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Punkrod FXR. Build Thread

27K views 66 replies 38 participants last post by  punkrod 
#1 ·
Okay boys and girl. I decided to do a build thread if the mods are okay with an EVO FXR build. After a year of working on stuff for everyone else, procrastinating, hoarding parts and negotiating with my sister, I finally dug her FXR out of the back of the garage and got it onto my lift. She bought it about 4 years ago, rode it a little then had a baby and well, you know the story. It's quite blinged up from 1995, hence the douchebag tribal paintjob and copious amounts of blingy chrome. The best part is the milage is below 10K and the "cop" engine mods have already been done. This bike will be a replacement for my venerable Dyna as my all around holigan tourer. I'm going to swap out most of the chrome parts with the black and aluminium items from the Dyna, (I'm going to "tastefully" bling up the Dyna to sell and recoup some of the costs).





 
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#6 ·
4 hours later...

FXR's have always been a favorite of mine too. I haven't laid a wrench on one in about 10 years so I'm looking forward to pushing the envelope. I've got a few ideas that should make it unique but I'm also going for durability and performance. The engine's pretty much set but it'll get better brakes and shocks. This bike also has to stand up to my daily use and my annual 6K tours.
 
#10 ·
Seems FXR's are the new Snovels. 5 years ago no one wanted one, now everybody is a fan.
So true. Back in Y2K I made a comment to my pal that just bought a POS Shovel. "Nice pan bro!" He looked at me perplexed because he knows that I knew what engine it had. I explained; Evo's are the new shovel's, shovel's are the new pan's, pan's are the new Knuckle's. The best part is that evo's are my favorite and now they're cheap. If Harley follows their usual program the Twin Cam will be phased out soon and my FXR will be the new panhead.:p

I wanted one back in '93 but all I could afford was a Sportster. I was torn when the Dyna came out because it looked better and I knew how to make them handle. I got mine for cheap about 5 years ago and I loved it until I rode this FXR.
 
#15 ·
Hehe, I used to think FXR was the ugliest H-D ever made. ............QUOTE]

Yep, but I'll sell my Pan before I turn loose of my 87 Low Rider Custom.
Larry T

 
#19 ·
Scoured that thread and copied a few pics for inspiration, (including #65).
I also like billdozer's #138. I'm leaving the suspension at stock height and running my chimp hangers or a version of. I like to run the twisties hard and the taller bars give me more leverage to swing this 550+ pound bike through the chicane's. I have a set of mid-glide conversion trees that I'm gonna keep because I think they give the bike a better front end visual proportion, (If I can score deal on the newer 49mm Dyna forks that would be even better). I'm debating on gas tanks. I need about 5 gallons for touring but I might set up an alternate 3 gallon "sport tank". I aquired an 03 fatboy tank that fits the FXR backbone perfectly except in the back where the seat area meets the backbone. Debating on cutting out the inner corners or finding a touring tank instead. All in good time as I'm focusing on the core frame/engine right now. My chrome allergies are raging to get that stuff off.
 
#20 ·
The only reason I'm NOT building with an FXR chassis, is because of the great barter deal I got my Softy frame for. It's cool...it's gonna be great...but next time I'll definately be using an FXR.

Have fun!!! Subscribed!!!
 
#22 ·
Custom rubber-mounted Harley's aren't easy or cheap to do which is why I like the challenge. The aftermarket is really geared towards Softails. just getting into all the options for swingarm attachment, rubber mounts, shocks ,etc. it gets complicated and the suppliers become single source.
I'm keeping this one kind of mild for now but one thing I'm not looking forward to is the swingarm. It's got the old stock cleve bloc setup which works great and doesn't really need to be upgraded. But, I've gotta pull it off for powdercoating which means all that stuff gets destroyed, (hopefully the pivot shaft isn't frozen in the trans case). Once it's all ready to go back together what setup do I go with? Back to the stock cleve bloc rubber bushings, the newer FLT setup, the glide-pro or some other thing? I'm leaning toward's Custom Cycle Engineering's spherical bearing setup but I'm researching. These frames are like a tuning fork so tweaking around the motor mounts can yield a variety of issues.
 
#23 ·
I agree, I saw a couple nice ones, all in all, Im NOT a fan of FXRs, I dont care for them. Im anxious to see how the build goes. Personally I think these bikes a challenging to make look good. Your off to a good start...and knockin it out too, keep it up.
 
#24 ·
Man, I don't envy you fighting with assembly of the cleve blocks. I'm sure there is a trick to it, but I haven't figured it out! Doesn't somebody make a parallel stiffener to take the flex out of the swing arm pivot? Seems like a good idea for a performance upgraded canyon carver. Lastly hope you can keep the 2 into one exhaust system. Thats worth some real world horse-power. Look forward to this build!
 
#25 ·
I'm gonna try the Sta Bo delrin bushings.
I've read all kinds of stuff about swingarm "upgrades" on the net, and still don't know which is best.
Gotta start somewhere. As good as my bike used to handle, it's got kind of twitchy in the back.
Larry T
 
#27 ·
Let me know what you think. All my enginering background tells me is that any plastic will cold flow and deform over time so nothing lasts forever as far as that goes. Delrin is probably a good upgrade though. Metal bearings are great for quick action and precision but have you ever ridden in a race car with a heim jointed suspension and no urethane anywhere? Pretty rough and I have my doubts on how the trans case will hold up, (why I haven't put down any cash yet). I'm probably way-over thinking it.
 
#26 ·
FXR's are ugly but if I follow good feng-shui and recognize the boundaries it should come out nice. That'll be my stalling issues wit this project.
I've done the cleve bloc assemblies before. I put the last one together with a few parts I turned on my lathe. Basically a pair of spacers that just fit inside the swing arm. I used a press to drive the bloc assembiles in with the pivot shaft as a guide. Worked pretty good. I used the tool for something else years ago so it's gone now.
Harley upgraded the shafts to 3/4" then 25mm to stiffen up the rear on the new FLT's. I don't want to get into machining the trans case right now and I don't think I need to go that far. The Ohlins shocks that I'd need to get the most benefits out of all that are way out of my price range anyway.
Exhausts are on my "later" list. I like the Thunderheader for performance but it's too loud and too long for my taste. I prefer them quiet at low RPM, (I like my neighbors). I also prefer more compact systems as far as looks go so I'm thinking about it. Anything can be changed later if I don't like it.
 
#28 ·
Me and the old lady were in carson city last spring staying at a hotel next to a gas station when about 30 Angels fron Nor Cal stopped for gas and sun screen, all on FXRs, young dudes, 35 tops. So we got talking and it turns out most of the bikes were pretty much stock. Seems they like rubber!
 
#30 ·
Took a few days off the bike to deal with the Holidays and hang with the fam.


Since I had to pull the whole valvetrain it was a good time to see what cam the PO had installed. There was a nice set of chrome-moly adjustable pushrods in there, (don't know the brand yet) and the tappets look good.

It's a Crane 1-1001, H296-2 grind which I've never used before but I do like how the bike goes. However, it appears that the inner cam bearing wasn't changed since it's the older INA type so I now have high-performance paperweight.

Haven't used this tool in ages, happy about that but not happy about why.


So, I need to order a new cam and torrington bearing. Debating on the tappets since they're good but if I can score a deal on a big axle Jim's set I might make the switch.

I think I'll be making the switch to working on the primary while I wait for parts.
 
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