As top Harley builder Scott Greenwood remarked to me last year, when fitting any aftermarket parts to a Harley the first step is to chuck the instructions away and figure it out yourself. The next step is to get out the grinder and welder, and be prepared to get involved with the bits because nothing will fit.

When John called me out of the blue and asked if I could help him out with his '91 Softail, it sounded like the bike had simply been stripped for a paintjob. However when I went over to take a look at the pile of bits it rapidly became obvious that more elaborate plans had been made for the bike, and the ominous pile of aftermarket parts suggested some creative spannering was going to be needed. Plus the motor had been part stripped, and the frame powder coated by an industrial finishers who had clogged up most of the bolt holes. Best roll up me sleeves then....

The major part of Johns plans for the bike revolved around a Santee fat rear wheel conversion designed to take a 200 section tyre. The Santee kit comes complete with a wheel, swingarm and weld-on fender struts which supposedly fit straight on to the bike. John had already welded the replacement struts on before powder coating the frame, so the rest should simply bolt on.

I started by loosely assembling the swingarm and wheel and immediately had to break out the lathe to make up some wheel spacers. Santee mysteriously supply only one wheel spacer with the kit which is far too big to fit anywhere. Fortunately I still had the stock spacers to work with and a little careful juggling got everything to fit. With no reference in the instructions to belt widths I assumed the kit would accommodate the stock belt and rear pulley, so I fit the belt around the swingarm before bolting it up.

Up front the forks had been completely stripped to have the sliders rechromed, so I started by rebuilding the yokes and setting up the head bearings before refitting the sliders with new seals. As the bottom end of the engine showed no signs of distress I opted not to spilt the crankcases and bolted it into the frame. Careful work with Nitromors and a spray with PJ1 engine black smartened it up first.

With the forks rebuilt the front wheel could go in, and for the first time we have something that looks a little bit like a motorcycle. The Santee fat rear end kit includes mountings to offset the transmission 1" over to the left. This comprises a spacer to pack the primary case away from the motor, along with a longer countershaft sprocket nut, and a new set of transmission mounting bracketry to move the whole gearbox 1" over too. The point of all this is to move the belt out from the centreline of the engine so it will clear the fat rear tyre. The new transmission mounting plate bolts sit very close to the top of the shockers, and some judicious work with a grinder is nescessary to make sure they'll clear on full bounce.

Before tightening the transmission mounting bolts it's also nescessary to mount up the inner primary cover and make sure the gearbox shaft lines up correctly. Not mentioned in the instructions, but rather essential.

With all that lot sorted the top ends could go back on the engine. Not too difficult this, (I do like working on Evos), but I had to pause to have some of the threads reclaimed on the front cylinder head. Weather had penetrated and corrosion had had time to take hold. Careful work with a drill and tap looked after most of them, but one required a helicoil before the lower rocker cover could go on. The old teardrop filter isn't going back on, but it will do to support the carb till the Hypercharger arrives.

Cooking with gas now; the oil tank goes on and round the other side, the primary drive and clutch are rebuilt. No oil or fluids of any kind just yet until I know everything is correctly fitted and aligned.

It takes me half a day to hook up the electrics as some of the old joints need re-soldering, and all the earth points on the frame have been powder coated over. But once I fit the battery and turn on the ignition everything lights up and spins and sparks as it should. Encouraging. Now the stretch fatbobs and rear fender can go on. The rear fender is also an aftermarket item and has been widened to 9" to clear the fat tyre.

Up front a new Kuryakin Hypercharger bolts painlessly onto the stock carb and clears the right hand fuel tank like it was made for the bike. Good stuff. We need a new tailight to fit the 9" wide fender. Unfortunatley the new accessory catalogue is delayed so I throw myself on the mercies of Nick at Cycle Haven, who sorts us out with this tidy stretch cateye lamp. I've cut the stock bracket and welded a couple of sections in to widen it to fit, and it looks quite presentable. The following week the new catalogue arrives with a page full of 9" tailight brackets for softails. Ho hum...

To provide the final touches on the motor I've talked John into shelling out for a full stainless fastener kit from Inox, and tasty braided brake oil lines from Earls. The blue hose end finishers were ordered specially to go with the paintjob. With the bike more or less built I start to focus on the rear pulley and belt. The stock pulley only just squeezes in, and is running far too close to the inside of the swingarm for my liking. And the belt is touching the tyre at the inner edge. No, sorry, don't like that. Careful measuring indicates that a Sportster pulley (which is narrower) will put us in the right ballpark for clearance, so everything goes on hold while one goes on order.

Harley do offer a narrow pulley for softails, stock on late models, but that spaces the belt away from the tyre. We need clearance between the pulley and swingarm so the Sportster pulley is the answer. However the Sportster pulley has only 61 teeth compared to the stock bikes 70, which could radically affect the gearing. It also means a different length belt, and the primary drive and swingarm has to come off twice before I find a combination which works. We end up with a 128 tooth belt on a 61 tooth rear pulley which, according to the parts list, puts the bike on Fatboy gearing.

Eventually a couple of Tolle shims pack the pulley out so the belt clears the tyre, and I even manage to squeeze a chrome pulley cover in to finish off the rear end. The custom shorty belt guard still has to have big lumps ground off it before it clears the new belt though.

At last the bike rumbles off on stock pipes for its MOT test before coming back into the workshop for drag pipes fitting. I've re-bent the sissy bar to fit the wide rear fender and that will have to be re-chromed, and the bike still needs detail work like pegs and grips to finish it off but it's now up and running, just nicely in time for summer. Sorted.

Click here to view a short movie clip of John riding the bike.

Dr.Rod.