Harley Build - Cafe Racer Teardown Review

FMH Founder Dennis Santopietro joins Tommy to touch base for the Harley build mid-project review. They look over our Harley Cafe Racer teardown and future plans to complete our build.

Reminding us of the importance of starting with a plan that not only includes the future design of the motorcycle, but also a project budget and a project schedule. Without a predetermined budget or time frame for completion, an enjoyable, fun, Harley build project like this can easily turn into a half dismantled motorcycle taking up space in the middle of your garage.

Dennis stresses the importance of “leaving a trail of breadcrumbs.” If you have an area of the motorcycle apart for a matter of weeks or months, it can be easy to lose track of how something goes together or the order in which something goes together for your Harley build. This is why it is so important to take the time to label parts, take photos, write notes, and lay parts out in an orderly fashion that will help you to remember their order upon reassembly. Basically, take the time to do anything that you can to help avoid confusion or aggravation during reassembly. It is important to remember that if you assemble something incorrectly it increases the odds of damaging a new part or a freshly painted component.

As always, Fix My Hog stresses motorcycle maintenance. You should always service your way in, and service your way back out of everything repair, Harley build or upgrade. Don’t ignore something that may be an issue during reassembly or further down the road.

The guys also cover some of the new parts that will be going onto this Sportster. These include: black S&S carburetor, S&S air cleaner assembly, Barnett Scorpion clutch assembly and Barnett braided cables and brake lines, Dakota Digital speedometer, Burly lowering kit, TC Bros mid controls. Decisions need to be made on the rims and powder coating colors.

We are anxious to start putting this bike back together as a modern Harley Cafe Racer.

Back to the Harley Cafe Racer Build

The Budget