That bike doesn’t need a mechanic, it needs a priest!

Great job Craig! I hope the customer appreciated all your hard work to get his bike back. I fully see why no other shop wanted to touch it as it really needed a Craig's touch

"What is happening now?!" The voice in my head of my old mechanic colleague "You are giving it to much love and now it wants to stay here with you"

You have the patience of a saint my friend. Hats off to you from the UK! 🇬🇧

Man you gotta keep doing these videos at your own pace, been binging your videos for few weeks on/off now and quality is amazing

Sadly when a customer brings you something as messed up they have to be okay with paying you to learn.

Hats off to you sir! Your perseverance was unwavering. I’d have given up on that bike way back

Great job. Those cascading gremlins is how most of my projects work. Every removal reveals something else to fix. However, once done, perfect!

finally decided I'm going to document my journey finding a cheap used bike and seeing if I can get it road worthy, handy with cars now wanna try my hand at bikes since I got my license to honor my late father this year. you are the best Craig

In 1997 there was an epidemic of that same starter problem, I worked at a place called Ultra Kustom Cycles, we found about 20 bikes out of about 200 that shared the same problem it was the aftermarket starters bolting to Harley Davidson style starter jackshaft assembly eventually they started to make an aftermarket jackshaft with upgraded hardware to solve the problem, the big engines from places like S&S cycles would destroy the factory HD jackshaft's due to the high compression.

Kudos for fixing the bike that nobody else would touch! I can't believe the owner was dumb enough to jump it with a 24 volt system

"I'm startering to hate this bike" was pretty good. Haha. I was super excited to see this follow-up video. Loving the content, Craig.

I was at a bike manufacturers expo years ago. Big dog had a booth with a few of their brand new bikes. On the bike the brakes were leaking brake fluid, brand new. Quality control was not their strong point. "These bikes are made to be seen not ridden" That's a understatement. Lol.

Craig, you're the man. You did the difficult, if not impossible, and got the Big Dog rolling down the road...

Man, I can't believe how much more I'm enjoying this content than I thought. Even more than the OG channel! Great job Craig.

Hard tail = dangerous when road wet...... Nice work Craig ❤😊

I used to own a Big Dog K9. That's the soft tail version of what you're riding. I loved that bike...but I'm very tall torso'd so the rake felt good on my shoulders. The back tire feels real nice because it rights itself upright after a curve. The wiring on these dudes is a mess...they use really tiny wiring and a lower voltage and they burn up fast. It's best to do what Craig did and rewire them.

I can imagine Craig getting new business cards: "I do stuff that others can't do or won't do. That doesn't mean that I want to"

This man loves what he does. That bike got fixed because of love! Great attitude all the way through, and the results show. Priceless is this type of work is (and learning ;-) ).

Well after all the issues I'm sure we wont chastise you for getting a couple of wires the wrong way round . Glad you enjoyed the ride makes spending soo long repairing the bike a touch sweeter . Cheers for the videos .

lmao the way the lift dropped down had me dying

Ooof a hard tail. I completely agree that those bikes are meant to be seen not ridden. the riding portion of the exercise is secondary to the looking cool portion. I own a cruiser bike but these extreme chopper style bikes never appealed to me much other than seeing them at a bike show or other gatherings so I can ogle the chromed out parts and sweet paint jobs. Glad you managed to chase down the last of the gremlins and get this beast running again.

Nice job Craig. It was cool to see your thought process change. Custom bikes have such a different intensity level when a true mechanic is working on them.

you have more patience then I do. if I had to redo all the wiring the customer definitely wouldn't be able to afford my labor

I don’t know what it is but this has suddenly become my favourite motorcycle content channel. I genuinely feel like me and Craig are old best buddies and that is kind of weird to say for a forty two years old Norwegian

Love watching these videos and trying to learn as I go. Despite riding I don’t know nearly as much as I should to repair even any simple stuff. Fantastic as always

First rule for diagnosing problems, reduce it to the simplest, then add components. First, battery, ignition. (does it work? yes? we continue with the rest) Isolating systems is your best ally

As much as it was cursed, my takeaway is how much he learned about these types of bikes and something happened he's never seen before. Knowledge is worth the gremlins.

Craig it is great to see a new video on this chopper. It's coming along nicely so far my friend. Can't wait to see more updates an projects and many more videos soon Craig. Keep up the great craftsmanship and hard work my friend. Fab On. We'd On. Keep Making. God bless.

