1994 Harley Davidson Sportster 1200 XLH Maintenance & Repairs
    
This is the maintenance I did on the bike when I brought it home in October 2018.

   Cycles Inc - General Tune-up change spark plugs oil and filter. Install new rear tire. Replace broken clutch cable that broke on the way to the shop.
 
I started detailing the chrome and wheels with some cleaning products that Don gave me.  I used a leather restoration product on the saddlebags, front & rear pouches and the seat. I used some black leather dye to improve the overall appearance. 

I cleaned the fuse panel & wire brushed connections and got the turning signals, horn, & brake lights working.  I ordered a 1994 Harley Davidson owner’s manual to use as a point of reference when working on this bike, it's already been quite useful for some of the maintenance.   

I found that the squealing noise in the rear was loose sprocket bolts. I tighten the sprocket bolts a couple times but they kept coming loose so I purchased a motorcycle jack so I could work on the bike. With the bike on the motorcycle jack, I took all the sprocket bolts out and put loctite on them and tighten them up with a ratchet.   

I found two front motor mount bolts that were loose on the frame and tighten them.   

The front brake quit working so I ordered Dot 5 brake fluid which is what the manual called for but someone had already started using Dot 3 or Dot 4 in it so I had to bleed the brake line out and flush the master cylinder out then bleed the entire system. I have the front brakes working now.   

I installed a new battery with 310 CCA. It's the correct size for Harley-Davidson. I installed negative and positive wires with o-rings to the battery and I purchased a battery tender 2 amp charger so I can charge the bike without removing the battery box cover. 

I used gorilla tape to repair the battery box and installed the chrome strap that I ordered. It looks good.   

I ordered a product called VLP vinyl leather patch to repair the hole that was in the seat. After letting it dry for 24 hours, I used some black dye on it and it looks pretty good. 

I removed the kickstand to install a new chrome spring. The old spring was weak allowing the kickstand to hang pretty low and drag on cornering. The welded bracket was a bit worn so I used a bigger washer and a new cotter pin to tighten it up some. 

The throttle hand grip kept slipping almost off and I knew I had to do something about it so I used just a little bit of Elmer's Carpenter's glue. It will dry hard not stay sticky and if I need to remove it I can just twist it in the opposite direction to get it off.   

I'm still having contact issues with the ignition switch trying to find a sweet spot to start the bike and get the instrument panel lights to work. I ordered a new ignition switch and installed it today it made a pretty significant difference in starting the bike. 

I had Brian order some new instrument panel bulbs from eBay I'll install them when I get back from a trip to PA. 

I changed the oil and filter and I also accidentally drained the chaincase and transmission fluid. After learning how to replace that I am using a recommended Castrol motorcycle 20W / 50W gear oil. 

I had to remove the chaincase cover and observe through the observation window that I had the correct amount of chaincase oil and transmission fluid since I learned that they share the same fluid through an opening in the motor gearbox.