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What I have learned OR how I got to like my HD

Sgt York

Active Member
I’m 58 years old and I finally got the bike of my dreams a month or so ago. It's a black 2007 EG Classic and only had 4,200 miles on it. My wife tells everyone it’s my black girlfriend, so I call it Black Betty. At my age, this will be the last bike I will buy, so I had high expectation. I was so excited the night I got it, I drove 9 hours in the dark and rain to get it back home.

The first 2 weeks I had it, I put about 2k on it. But I began to think I had made a mistake because of the engine/trans noise was starting to drive me crazy. I went to the HD dealer in Jackson and they told me it was normal, but I did not think so. I posted many questions here and on another HD forum about my concerns. HDForums was not much help, but some of you guys here got me pointed in the right direction,

Things I have learned and applied from here were:
XIEDs – stopped the engine pinging.
IDS – stopped the trans noise and made for smoother shifting.
IDS for 08 will work on my 07 if I buy spacers and bearing for the 07 IDS (that saved me a bunch of money).
Use 75/90 gear oil in trans (I had bought syn3 20-50 to put in).
Don’t use Syn3 in engine (I’m using Mobil V-Twin 20/50 now)
How to wire passing lights to work with HI and Lo headlights
Do not keep the RPMS to low and lug the engine.

NOW I have the bike that I thought I was buying in the first place. Thanks for all the good advice.
 
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I’m 58 years old and I finally got the bike of my dreams a month or so ago. It's a black 2007 EG Classic and only had 4,200 miles on it. My wife tells everyone it’s my black girlfriend, so I call it Black Betty. At my age, this will be the last bike I will buy, so I had high expectation. I was so excited the night I got it, I drove 9 hours in the dark and rain to get it back home.

The first 2 weeks I had it, I put about 2k on it. But I began to think I had made a mistake because of the engine/trans noise was starting to drive me crazy. I went to the HD dealer in Jackson and they told me it was normal, but I did not think so. I posted many questions here and on HDForums about my concerns. HDForums was not much help, but some of you guys here got me pointed in the right direction,

Things I have learned and applied from here were:
XIEDs – stopped the engine pinging.
IDS – stopped the trans noise and made for smoother shifting.
IDS for 08 will work on my 07 if I buy spacers and bearing for the 07 IDS (that saved me a bunch of money).
Use 75/90 gear oil in trans (I had bought syn3 20-50 to put in).
Don’t use Syn3 in engine (I’m using Mobil V-Twin 20/50 now)
How to wire passing lights to work with HI and Lo headlights
Do not keep the RPMS to low and lug the engine.

NOW I have the bike that I thought I was buying in the first place. Thanks for all the good advice.

I'm sorry, but I am new to Harley and was curious, what do XIEDS and IDS acronyms stand for? what are the changes made to prevent pinging, and allow smoother shifting respectively, did you do the work yourself...an aftermarket tuner...or Harley dealer? :newsmile071:

Good job that you were able to tailor it to your liking...did you have a Goldwing or big bore metric bike before the Harley?...that would explain a lot, as I know I was pretty much the same about Harley before I picked up my '04Sportster and sorted things out on it...oh yeah, "-- probably my last bike too, so my better 3/4's tells me anyway...!" :D
 
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Xieds are a enrichment device by Nightrider richens up mixture to about 13.8 vs stock 14.7 which is to lean ..

Ids is Harleys Rear sprocket Snubber to quiet drivetrain noise .. I forget the actual name but search IDS and you will find a picture..

He used the Xieds to solve the pinging and the IDS to help with the shifting noise and Gear oil in the trans vs the 20w-50 harley is putting in the trans to make it shift better

---------------

Glad ya got it to where you are happy with it
 
I'm sorry, but I to am new to Harley and was curious, what is XIEDS and IDS acronyms stand for? what are the changes made to prevent pinging, and allow smoother shifting respectively, did you do the work yourself...an aftermarket tuner...or Harley dealer? :newsmile071:

Good job that you were able to tailor it to your liking...did you have a Goldwing or big bore metric bike before the Harley?...that would explain a lot, as I know I was pretty much the same about Harley before I picked up my '04Sportster and sorted things out on it...oh yeah, "-- probably my last bike too, so my better 3/4's tells me anyway...!" :D

I did all the work myself except for the Isolated Drive System (IDS). Had a local shop do that for me. I had a Suzuki C-50 for 3 years before I got the EG. Like so many others here, I have not been riding for about 25 years due to children. I know I wanted the EG but thought I would start with a smaller (and cheaper) bike to get used to riding again.

Glad you got the typical problems sorted out, enjoy that bike and ride it safe.

Thanks Glider. There is a guy I know that traded his 07 EG because of the noise problem and the lack of help from HD. Glad I found this site before I got to that point.

I'm enjoying every min of it.
 
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That IDS makes a world of difference on the 07 bikes. I put one on mine and couldn't believe the difference.
 
That IDS makes a world of difference on the 07 bikes. I put one on mine and couldn't believe the difference.

I agree Glider. It's like getting a new HD. My wife even noticed the differance. She tells me that my shifting is smoother. Best mod that I could ever do to.
 
I’m 58 years old and I finally got the bike of my dreams a month or so ago. It's a black 2007 EG Classic and only had 4,200 miles on it. My wife tells everyone it’s my black girlfriend, so I call it Black Betty. At my age, this will be the last bike I will buy, so I had high expectation. I was so excited the night I got it, I drove 9 hours in the dark and rain to get it back home.

The first 2 weeks I had it, I put about 2k on it. But I began to think I had made a mistake because of the engine/trans noise was starting to drive me crazy. I went to the HD dealer in Jackson and they told me it was normal, but I did not think so. I posted many questions here and on another HD forum about my concerns. HDForums was not much help, but some of you guys here got me pointed in the right direction,

Things I have learned and applied from here were:
XIEDs – stopped the engine pinging.
IDS – stopped the trans noise and made for smoother shifting.
IDS for 08 will work on my 07 if I buy spacers and bearing for the 07 IDS (that saved me a bunch of money).
Use 75/90 gear oil in trans (I had bought syn3 20-50 to put in).
Don’t use Syn3 in engine (I’m using Mobil V-Twin 20/50 now)
How to wire passing lights to work with HI and Lo headlights
Do not keep the RPMS to low and lug the engine.

NOW I have the bike that I thought I was buying in the first place. Thanks for all the good advice.


Say what?!?! I'm glad you got everything the way you like it but I've got no intention to stop buying bikes simply because of my age!
 
I think it's a "Tough Love" concept from the MoCo. They make them this way on purpose so that we have to work out the little things and bond and become one with the bike. :p

Glad you got it the way you want it. Life is good now
 
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