Awesome! Glad you got it all figured out. Nice looking ride. 🤘

Great job keep up the good work. I fix large industrial chillers and commercial building HVAC in LA & OC. long ago, in the beginning of my career, I remember a time when i was embarrassed about admitting my mistakes but not anymore; we all make mistakes. later in my career when the repair doesn't turn out right one of my first thoughts is "what did i do wrong"😂 It's great that you are showing the whole process of fixing something that others will not or can not. That you work through a true troubleshooting process and are not one of those mechanics that says "it has to be .... that's broken" I commend you for not wanting to bill the customer for your learning. I'm now basically a consultant visiting contractors job sites to assist in troubleshooting and repair. I have laughingly put mechanics troubleshooting approach into 2 different categories (1) the shotgun approach, It could be this or it could be that or "this was bad last time that happened" or (2) the snipper approach, methodical, has a plan, uses his tools to gather information to pin point the problem.

Hey Greg😂😂, love your enthusiastic, humourous, entertaining & knowledgeable instructable videos. I'm a bike (home) mechanic. Learning all the time, thanks to you and Dan. An inspiration, for sure. You guys are my favorite downtime entertainment. Keep them coming.

Well done dude, yep they can be a nightmare at times. Happy Mechanicing from England.

I was told if you're not making any mistakes you're not doing nothing evidently you're getting it done. congratulations on your success!!!🤯

Literally my favorite channel and my favorite mechanic. Lots of love from Los Angeles. 🏍🏍

We want to see more 2 stroke bikes specially the old one please 👍👌

I really was eager to see how it would all turn out. I knew you'd make it happen somehow. Good job Craig.

you have a way of doing things and explaining them that is just easy to watch, you should bring in regular people with their bikes and work with them on repairs and servicing them

Congratulation Craig! Your knowledge, your intelligence & your patience - all were rewarded as soon as the bike started with its fullest performance! Your videos are so much informative & inspiring. I am an electrical control panel manufacturer but I love, cherish & learn a lot from your videos! Many many thanks & all the best wishes for you & your team.

Nice job! Can't wait to see the UN-FIXABLE bulldozer series next!

I don’t even jump my bike with a car because I’m scared to… you said a bulldozer ?!?!?😂

You never cease to amaze me Craig! You give me encouragement to keep on wrenching and always recheck your work.

It’s awesome that people in the comments helped you find the issues. Another set of eyes it always good after looking at something the same for hours on end. Good work sir!

I believe it's called a starter Bendix not an appendix 😂😂 I've heard a few people call them human organ, but it is a silly name. Love the videos

Been waiting for this one. Still got faith in you Craig. We shall see.

Another great vid Craig. I like how you methodically work through every element that may stop a bike from firing up, eliminate them all, to identify the actual problem. It's a great help to us WST's (weekend spanner turners) who may have a piece of junk we're trying to resurrect.

I love your determination and the fact you are willing to show us when you make a mistake that's gonna help us learn too

That engine sounds amazing spoilers :3 Cya next video Craig already watched those two!

Not sure I’d want to ride a cursed bike 😂

Good job on fixing this one , my Buddy’s Dad had a big dog and loved it never had an issue the time he had it

Loved this series! Fantastic work seeing this project to the end.

The starter issue was from the weird firing and starting issue with the timing being off.

The starter gear definitely broke due to that timing issue! Hopefully, you didn't charge the customer for that one. Glad you got it running!

we have all been there.....but nearly jumped out my seat when you grabbed the exhaust after you got it going !!!! good video .

Glad to see vintage days mentioned. Going to keep an eye out for famous people like Craig this year

Knew you could and would do it.

No offense to Sean but his goofiness not being around is refreshing. Please finish the WLA Craig.

In a fan. Couple videos the past few days and fun to watch, relaxed and good info.

Well done Sir! Keep fixing things until you run out and then you're done. Great demonstration of perseverance with a happy ending.

You did amazing figuring and sorting this thing out, the bike sounds and looks great. Well done man

Nice to finally see that chopper running!!! You're a hell of a mechanic, man. Thanks

Crag you are the Chopper Bike Mechanical Genius? I have worked on bikes and built several choppers and I am impressed with your level of expertise. Thumbs UP!

Really hope you labeled all those connectors afterwards, really awesome seeing guys still tackle these projects

Awesome wealth of knowledge!!!! Happy to watch another collaboration with Veterans of building bikes.

So glad to see you got this bike to run and worked your way thru all of the issues. Great two video series of fixing this bike.

