyway  Actually I have a coworker who my have some, I'll email him and check. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Hey mike i will have an x-tra set of black tubes on tues you can have em if they fit your bike, But it's only 2 black tubes not 4 Yeah and somehow i miss placed the locator\antirotation pins for the stock bases and i cant use the bases without them, So another 5 days till i can ride  | ||
| Kilroy |
You can take a small nail of the same diameter and cut it to the right length and use that as the locator pin. Also, Ace Hardware might have the correct size pin that you can use. Don't rely on the factory for everything if you want to spend your time riding............ | ||
| Preybird1 |
Yeah i called the factory for the dimensions of the pins and they couldn't even tell me what they were. USELESS people working the phones there. The lady on the phone said the schematics don't show any numbers. I can get the roll pins in town but i needed the dimensions so i could get the correct one's so harley won't bitch about putting them in as they are not factory approved! | ||
| Tripp |
yikes! did they say why? what does the color of the tube have to do with it!?! geez, i'm all excited about the BLACK tubes i bought with my fancy new nrhs bases!!!, doh!!!!!! | ||
| Oldog |
the chrome tubes are plated, the black tubes are powder coated, the buildup makes them bigger. | ||
| Kilroy |
The pins aren't that critical - they don't do anything other than line up the base while you bolt it down. as long as it fits in the hole it will work, it doesn't have to be snug. I know what you went through with the billet bases, but it will take you 5 minutes each to put the stock bases back on after dealing with those. Get it back and do it yourself ! | ||
| Preybird1 |
Yeah i am going to | ||
| Dfbutler |
5 minutes to put the bases on? Is that after your remove the rocker boxes? No matter what bases you're using, super glue the gasket into the base before trying to assemble, that way they won't roll when you put them on. | ||
| Kyrocket |
Thanks Preybird, just what I needed to start off my weekend  Would it be possible to sand off some of the lower tube to get it down? I'm going home and putting the calipers on both sets tonight and I'll chime back in with the dimensions. This blows. | ||
| Preybird1 |
That was a suggestion by al @ American Sport Bike. Yeah it does i have been down almost 2 weeks because of this mix up and i thought i was going crazy, That is how my bike ended up at the dealer  . I wish i had know about this beforehand, And before i ruined my weekend twice now | ||
| Kyrocket |
Weeellll, the black push rod tubes measure in at 1.0220" and the chrome ones at 1.0260. The chrome ones are actually thicker, albeit by only .004", but I would tend to think that the gasket should take up that slack right? I'm still trying to get my flywheels apart so my build has been delayed but this isn't good news. Please keep us posted. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Yeah i have no idea!! This is just stupid i think. I will have my old ones measured too, From my understanding the paint makes them stick more and they wont work. When i get them back i am going to try and see if the will slip down. I wonder if year of bike made a difference on the tube size??? I still have no clue about this i need to talk to AL at American Sport Bike to see if he had talked to DAN at NRHS to find out really what is going on. I talked to the buell mechanic and he said he called them(NRHS) personally and they told him they will not work on black tubes and they put it right in the instructions?? I have them here and i see nowhere in these instructions about black one's not working! This ought to be a good one this time!! 1.a really expensive lesson on why not to mess with the dealer. 2.They really don't work, And im glad i found out now! Either way i lose | ||
| Dfbutler |
Preybird1, try super gluing the seals in over night, lightly lube the tubes and clamp the base in a vise and GENTLY tap the tubes down through the base with a plastic or rubber hammer. | ||
| Ceejay |
Just get the stock gaskets from the dealership and throw the ones from NHRS away. I had the chrome tubes and no matter what I did they didn't seal. Pulled everything apart and put some stock seals in using the NHRS bases and worked like a charm...I'd bet the stock seals are the same for the black tubes and the chrome tubes, so I'd just go get a set of those. They are pretty cheap and usually in stock too. | ||
| Oldog |
.004" inch on a small gasket [oring] fit should not make that much difference. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Well i called AL @ American Sport Bike today to see if he had talked to DAN @ NRHS to see what is going on with the black push rod tubes not working, And it seems to be the paint, It should work, it could work! but it seems too be a real trick and angles game. I will try and do a double test when i get the base back, I like the your idea DFBUTLER, Maybe i will clamp the base and try it 1 more time and i will try a different seal. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
PB1, Seems like Ceejay's remedy has been used a few times and worked. Glad he chimed in 'cause I thought there was some discussion about a year or two ago but it was so long ago my memory got pretty fuzzy. CJ, did you and FMJ discuss this? Seems to be how the thread went... that if your got the bases to junk their seals and use stockers. | ||
| Preybird1 |
See I think it is the seals as well they seem to be thicker and or a harder rubber compound so they don't squeeze in so well. But that is just my observations. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
The NRHS/American Sport Bike hold downs work fine on the black tubes. The S1 I built with the X1 motor had black tubes. No leaks, no problems. As has been mentioned a number of times USE SUPERGLUE. I put 4 spots around the hold down hole, insert the seal, let it set up for a couple of minutes. Wipe a thin film of oil on the tube and insert into the hold downs. | ||
| Ceejay |
Littlebugs, that's it. I can't remember who I was talking/typing at but I was having some bad experiences with the NHRS supplied blue(in color) ones. Per suggestion I went and got some stockers(black in color), slapped them in and rode on... Thus given the amount of work involved and the price of stock ones, I'd buy they NHRS bases(they are damn nice to look at) and get some stock gaskets/seals and go that route. I had kinda forgotten about it too until this thead came up. | ||
| Preybird1 |
Yeah the superglue is key here no doubt. Ok it is all back together with the stock base's and seal and appears to not be leaking i will be riding it on a final test run 18 miles from the shop to home. I will let you guys know what happens tomorrow. | ||
| Tripp |
how'd you make out? | ||
| Preybird1 |
No leaks!!! Yes! Ok i was on the beast today running great. Tried to goad a guy on a new gixxer into a drag from light to light but he wussed out (man those are massive bikes) I love to embarrass them jap bike guys.  |
