Buyer beware flywheel auction

[Jerry Wieland]

Sometimes I cannot help but wonder if some of these people have any clue at all what they are bidding on.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361862633210...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

2 right side flywheels of total different vintages. Right side appears to be 58 and up and left side is 54 and down. Look at how different the rod reliefs are in each flywheel. I cannot help but think these are anything but scrap iron -- at least that would have to be my assumption until proven otherwise.

Jerry

[billpedalino]

Years ago some people used two right side flywheels to lighten the crank assembly to enable some quicker horsepower at the expense of torque. Significant re-balancing was required. These are probably the remains of some old speedster's hot rod motor.

[Rubone]

Jerry is right (except for the '55 part) and those wheels never were run together. No way to set end play, and the cases would have to be really mismatched.

[Jerry Wieland]

Years ago some people used two right side flywheels to lighten the crank assembly to enable some quicker horsepower at the expense of torque. Significant re-balancing was required. These are probably the remains of some old speedster's hot rod motor.

Bill I am totally familiar with using 2 rightside wheels together for quick acceleration, I taken quite a few motors apart with either rightside FL wheels or UL wheels and even one using 2 rightside UL wheels.but this auction is stuff nightmares are made up of.

Jerry

[billpedalino]

I took a closer look and you guys are correct - these are a put-together. Just another EBay scammer successfully unloading upon a disappointed buyer.

By the way, we used to (upon request) shave down the left flywheel for guys who insisted on lightening rather than using two right flywheels. That way the spacing remained simple using standard thrust washers. However, personally I never really liked the concept.

For the effort and cost, I (and most of our power-crazy customers) went the S&S route which provided the lighter flywheels with all the torque generated by the longer stroke. My experience was that as long as you didn't go crazy with stroke length and kept the piston velocity within reason, these motors held together quite nicely and generated that wonderful 'pull' any time you decided to twist the grip. In fact, I still own two 4-5/8" strokes from my youth; a 77" Sportster and a 96" shovelhead, although I haven't ridden or even started either of them in years. However, I do look forward to getting back to them 'someday'. My feeling was that if both flywheels were to be light, you had to have a longer stroke.

[Hack]

I bought a nice looking set of Glide risers listed as "OEM Original removed from a stock 53 Panhead". They were Taiwan Ted crap, I knew I was screwed as soon as I picked up the box. I got a refund and even spoke to the guy on the phone, he didn't seem to care one way or the other and many item descriptions he lists are vague going on just plain BS. His defense is, it is up to you know what is real and what is not. Like you guys I have been doing this for many years but when it comes to the Evilbay you just have to be careful as you can be and pick your fights.

[craig (DE)]

As a newbie with a 1965 FLH, I am very leery with Ebay stuff advertising for my year bike. I'm learning a great deal here and hope to not get taken if I do find something to buy on the internet.