Excellent job, it takes a lot of patience to work on electrics. Top man 👍

Keep up the great work, I like the Pro Tip part. Do more of those :)

Got it done! Wow. Good on you for taking on this massive project.

Your videos inspire me to get to work turning wrenches on my stuff, thanks Craig!

Awesome Job! Glad you stuck with it. It was a blast to watch.

20 years ago I used to do test rides for a local ad magazine. I went to a Big Dog dealer to ride a hard tail like the one in this video. They rolled it out of the showroom and started it up and it promptly caught fire. They rolled out another one and as I pulled out of the lot it stalled and would not start again. They brought it into the shop and 3 hours later, the mechanic still couldn't get it started. Thankfully, that was my first and last experience with those rolling pieces of junk.

That's why Honda made the Fury. Made to be seen AND ridden. Enjoyed watching your knowledge.

Congrats for your patience, Brother. Good (hard) job well done.

Nice catch on the wire swap! Well done. I like the Pro Tips a lot. Thank you.

I enjoyed that. Major props to you for fixing that wiring nightmare.

I applaud your tenacity good sir.

Absolutely brilliant video and so informative. Only just found this channel, sitting at home with a broken leg. This is definitely making a great way of spending my time. OK now for the next one. 😊

Thanks for the videos Craig! Me and my wife love your videos. Can't wait for an update on your dads bike you brought back!

Your passion n sheer will is your super power. I have an 08 Pitbull and I was told that Wires Plus make a n EHC harness after mines stopped on the parkway. Not an electrical problem since. Anyway, I love your "no give up" mentality. That Dog was a mess. Cudos my friend!

What a battle....but very impressive systematic fault finding. You nailed it as aspected!!

It’s very satisfying to watch you succeed! Eggcellent work!

Fully respect to your work and your endurance. Nice to see. Hopefully the customer offer some special thanks gifts. Greats from germany.

Well done Craig. You're definitely "The Man that Can!". 👍👍👍

Your Sticktoitiveness is impressive Craig. I felt that right along with you when it started.

The lift tried to drop that chopper like a bad habit!

Just stumbled upon this..nice classy skills and experience..good stuff!

Bike sounds good. Great job. Electrical issues can get you to pull your hair out. I bought a bike that took me 3 days to find all the issues the previous owner butchered. Ride safe.

Analytical Trouble Shooting: What should it be doing? What isn't it doing? What has changed? (I used to carry a plastic card in my pocket to remind me never to stray from those rules). This approach can be applied to almost *all* faults and always points in the right direction, but only if; The mind remains open, The ego is retired, No experience driven, "I don't need to check that, coz I know what I'm doing" shortcuts are employed! You aced it! I really enjoy your videos. Thanks!

Craig, I had a friend who had one in the 1990s and it ate starters like hotdogs ! It was under warranty so they just keep putting them in. It was crazy expensive and that was almost 30yr. Ago. B.D.M. was very new back then and everyone loved it except the owner . All in All it was a money Pit . Good job Craig.

Watching from Oz, enjoyed the added tour, cheers.

Glad to see you got it going again. Nice to see you taking the Dog for a walk

I knew you could do it. You have proved yourself as being much more than just a parts-changer.

getting connectors mixed? We have all done it and learned to triple check every bloody thing we do. Good work, fascinating to watch someone else do the work. Take care, ride safe

Great job. Not only did you fix the bike, but you removed the curse and dispelled the myths about these bikes.

Never lose faith in Craig. Excellent job on the bike, sir. I'd hire you in a heartbeat and a half.

When you were talking about long rides on a hardtail, I expected an "East Rider" clip and music. At least it played in my head. 😂

Brave taking it back to the scene of the crime. I was just waiting for some cursed jumper cables to jump out of the bush.

all BigDogs are is a frame wrapped around an S&S engine. There was no R&D involved in 'designing' these bikes. Ask Dog owners how many times their front headlight mount snapped off- You can build a Dog yourself, a better Dog. Anyway- props to this guy for sticking with and working the problem. Wiring is very detail demanding . I used the ThunderHeart kit on my build and it took patience-- and a shot of JD once in a while. I know he was fair pricewise with the owner but I hope he was fair to himself too- he deserved it. I also like the fact that he cleaned all the oily fingerprints off before he fired up the bike. Good catch taking care of the starter tab. Great job - you definitely checked all the boxes. Ride Safe Everybody.

Love your channel, Craig! Keep it up and soon you’ll be the SMA of motorcycle repair!

Well done from New Zealand. Persistence and pleasure.