Winter Project - Raking out my neck and new front end...

Staffy

Staffy

Active Member
Moespeeds said:
5 weeks to get my bars chromed at DGM. I'm really pissed about that, I never should have brought them there because everyone told me. They quoted me 2 weeks, that was 3 weeks ago, and now they are saying 2 more weeks. As of right now, there are some little loose ends I need to wrap up but everything is pretty much done.
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Feel your pain - I thought that only happned at "some" paint shops. (No offence to ANY of our "painting" forum members who have been NOTHING BUT GREAT) I just wished I had engaged with them - my bad :bang: :bang: Have my tins in for painting 6 weeks and counting. Got some progress but not happy. So hang in there it will all be worth it - I'm sure.
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
MARV I was on a 2005 Chopper I fixed up for a friend. He now keeps it in my garage so I ride it when I want. He's one of those guys that takes his bike out 3 times a year. I've already put more miles on it in the last month than he did all of last summer.
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
Internal throttle install:







I had a custom cable made with black vinyl sheathing stead of braided so it was thinner. It also has an adjuster at the bottom which was a lifesaver.
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
Finally got it done, pics are below. I still have a few issues. Trail seems low, the bike is twitchy at speed. This might be from the higher bars, but I'm going to mess with the springer height to see if I can improve it. My rear fender also seems higher than it was before, I have no idea what could have caused this. Overall everything came out great.













 
lee

lee

Well-Known Member
looks immense Moe - who's internal throttle system did you go with and what hand controls are you using?
 
alhall88

alhall88

UAW
Looks good moe, remember that front end is lighter and it takes some getting used too. The taller bars are also going to magnify this. If your ride height is level you can do what I did that helped me. The directions state if I remember to keep the front axle centerline 1/2 to 1 inch above the springer rocker pivot point. What I did was cut an additional 3/4 inch off my springer bars after I was sitting on the bike loaded. This put me slightly off the 1 inch maximum when I was not sitting on the bike but what it did was increase the spring load which in turn shifted some of the weight back to the front end. I only weigh 160lbs. so this helped a great deal.
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
So Al, what I would need to do is lower the front end/raise the front axle? I was going to call American today to ask that question. What I'll do is slide the whole spring tree up 1/2". I know it will take some getting used to, but it feels way too light, it's tough to go in a straight line at speed. I still need to throw on my leather racing suit and full face helmet and take it up to 100 to test for wobbles. I'll post pics of that, my big ass in a neon orange roadracing suit blasting down the highway on a chopper! Internal throttle is the model Vtwin sells. It's a knock off of the streamline throttle. I had to machine the roller bearings deeper into the throttle body because they were sticking up a hair, and were catching on all the little edges inside my grips. I'm still not 100% happy with the operation but I think it will wear in. Controls are HHI, and look slick. Getting all the wires inside the bars makes a huge difference in the appearance. I was going to take the time to steel braid every visible wire but I got impatient as this took way longer than I expected so I left them all black.
 
alhall88

alhall88

UAW
Moespeeds said:
So Al, what I would need to do is lower the front end/raise the front axle? I was going to call American today to ask that question. What I'll do is slide the whole spring tree up 1/2". I know it will take some getting used to, but it feels way too light, it's tough to go in a straight line at speed. I still need to throw on my leather racing suit and full face helmet and take it up to 100 to test for wobbles. I'll post pics of that, my big ass in a neon orange roadracing suit blasting down the highway on a chopper! Internal throttle is the model Vtwin sells. It's a knock off of the streamline throttle. I had to machine the roller bearings deeper into the throttle body because they were sticking up a hair, and were catching on all the little edges inside my grips. I'm still not 100% happy with the operation but I think it will wear in. Controls are HHI, and look slick. Getting all the wires inside the bars makes a huge difference in the appearance. I was going to take the time to steel braid every visible wire but I got impatient as this took way longer than I expected so I left them all black.
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Well technically moe changing the the axle height does change the ride height but remember it also will affect spring tension. Remember the instructions tell you how to calculate the length for the main legs, then once that length is determined you are supposed to add 1 inch to the springer tubes which will set your spring preload. But I found that this method would be more accurate on a larger rake and if you weighed 250 plus. I know your trying to avoid recutting the main legs again but sorry buddy looks like you may have to. The main objective is to have the ride height level with the front axle being 1/2 to 1 inch above the springer pivot point. It does not matter where you set the springer tree, you can drop the springer tree on top the wheel like some do but you still need to maintain that span. If your front end seems light then stay at the larger end of that span. But I won't lie to you and tell you I have seen plenty of these front ends where the guy that set them up had the front axle a good 3 inches above the springer pivot point to probably look cooler but I could not tell you how they would ride.
 
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