M8 Harley Switches and Electrical Check
Mike RoenDescription
We have the new Milwaukee Eight Heritage Softail on the lift and we are ready to begin a full service as per the factory service checklist.
It is important to run the motorcycle for more than two minutes prior to service. This is important to remember before the motorcycle is strapped down on a lift or already in your home garage. Start the motorcycle outside and let it idle while you prepare your tools, rags, drain pans, etc. No need to have noxious fumes build up in your garage. The fluids will evacuate quicker and more thoroughly when warm.
Turn motorcycle ON to test all Harley switches, lights and indicators, including the:
Front & rear turn signals and turn signal indicators
Four way, hazard lights
Hand and foot brake lights
Low beam, high beam, and high beam indicator
Spotlights
Neutral indicator
Horn
Fender tip lamps, if applicable
Checking these Harley switches, lights and indicators is, of course, important for safety purposes. It is also important to note what is or is not functioning prior to doing any kind of service or repair work on your motorcycle. For instance, if you know that your signal lights were fully functional prior to removing and reinstalling your fuel tank, it may be easier to diagnose what may have gone wrong.
Mike gets the M8 Softail ready for service by removing the passenger seat and rider seat. Note that the battery is no longer located beneath the seat. Instead, a large mono-shock is visible. The right side saddlebag is removed by using a T45 torx bit. Remove two long bolts, then pull up and back to release the saddlebag.
Finally, you can unscrew the engine oil fill plug. This will vent the oil compartment and help the oil drain properly.
Next we will begin draining the fluids.
All right, we got a little heat in the motorcycle now. If you're looking in the manual, they say, you know, to run the bike for at least two minutes. Ideally, I kinda like to get 'em kind of a little hotter just so you can drain out all the impurities when you're doin' it. And first on the checklist, what we're gonna do is kinda go over the electrical items, 'cause you're gonna be working on this motorcycle and you wanna make sure you don't throw an electrical bug into it. So when you're done with the service, you can recheck all the electrical items make sure everything's functioning properly. So this motorcycle, keyless ignition. It's just got the fob here. The key is for the steering lock. So go ahead and power it up. Check everything. When you're checking the turn signals, look at your dash, make sure that's all working properly. Check all your lights. Pretty straight forward. The biggest concern here is the brake light. Hand brake, foot brake that works. Horn. Harley's got a new button here for their spots. That's good. No fender tip lights on this model. You got your four-way hazard button over here. High beam, kinda look at your dash, make sure all that's working too. So pretty straight forward. I'm kinda at the point now where a customer drops a bike off and I kinda like to almost do that because on high mileage bikes, a lotta times they're riding around, they don't even know the rear brake light isn't working and it's a pretty big deal on a motorcycle. So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna spin the motorcycle around so you can see where the drain plugs are located. Right down here, you got the oil fill cap. Typically we crack that, just so it'll vent properly. And we might as well go ahead and just take the saddlebag off, get that out of the way and the seat. Pretty straight forward. Kinda like the old Heritage, got one screw on the back seat here. I just got it finger tight. We'll get this stuff out of the way. Wiggle that out of the way. Two little thumb wheels here. Kinda nice, you don't need any tools for that. And of course everybody's thinking there's gonna be the battery under the seat and not anymore. That's where you got the big model shock right there. Okay, T45. For the saddlebag, just pop it down. I've already got these loose too. They're just finger tight, 'cause we didn't wanna... Keep it rolling here. So it's a little different than the FL where they got the thumb wheel where you can do by hand. So T45, might wanna put one in your tool kit, just because for whatever reason, if you did have to take the bags off. So now you can see down here just pull the bag back, slip fit right into there. Pretty straightforward. Get this outta the way. Probably put these bolts back in so this back rest isn't flopping around. You don't want it falling down, scratching any paint on a motorcycle. Okay, throw a fender cover on it and the gas tank cover here, because you can't scratch Harleys. Okay once again, there's your fill hole, got that cracked. We're gonna go over that. I just like crack it so it drains better. And now we'll spin the bike around and we'll show you where the drain plugs are.
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